A Life with Hope, Untangled from Underage Marriage

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In Bangladesh, arranged marriage is seen as a blessing to the family of young girls, who are often below the legal age of marriage.

Rainy is an Indian girl living in the slums of Bangladesh. Her family is of the lowest caste and could only sustain themselves by doing corpse clearers and janitorial works. They were forbidden from interacting with their community and the women in the family were not allowed outside. Rainy’s parents believed that arranging a marriage for her is a blessing to the family, and was conceivably grateful when they found a man in a rich family proposing to Rainy when she was 15, who recalled, “I was only a kid at the age of 15, I didn’t want to get married yet.” Despite her obvious reluctance and concerns, Rainy’s parents proceeded to arrange for the wedding ceremony. Fortunately, SATHI’s staff visited them in the process and explained to them the drawbacks and unlawfulness of underage marriage, which consequently led them to give in and cancelled the marriage.

Rainy is one of the few lucky girls in Bangladesh who escaped the fate of arranged marriage at a young age, who subsequently finished her high school despite the demeaning tradition.

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The Letter from CEDAR | August 2016

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Early this month we had our first Typhoon Signal No. 8 of this year. Most of us were given with half a day off. Did you spend it on watching TV, sleeping, or chasing monsters outdoor? … No matter what you did, I believe most of us felt calm while wind and rain were strong outside. This sense of security does not come without effort, as we have spent time and resources in strengthening this city’s infrastructures and systems to stand against the hit of typhoons. … However, this is not necessary the case to the developing world. People there are highly vulnerable in front of natural disasters. Their weak infrastructures and poor emergency response systems are surely a main cause. But, making it even worst is the low awareness of disaster prevention among the people and even the government.

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Sustained Monsoon Storms and Floods Affecting Millions in South Asia

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South Asia Floods 2016

The Monsoon storms and Typhoon were devastating to Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and Nepal last year around this time. This year, millions of residents of South Asia continued to suffer from the floods and landslides caused by the violent weather, and are in great need of our help and prayers.

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Free Again—The Lydia Project in the Slums of India

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If you put sheets of raw materials into grinders, weigh them and put them into molds, so on with a total of 22 steps, you would have produced the pads necessary for every woman during her menstrual period. Pushpa was able to learn these steps and sustain her family by selling self-made pads with the help of the Lydia Center in New Delhi, India.

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Evilness under the Mist: Slums in Rio de Janeiro

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With great expectation from the world, the Rio Olympics has just officially opened today, even though in the past year the society experienced various social problems, which strike the domestic stability of this BRICS member. From the government corruption scandal under the Rousseff administration, triggering massive demonstrations all over the country, which was followed by the outbreak of Zika virus. All these crises have badly affected to the world’s impression of this country and many have lost confidence towards the governance of the state. In fact in recent years, Brazil has constantly been criticized for building up all sort of “vanity projects”, such as hosting the World Cup and Olympic Games. Meanwhile the deep-rooted social problems and conflicts have been ignored, especially the problem of slums and related crimes.

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Heavy Floods in Nepal and Northern India Calls for Emergency Relief

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Heavy rains and floods were reported in Nepal last week, and now the affected areas are extended to include the northern parts of India. Thirty five provinces of Nepal are experiencing floods and landslides which affected nearly 13,000 families, destroying 6,800 homes. In India, more than 2.7 million people in the northern provinces of Bihar, Assam, and West Bengal were affected by the prolonged precipitation.

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