|
|
home / activities / equal education / Projects
The Ruth Towner Memorial Fund believes in sustainable and reproducible giving that keeps on going. The Fund currently has the following projects planned and/or in progress in the Malapara area:
Malapara High School (Check out Malapara's school info and pictures here): The Ruth Towner Memorial Fund is currently working with the Malapara High School to improve its facilities and to encourage its students to contribute into social development. In the 3rd quarter of 2005, the Fund raised money through a Fund Raising Dinner to buy books for the library and also to start the very first "computer lab" at any school within the sub-district (equivalent to a county in the U.S.). At the beginning of 2006, founders of this Fund visited the Malapara High School to see the above two goals come to reality. The only female teacher of the "High School" has received computer training and will be running the computer lab and will be utilizing some talented students are "peers" to the other students in their efforts to learn how to use these computers. In addition, they also started an annual one-time scholarship, given to 6 awardees in 3 categories, through essay-competitions. The objective of the essay competitions is to continually encourage students in grade 5-10 to think about socio-economic and health challenges and to propose their local solutions. We also started an annual one-time scholarship, given to 4 awardees in 2 categories, through an "arts and crafts" competition. This was the first time any such opportunity became available to the children of the Malapara area and the participation was overwhelmingly high. The quality of work submitted by the children surprised not only the visitors, but also the parents. The Ruth Town Memorial Fund intends to continues all of the above efforts, with the help of its donors, well into the future.
Click here to see related information.
Private Primary School (Check out Malapara's school info and pictures here): There is a government owned primary school in Malapara, as part of the government entitlement. However, that is all it is, an entitlement. The funding level from the government barely supports a few teachers for the hundreds of children there, with inadequate space, resources, quality, etc. The government doesn't allow involvements from private parties into a fully government owned school. Therefore, the Sattar family has taken an initiative to start a primary school (both English and Bangla medium) in the name of one of its proud sons, Khaja Nijam Uddin Bhuiyan, the only civilian recipient of the Bir Uttam medal for giving his life in the Freedom War that gave Bangladesh its freedom from Pakistan in 1971. The "Khaja Nijam Uddin Bhuiyan Primary School" currently in operation with 75 children, ages 5-10, without a school facility of their own. The volunteer teachers haul the children from place to place all throughout the day just so the children won't have to be at school out in the elements. The "places" consists of spaces ranging from part-time rented space of a tin-shed Store at the central market nearby, to the pro-bono use of a couple of the rooms at the "Malapara High School" in the afternoons.
Click here to see related information.
Sewing Machine Project: We are currently trying to raise funds to purchase several human-powered sewing machines to give to a few families who can significantly improve their living conditions from the proceeds of their use of the machines for semi-commercial purposes. Currently, the whole village of Malapara lacks any such sewing capabilities and villagers end up traveling far to the central marketplace and spending quite a bit of money to make/purchase clothing. This project will not only help these families sew their own clothing, but will also enable the women to use this newly acquired skill and tools to supplement their family income, send their children to school rather than using them in the family farms. The additional income will significantly improve the nutritional status of the family members' health. We plan on bringing in an instructor to help the women learn how to use these machines, and in return, the women will take on community projects such as sewing the students' clothings, teach adolescent girls the skills, etc.
Click here to see related information.
Malapara Co-Op Center: The Malapara Co-Op Center is a dream project between the Ruth Towner Memorial Fund in the United States and Social Development Initiatives (SDI), a Non-Governmental Organization led by Dr. Rana Sattar in Bangladesh. Currently, the Co-Op is being founded with the cooperation from several key private donors, The Ruth Towner Memorial Fund administered by Bangladesh Development Initiatives (BDIUSA.org) in Washington, and SDI. A piece of land has been targeted to build on. Once the Co-op is formalized, the land is to be purchased and a tin-shed structure is to be built. The structure is then to be used for various community development purposes, including the above mentioned "Khaja Nijam Uddin Bhuiyan Primary School" and the "Sewing Machine Project". In the long run, this Co-op will lead projects in areas of adult education, women's skills trainings, etc.
Click here to see related information.
|
