News

In 2018, with the aid of CIPRB and one of their trustees, Becky Horsbrugh, the Sreepur Village started to run swimming lessons in their pond in the village grounds.  The lessons, since this date, take place every year during the months of June and July, and are now taught by a number of Sreepur staff who have since been trained to facilitate the programme each year.

Approximately sixty children, aged 6-12, take part each year. They will learn how to swim 25 metres freestyle, tread water or float for 30 seconds as well as perform a rescue from dry
land.  As half the number of deaths from drowning occur in 1-5 year olds, having an older child trained in dry-land rescue is pivotal in striving to keep this devastating number down.

Throughout my life, I never ever thought I would have a decent day. Now, I don’t have to think about my next meal, my security and where I will sleep.  I have seen some awful things. What have I seen? I do not want to remember those days”, says Munia one of The Sreepur  Village mothers. Eight months ago, she was welcomed into the village with her five month old  baby girl. Let’s hear, from her, how she found a decent life at The Sreepur Village.

As it is #NutritionMonth and #youcancareweek would you like to see what snacks The Sreepur Village provides the children during school times?

Living in a remote village in Bangladesh’s Sunamgaj District, Runu Bala struggled to feed her three children. Without land and living near to Tanguar Haor - a large wetland area in North-Eastern Bangladesh that gets flooded for five to six months of the year - it was hard for Runu to grow vegetables or other crops. Vegetables are an essential source of nutrition for a sound and healthy body, but in Bangladesh, two out of every three children born are underweight due to malnutrition.

In Bangladesh, many mothers, like Runu, don't have enough land to cultivate vegetables conventionally. Sack gardening does not require much space and a variety of vegetables can be grown according to need and taste. The bags are also easy to move, which is important for families living on 'char' lands (River Island) and riverbanks, who are often forced to move as their villages become flooded. The large majority of our mothers are from the Char area.

Today is International Women's Day and The Sreepur Village would like to share with you a story of hope and empowerment:

After the death of her husband, Khadija and her three children were evicted from their home by her husband’s elder brother. Abandoned and alone the only option for Khadija and her children was to move to Dhaka. 

It was whilst living in a park that Khadija’s children met an organisation that offered to refer them all to The Sreepur Village (Shishu Polli Plus), the only residential mother and child project in Bangladesh. Without The Sreepur Village Khadija would have had to place her children in institutional care and spend the rest of her life alone on the streets of Dhaka.

Today is World Book Day and The Sreepur Village would like to take this opportunity to share with you the story of Alo, a 45-year-old mother of four children and whose name means light.

Alo, real name Sobeda Begum, lost her husband 12 years ago just before the birth of her youngest son. Her husband was an agriculture labourer and the only earner of the family and one day he never returned home. Due to Alo’s early marriage she never had the opportunity to go to school.

As today is Rare Disease Day we would like to share with you the story of Surzo (meaning sun in English), a boy whose left leg was infected by a rare bone infection called Osteomyelitis.

Surzo, whose real name is in fact Nahid, was only 12 years old when he fell from a high brick stake whilst playing with friends. After 3-4 days he got a very high fever and became unconscious. Immediately, Surzo was taken to The Sreepur Village Health Clinic but due to his high fever and unconsciousness and the concerns of The Sreepur Clinic, he was taken to a nearby NGO clinic named Public Health Centre (well known as Gonosyastho Kendra (GK). The GK clinic also failed to identify the reasons for Surzo's condition. After thorough consultation between The Sreepur Village and the GK Clinic staff, Surzo was immediately sent to a government hospital in Dhaka accompanied by one of The Sreepur Clinic’s trained nurses.

Recently, The Sreepur Village initiated a programme for the safeguarding and development of young children - a modified Anchal Programme of Centre for Injury Prevention Research of Bangladesh - CIPRB. 

After much research, it was noted that the children were most at risk between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm so, by setting up the Anchal Programme the children, under proper management and supervision, are now able to be kept safe while their mothers or family members attend to other activities. The programme also helps in the early development of children. An Anchal is a centre managed by trained ‘Anchal Ma’ (mothers), the supervisors who provide children with care and the opportunities to play and learn. 

To mark the end of Story Telling Week we are delighted to share with you some pictures of our new library, currently being updated.

Led by Matthew, our child development specialist, the school teachers have been busy working on modernising The Sreepur Village school library. Last year, we restructured our school and teaching system so that we could improve each-and-every child’s learning experience, and to keep in line with these plans, the library is now being reorganized, painted and most importantly filled with a selection of new book

In rural Bangladesh public transportation is a nightmare for women, especially for the poor and marginalised. If our mothers could learn vital skills in repairing bicycles such as how to fix a puncture, then this would help them in many ways. With such skills, the mothers could set up their own businesses, they could also save money by repairing their own bikes, and ultimately by learning to cycle this would not only give them freedom but would also be a life saver in the villages especially in the Char (River Island).

Everyday on the grounds of the CMC (Child and Mother Care) our Baby-House's children have their lunch under the big water tank. 

“New shoes, new shoes, here are my new shoes”, shrilled Tonima, an eight-year-old girl of the Sreepur Village.

She also said, “For the first time in my life, I have got a brand new pair of shoes and they are white, my favourite colour. In the morning, when I put on my new shoes and school uniform, my mum was very happy. She told me, you look exceptional, really wonderful”. 

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world” Eleanor Roosevelt (The Chair of the drafting committee of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

Today, the world will be observing Human Rights Day, and if you follow The Sreepur Village, you will see how we wholly support this declaration.