Dear Friends of Nijera Shikhi,
Thank you for your continued
support, especially as Nijera Shikhi has been going through hard times recently.
The staff have not had their salaries for several
months, including the Director. They have down sized their offices, having a
smaller space in the basement of someone's home, but still the rents appear to
be very high. They especially need
space to keep the documents that have to be legally kept for so many years. I went to visit in April and November
last year, while I was involved in some obstetric training organised by the
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In April we had a Board of Trustees
meeting, on the eve of Bengali New Year, and in November I met the staff in
their new premises, the day after they had moved. This is to summarise what has
been happening since then, with a copy of the accounts also attached for
you.
Raden Siddiquy
We are very happy to welcome
Raden Siddiquy as
Liaison Officer to Nijera Shikhi.
Raden is the son of the Director in
Bangladesh, Professor Suraiya Siddiquy. Raden has set up his
own company,
Future Carbon, which intends to combat climate change in South East Asian
countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Future Carbon has
identified the growing need for carbon reduction in developing countries and has
used its strong links in Bangladesh as a platform for the implementation of
various projects. You can access the details at his website: www.futurecarbon.co.uk
.
Raden is travelling to Bangladesh at the end of this
month, he currently lives and works near London. Raden is planning to use Nijera Shikhi as a vehicle for
implementing his carbon reducing projects eg. energy efficient stoves, and domestic solar panels, which in turn will give Nijera Shikhi a
revenue stream in order to be able to maintain their current projects.
As Liaison Officer, Raden will be able to speak for Nijera Shikhi, as well as
assessing and evaluating their way of working, and offering encouragement and
support to be involved in new ventures.
We hope this will be a fresh impetus for Nijera Shikhi to be able to
carry out its original purpose of helping those in dire need to become
independent of poverty, able to access education, health care and self
sufficiency.
Cementing Futures
The second exciting new link
we have is with Cementing Futures, www.cementingfutures.co.uk.
Cementing Futures is a charity set up by some members of the international
organisation of Soroptomists, who have links with
Professor Suraiya Siddiquy who is also a Soroptomist. I recommend their brilliant short documentary
on you tube, which sets the scene for the work Nijera Shikhi is doing in
Bangladesh.
We
have been strengthening the links between Cementing Futures and ourselves as we
seek to work towards the same goals, the alleviation of poverty and the increase
in opportunities for education as a way out of poverty for the poor of
Bangladesh, through the work of Nijera Shikhi. We very much welcome these links and
are very grateful for their hard work in this area.
Their latest idea is to with each child sponsored by interested philanthropists. I will forward on details of this program
as it comes to me, in case you wish to support an individual child through their
education.
Rob Llewelyn - Ambassador for Nijera Shikhi
Our third new link is Rob a
consultant gynaecologist/obstetrician who works in Swansea hospital, who visited
Bangladesh on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Emergency Obstetric
Training programme with me. I wish I had had a video with me the day Rob came to
visit Nijera Shikhi!! He was very excited and pleased to meet all the children
of the John P Hastings School - he said he wished he could bring everyone he
knew to see the school, it was such a great place, full of such wonderful
responsive, bright children. Within an hour of leaving, Rob was ready to return
for another visit - sadly, the children only come to school for a couple of
hours a day, so they had gone back to their work or homes. In visiting the new
offices of Nijera Shikhi, we looked at the occupations many of the children
enrolled in the school had - tailors, shop assistants, helpers on various transport (as
opposite), cooks, teashop helpers, work in clothing factories and many other
jobs.
Rob
had the idea of trying to capture the atmosphere, personality and hardships of
the schoolchildren by making a DVD, and the next time we went to visit, the DVD
team was hired and interviewing children and their parents for their stories, in
order for us to share something of the experience with all of you. We await a
copy of this DVD and will send you a copy on request. Rob
kindly bought some books for all the children on our second
visit.
As a response to Rob's
enthusiasm for Nijera Shikhi, he was made an Ambassador for Nijera Shikhi, and
we hope he will find opportunities to raise interest and funds for Nijera Shikhi
in South Wales. His wife has just had a new baby boy, Henry, so we send him our
congratulations on his safe arrival and best wishes for the future.
In view of their dire
straits regarding finance to maintain Nijera Shikhi, we sent £2000 at the end of
March, as well as £2000 in January, leaving our account in the UK running low
too. We have already received some
money from Future Carbon for the preparatory work Nijera Shikhi has done for
them. The current balance is £650.73, I'm amazed
because last time I looked it was £200!
So thank you very much for your continued giving, you may think they are
small amounts, but all together they add up into something that can seriously change lives for the
better. The smiles on the faces of
the children who attend the school say it all!!
Thank you for your continued
support, especially as Nijera Shikhi has been going through hard times recently.
The staff have not had their salaries for several
months, including the Director. They have down sized their offices, having a
smaller space in the basement of someone's home, but still the rents appear to
be very high. They especially need
space to keep the documents that have to be legally kept for so many years. I went to visit in April and November
last year, while I was involved in some obstetric training organised by the
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In April we had a Board of Trustees
meeting, on the eve of Bengali New Year, and in November I met the staff in
their new premises, the day after they had moved. This is to summarise what has
been happening since then, with a copy of the accounts also attached for
you.
Raden Siddiquy
We are very happy to welcome
Raden Siddiquy as
Liaison Officer to Nijera Shikhi.
Raden is the son of the Director in
Bangladesh, Professor Suraiya Siddiquy. Raden has set up his
own company,
Future Carbon, which intends to combat climate change in South East Asian
countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Future Carbon has
identified the growing need for carbon reduction in developing countries and has
used its strong links in Bangladesh as a platform for the implementation of
various projects. You can access the details at his website: www.futurecarbon.co.uk
.
Raden is travelling to Bangladesh at the end of this
month, he currently lives and works near London. Raden is planning to use Nijera Shikhi as a vehicle for
implementing his carbon reducing projects eg. energy efficient stoves, and domestic solar panels, which in turn will give Nijera Shikhi a
revenue stream in order to be able to maintain their current projects.
As Liaison Officer, Raden will be able to speak for Nijera Shikhi, as well as
assessing and evaluating their way of working, and offering encouragement and
support to be involved in new ventures.
We hope this will be a fresh impetus for Nijera Shikhi to be able to
carry out its original purpose of helping those in dire need to become
independent of poverty, able to access education, health care and self
sufficiency.
Cementing Futures
The second exciting new link
we have is with Cementing Futures, www.cementingfutures.co.uk.
Cementing Futures is a charity set up by some members of the international
organisation of Soroptomists, who have links with
Professor Suraiya Siddiquy who is also a Soroptomist. I recommend their brilliant short documentary
on you tube, which sets the scene for the work Nijera Shikhi is doing in
Bangladesh.
We
have been strengthening the links between Cementing Futures and ourselves as we
seek to work towards the same goals, the alleviation of poverty and the increase
in opportunities for education as a way out of poverty for the poor of
Bangladesh, through the work of Nijera Shikhi. We very much welcome these links and
are very grateful for their hard work in this area.
Their latest idea is to with each child sponsored by interested philanthropists. I will forward on details of this program
as it comes to me, in case you wish to support an individual child through their
education.
Rob Llewelyn - Ambassador for Nijera Shikhi
Our third new link is Rob a
consultant gynaecologist/obstetrician who works in Swansea hospital, who visited
Bangladesh on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Emergency Obstetric
Training programme with me. I wish I had had a video with me the day Rob came to
visit Nijera Shikhi!! He was very excited and pleased to meet all the children
of the John P Hastings School - he said he wished he could bring everyone he
knew to see the school, it was such a great place, full of such wonderful
responsive, bright children. Within an hour of leaving, Rob was ready to return
for another visit - sadly, the children only come to school for a couple of
hours a day, so they had gone back to their work or homes. In visiting the new
offices of Nijera Shikhi, we looked at the occupations many of the children
enrolled in the school had - tailors, shop assistants, helpers on various transport (as
opposite), cooks, teashop helpers, work in clothing factories and many other
jobs.
Rob
had the idea of trying to capture the atmosphere, personality and hardships of
the schoolchildren by making a DVD, and the next time we went to visit, the DVD
team was hired and interviewing children and their parents for their stories, in
order for us to share something of the experience with all of you. We await a
copy of this DVD and will send you a copy on request. Rob
kindly bought some books for all the children on our second
visit.
As a response to Rob's
enthusiasm for Nijera Shikhi, he was made an Ambassador for Nijera Shikhi, and
we hope he will find opportunities to raise interest and funds for Nijera Shikhi
in South Wales. His wife has just had a new baby boy, Henry, so we send him our
congratulations on his safe arrival and best wishes for the future.
In view of their dire
straits regarding finance to maintain Nijera Shikhi, we sent £2000 at the end of
March, as well as £2000 in January, leaving our account in the UK running low
too. We have already received some
money from Future Carbon for the preparatory work Nijera Shikhi has done for
them. The current balance is £650.73, I'm amazed
because last time I looked it was £200!
So thank you very much for your continued giving, you may think they are
small amounts, but all together they add up into something that can seriously change lives for the
better. The smiles on the faces of
the children who attend the school say it all!!