On October 10, 2020, Friendship hosted a roundtable conference which gave a national platform to grassroots organisations working at the forefront of the struggle against the climate crisis. Fifty-three grassroots organisations battling climate disasters in some of...
by Raeed Abd-Allah Chowdhury The Coronavirus has ground economies to a halt and has put immense strain healthcare systems, especially in underdeveloped countries. A shortage in staff, supplies and berths for patients is a factor even in the most developed of...
Friendship’s community leaders stand by villagers facing Covid-19 lockdown If you’re reading this on a device connected to the Internet, in a space with adequate lighting and sound roofing, staying home is easy. For Lavli, whose home is a one-room corrugated iron hut...
The terrors the Rohingya people fled are well known to the world. But in their new reality, many continue to suffer from psychosocial conditions. by MALIHA KHANMarch 12, 2020 Nurun Nahar must return home to her children. Half an hour stolen between feeding her family...
Narrated by: Bipasha Khatun, Friendship Medical Assistant at Balukhali 1 at the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National (FDMN) camps in Ukhiya: I came across a little girl who was helping the medical assistants usher in patients. Named Sadia, this 7-year-old was also...
Momota has been married for over 10 years, and lives with her husband and two sons on a riverine island (char) called Khockhali in Gaibandha district. Even though it has been quite some time, Momota has yet to receive her mehr (dower), a mandatory payment from the...
Rani, meaning queen in Bangla, lives up to her namesake. She was the oldest among her siblings in the remote village of Radhabalabh, 28 km from the nearest district town. At the age of 15, Josna Rani’s family married her off to a day labourer; being forced to do so...
For several years, Jobeda remained in abject poverty. Her first child was born to every financial disadvantage, seeing as there were no options available to him. His father, a day labourer, could not add much to the household, and Jobeda, uneducated and married as a...
In the rural regions of Bangladesh, such as the hard-to-reach chars in the north of the country, women are seen as the guardians of seeds. Women play the primary role in the preservation of seeds from the time they are harvested and stored until they are planted...
When Chandra was a girl, she lived in a char (riverine island) so remote that she did not have any access to education. In her village there were no schools, or even opportunities to learn in an informal setting. She lived most of her life without even knowing how to...
Twelve-year-old Akhi is a student at one of Friendship’s secondary schools. She is one of five children in a family living in the chars of Bangladesh. Since her mother stays at home to take care of the house and children, the burden of earning household income...
Friendship paralegal in Gaibandha fights for a 12-year-old girl to give her exam and stay in school by NAUSHAD ALI HUSEINJanuary 28, 2020 It’s exam day for the grade fivers. The exam centre buzzes with activity as students arrive and prepare to take the test. As exam...