Stories

Now we are in the Advent season!

Ashrayan, a government-built project housing over 48 families, had no local water supply. Residents spent hours traversing a steep hill to collect unsafe water that made them sick. Ashrayan had no preschools and only one primary school a kilometre away. “Being far away from the [primary] school, we were not very interested in education. If we have that interest to involve our children with school, it’s quite tough to go to school regularly for our children by walking that distance from our house,” one mother shared.

Across Canada, June is graduation month. From big cities to small farming towns, teens are moving those tassels from right to left, grinning ear-to-ear as they stride off the stage of their childhoods and into the boundless world of adulthood. Moms are crying. Dads are cheering. Siblings have mixed feelings. But everyone is proud!

Since I was a child, I have always been interested in poetry. At the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, which turned into a conflict in less than a year, I began reading the translated books of Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet.

Gajor Alu Vaji makes for a delicious, savoury side dish, and a great way to add more flavour to your everyday vegetable servings. Easy and quick, this dish can be jazzed up with red bell peppers or other vegetables and served alongside tandoori chicken, or stand alone as a main vegetarian meal.

How health education empowered a community to shed superstition and find true healing - for body and mind.

At one point, Hasina and her husband, Azharul, couldn’t stop sinking deeper and deeper into debt.

These vegetable cutlets, or patties, are a common snack across Bangladesh. Considered a savoury comfort food by many, this popular snack is particularly enjoyed by Jarina Khatun, a member of the Char Borobila community who sent in this recipe!

Have you ever tried to change your family’s diet? Convince your children to eat new foods like cauliflower rice or chopped spinach in their tomato sauce? It can be a hard sell. Many of us struggle with change. Perhaps you’ve had to learn a new and seemingly impossible computer program for work, adapt to driving a manual car, or cut monthly expenses in order to save for that replacement phone you really need? It takes courage to change a habit or routine,try new technologies, or embrace different beliefs.

The community of Char Borobila hasn’t been the same since the pandemic hit.

From grassroots to glass ceilings, Afrose Akter is shattering stereotypes of female leadership in Bangladesh.

Shahida Yeasmin was an anomaly in Char Borobila. Instead of dropping out of school between the ages of seven and 10 like most other girls, she managed to stay in school, pass her exams, and actually graduate from secondary school! While her peers were working at home or being forced into early child marriage, Shahida was excelling in a predominately boys’ world.

elena, a 27 year old mom with two boys – Shawon (9) and Tamim (6) – shares how poor their family health used to be. Her sons were often sick and, to be totally honest, so were she and her husband. They didn’t have running water in their home or a proper toilet.

Rich spices have dominated Bangladeshi cooking for centuries—in fact, Europeans have South Asia to thank for most of the flavours used today. This dish is a sweet-and-savoury meal that blends a wide variety of flavours Canadians often would not mix, but in the end work well!

Have you ever experienced compassion fatigue? Here's how a long-time development worker reengaged his heart.

Tube-wells are fast, safe ways to get clean water access to families in high density areas.

For holistic and integrated development to succeed, everyone needs to pitch in, and everyone's pitch counts. Whether it's $25 for a pair of chickens or $100 for a sewing machine - each contribution is an integral piece of the vibrant mosaic of a thriving community.