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JCRS Concert in Dhaka, Bangladesh: March 20, 2020

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JCRS Concert in Dhaka, Bangladesh: March 20, 2020

We are honored to invite you to attend DCI’s Journey for Child Rights & Sight (JCRS) Concert & Show on Friday, March 20, 2020 at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) Auditorium, Krishi Khamar Sarak, Farmgate, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Please RSVP to attend and then purchase your tickets at DCI’s Bangladesh office (RSVP form and contact information below). About Journey for Child Rights & Sight (JCRS): The mission of the Journey for Child Rights & Sight (JCRS) is to raise awareness about the prevalence of preventable blindness and the plight of underprivileged children worldwide, and to find the solutions necessary to protect them and improve the quality of their lives. JCRS aims to create an international network and inspire our youth and global community to action on behalf of underprivileged children. JCRS began in 2006 at DCI’s first International Conference on Child Rights & Sight at Yale University. Over the past 12 years, through JCRS, DCI has organized youths and communities to fight for the rights of children through numerous events such as the “Concert for Children,” conferences, and cultural events worldwide.

An Urgent Appeal for Flood Victims of Sylhet, Bangladesh

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Dear DCI Friends,

Thirteen upazillas (sub-districts) in north-east Bangladesh have been ravaged by heavy floods, It is one of the worst floods hitting this region in history. Around 20 lakh people have been affected in two districts, Sylhet & Sunamganj. The water levels are gradually receding now, but the need for essential relief is severe. People lack access to food, medicine, clean drinking water, and shelter. An outbreak of diarrhea and skin diseases have multiplied in the aftermath of flooding, as more than 12,000 tube wells providing clean water for drinking and toilets have also been damaged. More than 800 educational institutions are also closed.
Our team in Bangladesh is working swiftly and diligently to rescue stranded families and take them to higher grounds. We are procuring emergency relief and aid for immediate relief by distributing prepared food, fresh water, water-purifying tablets, oral saline, and emergency medicine.
DCI’s emergency fund is limited for conditions as severe as this. For this reason, we need your undivided support to continue our relief efforts for those affected. Please contribute what you can during this critical time to help. We are very grateful for any financial support you can offer for this initiative. Please forward this message to your friends and families. I hope we can count on your help.

You can donate securely at our website:
https://distressedchildren.org/gift-category/emergency-relief/

You can also send a check made payable to DCI Emergency Fund to:
DCI Emergency Relief Fund
Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI)
50 Church Street, 5th Floor, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Thank you very much for your generosity to the children and families in dire need.

With our gratitude,

Dr. Ehsan Hoque, Founder and Honorary Executive Director, Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI)
Dr. Brian M. DeBroff, President, Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI)
Prof. Dr. A. K. Azad Khan, Country Director, DCI-Bangladesh (President, Diabetic Association of Bangladesh DAB)

Some links for your information:

1. Sylhet, Sunamganj: Troubles mount as more areas flooded | The Daily Star
2. (9906) সিলেটে বন্যা পরিস্থিতির উন্নতি নেই; দেখা দিয়েছে রোগবালাই | Sylhet Flood – YouTube
3. (9906) সিলেটে বন্যা পরিস্থিতির অবনতি, সব উপজেলা প্লাবিত | Sylhet Live | Flood situation – YouTube
4. Sylhet flood: Surma-Kushiyara river dikes collapsed in 38 places (dhakatribune.com)
5. (9906) এক মুঠো খাবারও যেন টিকে থাকার ভরসা; ত্রাণ পেতে হুলুস্থুল | Sylhet | Sunamganj | Flood | Relief – YouTube

My Experience Volunteering with DCI by MAHAM

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My Experience Volunteering with DCI by MAHAM

I have been working with a great nonprofit organization, DCI (Distressed Children & Infants International) for the past several years. It is a cause I deeply care about and that I want you to learn about. This wonderful organization protects the children’s rights, works for ending child labor and poverty, and provides basic needs to underprivileged children in Bangladesh and around the world and gives them educational opportunities and future economic possibilities. Specifically, DCI actively fights childhood poverty, hunger, and blindness. In addition, it helps student volunteers like us gain positive life and leadership skills. I love this organization, and I love helping to give these unfortunate children the opportunity to thrive and to be successful in their lives. Passion for improving the lives of those who have been deprived of their basic rights is what motivates me on a daily basis. Volunteering with DCI has deeply inspired me, as it makes me imagine a sea of smiles and happy little hearts. Volunteering with DCI, teaches me how fortunate I am, how privileged I am. I have food, I have school, I have a wonderful family. I have everything I need in this world. In fact, after getting involved with DCI, I started to think about my own life and the lives of unfortunate children who have nothing. I am also very happy to sponsor a girl at the SunChild Home Orphanage. I am very proud to be involved with DCI, and I want to introduce DCI to all my friends and family members. We need all of your support, active involvement, and leadership to make this mission a success. With the COVID-19 economic disruption that exists today, we need your help more than ever. Thank you all in advance for getting involved with my mission for helping children in need. I look forward to working together for this very important cause for children. With thanks, Maham Sanjida Rahman

DCI Tutors Visiting Group Children Due to Covid19

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DCI Tutors Visiting Group Children Due to Covid19

Since the after school tutoring is closed due to Covid19, instead of group gathering, DCI tutors are now visiting their group children and providing written lesson materials and guidelines. This way the children can prepare their lessons at home and can stay in right track during this stay home period. After school tutoring system is the major support for sponsored children of DCI. The children are made into groups of ten. They meet every day after school to do their homework and problem solving. That is also a way for DCI to monitor each child’s progress, health and family status. Along with this, DCI’s SunChild sponsorship program also runs monthly mother’s group meeting. The purpose of mother’s meetings are to make mothers aware of importance of education, bad effect of early marriage, different health & child rights issue, and income generating activities.

Schools Close Due to the Corona Virus

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Schools Close Due to the Corona Virus

The schools are closed due to the corona virus, so our sponsored children are at home. Most of the parents of these children are now jobless and struggling to buy daily food. Education of children is far from their mind. DCI cannot have after school tutoring or library hours at the moment. But we did not stop. We are going around in vans and distributing books and necessary learning materials to children homes. So children are in touch and are able to continue learning during these difficult times.

Rif Ahmed: World Day Against Child Labour 2020; Voices of DCI Youth Leaders

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Rif Ahmed: World Day Against Child Labour 2020; Voices of DCI Youth Leaders

In light of recent events and action taken around the world devoted to positive and progressive change, We should take this time to focus on another issue impacting hundreds of millions of people today: child labor. If you are unaware, child labor is the plague afflicting children of all ages around the world, in which they are forced into hostile, unsanitary, and hazardous work conditions. The worst part about this is, these children have no control over their situations. They are born into poverty, and the unfortunate truth is many die in poverty.They have no choice but to work, else they are denied the small wages they may accrue from working to buy food and water for themselves and their families. As mentioned before, however, the environments that these poor children are put into are far less than desirable. This is unacceptable. This atrocious practice of child labor violates several articles of the United Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a document crafted by the United Nations to outline a common standard for all people.
Specifically, Articles 23, 24, 25, and 26 are violated, which are the rights to favorable work conditions, leisure and limited working hours, an adequate standard of living, and education, respectively. While these articles are not enforced, they provide a basis for human rights; in other words they are what every human being deserves and should be granted. A future I long to see is one where all people acquire these rights and are able to prosper, improving humanity as a whole. I believe that DCIs mission is helping bring this future to fruition. With DCIs aid, children are provided with the necessary resources to survive without child labor, and are given education to boost their chances at having a bright future they can be proud of. It is critical that all of us around the world, regardless of background, are given the opportunities to thrive and receive an education for the betterment of our countries, and the world as a whole. You can help make a difference. You can provide this opportunity for these children. Rif Ahmed Youth Leader, Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI) Rif Ahmed I am Rif Ahmed and I am a rising senior in high school. I am 17 years old, and have been working with DCI as a volunteer for around 5 years, while my family has been involved with and been a part of the organization for longer. I aim to help DCI make a difference in the lives of children in dire need, and give them the opportunities to live a safe and happy life.

Aryana Kutub: World Day Against Child Labour 2020; Voices of DCI Youth Leaders

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Aryana Kutub: World Day Against Child Labour 2020; Voices of DCI Youth Leaders

Despite all the current events going on in the world, there is an ongoing issue that must be addressed involving child labour. According to the International Labour Organization, 218 million children between 5 and 17 years of age are in employment; among them 152 million are victims of child labour, and almost 73 million work in hazardous conditions. Now most of us have the privilege of working from home or remote learning for school. Unfortunately, that is not the same case for many children around the world. The pandemic is affecting families economically and numerous parents are losing their jobs and are now unemployed. Due to this loss of income, youths in certain areas of the world are now being put to work or increase their workload.
It hurts me to know that children must work to provide at such a young age. They are stripped from having an education and are being paid so little to work in such harsh conditions. These children are not only affected physically but also mentally. They can no longer keep themselves safe during these unfortunate times and are ill equipped when it comes to home and health. Oftentimes we think to ourselves that there is nothing we can do for child labourers.
But in reality there is so much more that we can do even from just staying at home. The youth have been speaking out and taking actions for generations about the ongoing issues in our world. We can do the same. By educating ourselves, we can obtain valuable knowledge on how to provide aid. Those of us that are privileged to have an education and comfortable living conditions should be able to use our resources to enact the much needed changes. We can no longer let children be robbed of their childhood. These disadvantaged children need a voice. We need to make others understand the wrongs of child labour and take action to put an end to it.

Aryana Kutub
Youth Leader, Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI)

About Aryana Kutub
Aryana Kutub will be starting her sophomore year of highschool in August. Aryana’s family has been involved with DCI since the Texas branch was established. Aryana now wants to directly work with DCI to make a positive impact in the lives of children in need.

Abrar Mamun: World Day Against Child Labour 2020; Voices of DCI Youth Leaders

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Abrar Mamun: World Day Against Child Labour 2020; Voices of DCI Youth Leaders

When I first travelled to Dhaka at a young age, I immediately recognized the stark juxtaposition between my life in the United States and the lives of several children growing up in Bangladesh. To this day, I can still remember watching children as young as 5 years old working in the streets of Dhaka and Khulna, selling fruits and other products in an attempt to provide for their families. Although I was the same age as them, it was clear that I lived a life of luxury, one that was filled with financial security and numerous job/educational opportunities. At the time, I couldn’t even imagine that these children had to be the breadwinners of their families; my biggest concern was missing the next episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. I began working with DCI because of the profound issues that child labor presents for future generations of children. To this day, adolescents are forced to work in the dangerous conditions of streets, fields, and factories. They have become the subjects of exploitation and inhumane working conditions, essentially robbing them of their right to safety and stripping them of their well-being.
Moreover, one must consider the extensive physical and time-related burdens that labor places on children. When kids are spending all of their time in the fields, they cannot even think about pursuing an education. The parents of these children will say that education is unnecessary because it doesn’t provide basic necessities, like food and money. Thus, child labor threatens social mobility and serves to further the vicious existence of abject poverty.

All of us can play a role in ending child labor. We must do everything in our power to teach these children that their lives matter – that they have a right to happiness and future prosperity. For anyone reading this, I sincerely ask that you do more research on the subject and join us in combatting child labor practices. If we do not persistently take action, these practices will continue to cheat our children out of bright futures! Let’s join hands and end complicity!

Abrar Mamun
Youth Leader, Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI)

About Abrar Mamun
Hello! My name is Abrar Mamun, and I am a rising sophomore at Rice University in Houston, TX. While working with DCI in high school, I truly began to see the tangible effects of our work in rural areas of Bangladesh and other third world countries. Moving forward, I hope to continue working with the organization to mitigate the lasting effects of poverty and child labor.

85% of our total operating expenses fund programs for children. So the majority of your dollars go toward exactly what you intended - supporting children in poverty.

DISTRESSED CHILDREN & INFANTS INTERNATIONAL, INC

50 Church Street, 5th Floor, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Phone/SMS/WhatsApp/Viber: +1 (203) 376-6351 or +1 (875) 292-9186, E-mail: dci[at]distressedchildren.org
DCI is a 501(c)(3) Non-profit Charitable Organization (Tax ID: 810671495)

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