“The only true all-charity card“ -  Guardian Money

Extreme poverty leads to family breakdown and in Bangladesh many young boys run away from home and travel enormous distances riding on train carriage links or on the roof. Many end up in Dhaka and are exploited by working from dawn to dusk for roadside street vendors.  Recently some of the older boys have been glue sniffing using a strong toxic glue that can be bought very cheap from shoe menders. 

The railway drop in centre run by Sreepur gives support and basic education to these vulnerable children.

One young boy, Azful , was a regular visitor and keen to learn but earlier this year he found out how dangerous life on the rails could be. He had seen some glue sniffers with their strange plastic bags and as a bright, curious child he decided to give it a go. A little later while riding the carriage link not far from our drop in centre the glue took effect and he fell under the train with the loss of his left arm. It is possible that the glue acted as an anaesthetic  but he was actually able to plead with bystanders  to get  someone from the drop in centre. Amazingly our staff got there in time to restrict the bleeding and get him to hospital. It will take some time to recover from the trauma but he has an opportunity to rebuild his life with support from the Sreepur Project.

A typical young  train rider

Azfal busy at the drop in centre

Hospital after the accident

 Azful is just one of many destitute and vulnerable people supported by the Sreepur Project

The return on many charity cards remains below 10% and many of the major charities now source their cards from China with no guarantees on working conditions for production.

Sreepur cards are handmade from locally sourced natural products and the production process gives a fairtrade income to women from the local community living below the poverty line. The cards are shipped at no cost by British Airways and a team of volunteers handle distribution making a Sreepur card a true charity card with a 100% return.

Get the best value possible from your Christmas card order at www.sreepurcards.org

Thank you again to the many who have already ordered