Badrul Munir

Project Director SOS Children’s Village Rajshahi, SOS Children’s Villages Bangladesh

Every child must get an equal chance. The dream of a physically challenged girl

This is a story about a physically challenged but promising girl who dreamt of reaching the moon but had no aircraft.  

I started my career just after completion of my post-graduate course on Islamic history and culture at the University of Dhaka. My responsibilities were to support and empower the community mothers and children under the rural family and child welfare project run by Enfant du Monde, an international childcare organisation. When I joined SOS Children’s Village Rajshahi, I had the opportunity to reach marginalised families to eliminate human suffering such as poverty, malnutrition, child marriage, school dropout and child labour. In the Family Strengthening Programme we support marginalised families to develop a livelihood and provide them with a midday meal and educational support. As a professional social worker, I love to travel to the countryside to understand the socio-economic deprivation of community people on the ground and to meet different people with diverse talents. I am the responsible leader of SOS family care, kinship care and SOS Family Strengthening Programmes at community level in my location.  

One fine morning, I visited a remote village to meet with a physically challenged beautiful girl who belongs to a disadvantaged family living with bottomless financial hardship. She had a strong commitment to be one of the contributing members in her society and wanted to support her own family to be self-reliant. I was surprised and had never before in my 23-year long career at SOS Children’s Villages in Bangladesh met a similar wonderful girl with such a strong personality. 

Opening doors 
I believe that determination and personal commitment can change a life, can empower someone to connect with mainstream society to get support to survive with dignity and respect. The Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) of the SOS Children’s Village Rajshahi, Bangladesh had opened the door to fulfil the dream of a girl with a lame leg (in Bangladesh it’s called leg behind), who had no hope, nobody around, no care, no adequate food and her safety was not ensured causing her frustration about her life. Parvin is a physically disabled girl living with her parents in a remote village in a small house along with three brothers and one sister. Her father is a vegetable seller, her mother a homemaker, and it was very difficult for her to manage two meals a day for all the family members. They had to spend many days each month without adequate food. Her other brothers and sister are also mentally or physically challenged and they had to stop going to school because of a lack of cooperation from the peer learners and from the school authority, as they were unable to pay the tuition fees in time. Parvin, as the older girl in the family, was determined to continue her studies for her survival. She wanted to grow up like others and not as a burden on her family. 

Start of the journey 
The SOS Family Strengthening Programme had been launched in Parvin’s community and her family enrolled on the programme. After programme intervention, all types of support like school fees, educational materials, food, school uniform, and psychosocial and career counselling were provided to ensure quality care and education for the children entrusted to the support of SOS Children’s Villages FSP. Parvin started to see her dream to shape her own life come true. Along with all her brothers and sister, she restarted school to continue her studies. Parvin completed her secondary education at the local school. After that, she had the opportunity to be admitted to a diploma course on Health Science through the holistic support of the SOS Children’s Village Rajshahi FSP. It was not very easy for her to continue the studies in health science because it was a very expensive course at the medical college hospital in the city and her family had no financial ability to enrol her on this course. Parvin therefore started supporting other school students with private tuition to earn some money to pay the hostel charges in order to survive in the town. Great determination and confidence gave her the inner strength to complete the four year diploma course on health science with great hardship. 

Dream comes true 

“Life is not a bed of roses” 

Parvin had to face and overcome many difficulties and challenges like the purchase of scientific instruments, books and journals to complete her four years’ education in the city. SOS Children’s Village Rajshahi always offered a helping hand to support her by providing tuition fees and some pocket money to shape her own future. Parvin worked hard to continue her studies. She successfully passed the course and got a job at a private hospital in Rajshahi city. She said, “My family stopped our education and would never have been able to send me to study medical science in the town. If SOS Children’s Village had not supported me and not trained my mother to earn extra money for our livelihood, it would not have been possible for me to stand on my own feet. Now I am fully capable of helping my younger brothers and sister to continue their studies.” 

Parvin is now working in a private hospital as a laboratory assistant. She earns a good amount of money, which is sufficient to maintain herself and to contribute to her family.  

As childcare practitioners, we are committed to all children to ensure their basic rights and provide an equal and fair chance to shape their own future to survive. SOS Children’s Villages offers the best option for the children to get the right quality care in order to flourish. 

No child is to be left behind: it is our global commitment to reach the sustainable development goals (SDG). We cannot achieve this goal by ignoring children and young people with challenges. SDG-2030 represents our highest aspiration for a better world and reflects our greatest responsibilities to provide quality care for children in need. Many more children need our support to survive and develop their talents.  

The year 2021 will always be remembered for COVID-19 and the disruptions, uncertainty and suffering it caused worldwide. While children seem to be less vulnerable to the virus directly, school closures, increased vulnerability to abuse, the mental health anxieties of parents and families, distance from friends, and loss of access to vital health care and protection services have upset children deeply. But not all children were affected equally. The pandemic exposed deep inequalities that have existed for too long, with the worst impact on children in the poorest countries and communities and those already disadvantaged by discrimination, social exclusion, fragility and conflict. 

Our challenges are very critical. We must ensure the basic rights of all the children entrusted to our care, because the children are our only lasting hope.  

Connecting people has been Badrul's daily business for 28 years in various non-profit child care organisations and as a project director at SOS Children's Village Rajshahi. He is learning every moment and loves his job with all his heart. As a change maker, he seeks to help alleviate human suffering and empower young people to be future leaders of society. 

Badrul grew up in a big family with unconditional love, support and inspiration from his father despite all the challenges. He is the eldest of seven children. His wife keeps him strong so that he can achieve his goals. 

In his free time, Badrul enjoys swimming, listening to traditional folk music and early morning walks in the silence of nature watching dolphins, birds and flying fish in the beautiful River Padma near his home and the SOS Children's Village Rajshahi. Padma is one of the 230 rivers and important resources of Bangladesh, Badrul's small homeland located in the Bay of Bengal in South Asia.