Dropping out of school after a few short years, child labour and early marriage seem to be the only options for many Bangladeshi girls.
With little access to birth control, Bangladeshi families are large, so it is already hard to feed the household, let alone provide education for the children. Because of the male-dominant culture, girls, especially the older ones, are usually forced to give up school. Further, a dowry is obligatory, the amount of which increases as the bride gets older, and hence impoverished families try to marry off their girls young so to ease their financial burden.
Trisna is the second oldest child in her family – the eldest sister is already married and her younger siblings are at school. The whole family’s livelihood depends on the father’s meagre income as a security guard.
The parents do want education for Trisna but they lack the means – they even considered marrying off Trisna to alleviate the family burden.
In places like India, Nepal and Bangladesh, many girls drop out of school and earn income by sewing. Trisna belongs to a girls group in a youth development program of CEDAR’s partner, PARI. Through regular meetings, members learn about legal protections for underage girls and the shortcomings of early marriage; members also enhance their sewing skills there.
Yet Trisna’s biggest wish is to return to school. Encouraged by her group members, Trisna has started to save up money from her sewing for her own school fees. Her parents gladly let Trisna continue school if fees are not a problem, because they know that education leads to a better life.
Trisna’s father says, “I never imagine that anyone would help my daughter like this. Trisna has learned a lot from the group and I am very grateful for PARI’s help that Trisna can have a brighter future.”
[ePrayer – Pray for Children Ministry in Bangladesh]
Tanjila Akter, aged 19, is living in a village of Netrokona district, Bangladesh. With limited access of transportation, the literacy rate is relatively low in this area. Though Tanjila’s parents understood the importance of education, her father wanted to pull her out from school after she completed her secondary school education due to tight financial resources in their family. With the help of CEDAR partner PARI, Tanjila successfully convinced her father to allow her for higher education. Under PARI’s Community Adolescent Development Programme (CADP), Tanjila continued her study, sat for the Higher Secondary Certificate Exam, and obtained the highest score GPA 5 (A+) in the examination. She is the only student scored A+ in the college. Everyone is excited and happy with her results.
Tanjila was just one of the successful stories in the villages of Bangladesh. PARI has spent much efforts in the last few years in promoting civil education and it is very encouraging to see some solid change in the mindset of parents, religious leaders and those living in the remote villages. More adolescents including girls are now able to receive education. Through education, adolescents are more aware of the negative impact of early marriage. PARI witnesses a noticeable drop in early marriage cases and thank God for this improving situation.
CEDAR is also concerned about the kids in the slum areas of Dhaka. As families living in the urban slum areas cannot afford to pay for the educational expenses of their children, many kids become illiterate and end up as child labour or street children, being forced into a poverty cycle forever. To tackle this issue, CEDAR supported another partner World Concern Bangladesh to run 20 schools including primary and pre-school education in slum areas and to provide trainings to teachers. The aim is to let these schools self-sustain in the long-run so more children will be benefited.
In early this year many schools in the slum areas of Dhaka were suspended due to political instability before the country election. The political situation has become more stable after the election and schools have restored to normal. To enable more children in Dhaka to receive education, CEDAR has doubled the funding for the slum project this year. We look forward to seeing a better living condition for the kids and their families in the near future.
Pray for Children Ministry in Bangladesh:
Give thanks to the Lord that the girls in the villages are empowered and able to receive education, and the number of early marriage cases is gradually reducing.
Pray that the adolescents in Bangladesh will be able to continue their studies in a safe environment.
Pray for more wisdom granted to our Bangladesh partners so they know how to provide better support to the impoverished groups.
May God bless Bangladesh with peace and political stability so that the local churches and organizations can continue their work to help those in need.
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details. [2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts. [3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
In Bangladesh, many adolescents drop out from schools due to poverty. They are ‘nobody’ in the eyes of adults and are ignorant about their own rights. This is particularly true among the teenage girls. The poor families tend to marry off their daughters as young as 13-14 years old in order to lower family expenditure and dowry price. However, it is difficult for these adolescent girls who are not yet mature to adapt to new lives staying with a new family. Moreover, early marriage and early pregnancy can be very harmful to their lives.
To tackle with this problem, CEDAR’s partner PARI Development Trust has formed many community groups to teach the boys and girls about their rights. It has also created platforms for youth, parents, community leaders to meet and exchange ideas. Teenagers have been empowered and adults are made known of the developmental needs and potentials of the youth. Praise the Lord that the project has Pinky from early marriage after lobbying to her father. It has also assisted a girl named Happy who can continue to study in higher grades of school and perform well.
Pray for Bangladesh’s youth project:
PARI would like to move on to another phase right after the current 3-year project. Pray for God’s guidance and provision;
Pray that more adolescents will be empowered and educated through the project.
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details. [2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts. [3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
WHO defines “adolescent” as those aged between 10 and 19. Adolescents are not children but not yet considered to be adult. As a result, they are easily being neglected. During adolescence period, both boys and girls experience physical, psychological and social characteristics changes. They have to prepare themselves for being leaders of future. It is therefore important to provide them knowledge and values on rights and justice issues as well as civil responsibilities.
Nevertheless, many adolescents in Bangladesh do not have schooling opportunities due to poverty. They are illiterate, usually jobless and being ignored most of the time. They, especially girls, know little about their rights and are thus vulnerable. The poor families tend to marry off their daughters as young as 13-14 years old in order to save family expenditure and dowry price. However, it is very difficult for these adolescence girls who are not mature yet to adapt to new lives staying with a new family. Moreover, early marriage and early pregnancy can be very harmful to their lives.
To tackle with this problem, CEDAR supports PARI Development Trust to implement Adolescence Empowerment and Education Project in rural areas of Central Bangladesh. Partner talked about different issues like civil and family responsibilities, relations between two sexes, personal hygiene, psychological health, women rights and marriage issues through games, group discussions and role play to help the adolescence build up rights and justice values. Also, partner train them in vocational skills and build up their capacity for generating income. Meanwhile, seminars are organized for parents, community leaders and religious leaders to let them understand needs of adolescents and encourage them to communicate positively with the adolescents. This project emphasizes girls’ rights and disseminates the bad effect of early marriage in a hope to join hands with parents and community leaders to stop early marriage and early pregnancy to protect the girls.
Rashida was only 15 years old but her father planned to marry her off to a 22-year-old man. Rashida and her mother were told about the bad effect and restrictions of law against early marriage. They seek advice of the local government officials with the help of project staff and finally persuaded her father not to marry her off.
