Running the FFC Dhaka, Bangladesh, home costs about $13,500 Canadian per month. Expenses are for food, rent, salaries & bonuses for local staff, education and medical, and all other related expenses for the 78 children living in the home. We have one large apartment building. This building has many bedrooms for the children and their house mothers, two offices, therapy room, sewing & computer rooms, a library, kitchen and dining area. FFC used to rent 2 large apartment buildings but this became too expensive and now the children like being together in the one building. Opposite is a view of the FFC building. There are NO elevators!


All the children are completely abandoned and have no families. Most were brought in as tiny, high risk babies, and they are mostly girls. All the children attend a government school and 2 students are in university. This is expensive, but necessary. FFC wants the children to learn English and computers, along with academic subjects, so their future will be brighter, and the staff benefit as much as the children. Many staff came to FFC as destitute mothers and had no place to go; most of the rest of the staff are poor or are needy and are supporting large extended families with their FFC wages. All staff are paid a fair local rate for their work. Nine of our older youth are now part of the staff doing a variety of jobs.

dhaka site

We have 46 children with special needs. We have children with all different needs both mental and physical. We provide the children with physiotherapy 2 or 3 times a week to those who require it. We have a therapy room within the home. We have one nurse in the special care floor taking care of their needs as well as the other children. There are very few places in Dhaka that cater for the needs or well being of special care children. We have two teachers specially trained in special needs children who teach the children at the home and 3 more are being trained.

At right, two of our visually impaired girls who attend a boarding school for the blind.


As part of our special care program in Dhaka, Shujon has been teaching the kids music classes on a regular basis. The children have been singing traditional songs as well as popular music.Since the beginning of the classes; the group has become much more comfortable with singing and are actively participating in choir and solo material.

Rubi came to FFC as a baby 2 years ago. Happiness for Rubi is being able to stand and sit.

The chidlren celebrated the day by wearing new dresses and enjoying a special meal at breakfast and lunch. Shikha was contacted by an Emirates Air crewmember who wanted to visit the FFC site. She met with Shikha and spent some time with the children. She also brought a drone with her, and flew it, to the delight of the children.

Eid Celebrations

Shikha has sent news of the annual Eid celebrations. These are public holidays in Bangladesh and Shikha was in the office to meet visitors and receive donations. The local Lion's Club donated food and other items for the children.

Wedding In Dhaka

Rubi and Motin came to live at the FFC Dhaka project when they were three years old. Rubi has been training to be a nurse, and Motin has a full-time job. Now Shujon reports that a wedding for Rubi and Motin has taken place, and Rubi is very happy to be living with Motin. It has been very cold in Bangladesh, so the project sent a mattress, blankets, pillows and other warm items to the Motin household.

Visit To Dhaka

Ruth Borman visited the FFC site in Dhaka and sent back a brief report:

I had the pleasure of seeing the FFC kids on 10th December, 2021. We had a reunion program behalf of my 14th birthday. They all were so happy to see their old friends. Their smiles made our day. My dad was one of the FFC kid. My dad wanted me to know how he grew up. I leaned about the struggles of life. In future, I will build a school for poor children.

Ruth Borman

Art and T-shirts

A group of volunteers visited the Dhaka site, and worked with the children, doing painting and other art activities. They took some of the best art work, and put the pictures on t-shirts. Now they have come back, and distributed some of the shirts to the children. They will produce more shirts, and sell them for fundraising purposes.

New Computers

The R R Smith Foundation was established by the B.C. Retired Teachers Association, and has been one of our most generous donors. This year FFC was again very fortunate to receive a grant from the R R Smith Foundation, and we have been able to purchase four new laptops .

At right and below, two of our students working with donated computers in the FFC center.

Shujon reports that the children are looking forward to attending their school and college classes in the FFC building, and are happy to be able to work with the new computers.

At right, Kawsar and Rupok, two of our Special Care children, with one of the many colorful plants.

Rooftop Garden

At left, Surma is shown watering the rooftop garden, where the children enjoy growing mangoes and guava.

Eid Dresses

The girls at the FFC Dhaka project love to design and sew their own clothing. They are very proud of themseves.

The girls are shown hard at work making their Eid dresses.

During the lockdown, the children can not attend school or participate in any outside activities, so they love the library activities very much. Lily enjoys being the librarian.

Library Activities

The children at the Dhaka project like their library very much. In the evening they come to read books, play games and do puzzles.

Online Learning

Shikha has sent an update on the school situation in Dhaka. The FFC students have not attended outside schools for over a year and a half. All of the learning in now done online. The photos show the home classes that the older students are attending during the lockdown.

The students shown are from grades 10, 11 and 12. During the morning a group of older children attend the classes, and in the afternoon a different group comes in. The students share the laptops.

The art and sign language teacher, Sohel, who comes two days every week for four hours a day, as shown in these photos taken before the lockdown. The children love taking part in this class.

Sign Language And Art

We have a wonderful deaf teacher Sohel who has been teaching art and sign language to our deaf kids. Unfortunately due to covid pandemic he has been quarantined in his home. We are hoping he will be back soon as he is missed.

Lost and Found in Dhaka

Shikha and Shujon have teamed up to send in an amazing story. Shabuj lived in a village with his family, about four hours away from Dhaka. His grandfather took Shabuj to Dhaka to visit an aunt. Shabuj wanted to buy a toy, so his grandfather went into a shop. In some way, Shabuj and his grandfather became separated, and they could not find each other. Shabuj was brought to FFC Dhaka when he was about four years old.

Shabuj is now twenty and has been studying at university in an honors course. Shabuj had now begun looking for his family, by posting photos and details on Facebook, and getting help from other organizations. In an exciting turn of events, his efforts were rewarded with success. Shabuj got to meet his family, and was almost unable to express his feelings. Relatives and fellow villagers were waiting to meet Shabuj, and most importantly his grandfather, who has suffered feelings of guilt all these years.


Ramadan

Shikha has written to say the Dhaka site has been celebrating Ramadan beginning on the 14th of April. The older children have been fasting from sunrise to sunset. They received donations of food for Ramadan from the Babylon Garment Group and from many other local donors. Every evening they break their fast with the Iftar dinner and enjoy special meals which they love.

The older boys are not only responsible for their studies but also they help some children with eating. The boys also go shopping at the market for groceries.

Happy Holidays in Dhaka

The children and Staff at the Families For Children site in Dhaka have sent along their annual Merry Christmas greetings. The children were treated to a special menu, with a special Bengali cake with milk, and then rice with chicken curry for lunch. They played and enjoyed music.

The visitors brought special foods, such as Polowe rice, chicken curry, and eggs for all the staff and children. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the special visit very much.

Film Stars Visit

Shujon has reported that the Bangladeshi action film actor, Joy Chowdhuri, who stars in seven movies, came to visit the FFC site along with his film heroines, and provided a good lunch and some happy times for the children.

Eid Celebrations

Shikha has sent along "Eid Mubarak" wishes from all the children at the FFC Dhaka project. People in Bangladesh are celebrating Eid today after a month of Ramadan. The girls received new dresses and henna. Special meals were served as well, with chicken, eggs and rice dishes for lunch.

The games, and over 100 new books for the library, were provided by our generous donors. The children were very happy to receive these gifts.

New Books For The Library

Muriel Hemmes has written to say that on her most recent visit to the FFC project in Bangladesh, she brought with her two large duffel bags full of books and games.

Rotary Club Visit

The very generous Rotary Club has once again helped out at the Dhaka project.

The Rotary Club put on a program of activities for all the children.

Interns

Shujon has reported that ten internship students from Uttara Town university college social works department have visited the Dhaka project. These ten students will be doing their internship with our special care school kids.

Lunch Time

We have twenty students who live with their parents. These children attend the FFC school. A morning snack and lunch are provided for the children.

At left, Rubi and China are shown preparing Chapati for the children.

The students have been making a box to hold kleenex. The training center also helps to find jobs for the students.

Trade School

Seven of the Dhaka children are attending a training center sponsored by the government. They are taking a six month course. There are a total of 27 trades available but all seven of the children chose wood working, and love going.

Some of the former girls also came to spend time with their family, and they also received new shoes and clothes for their children. A donor provided the dresses for the girls and new sports jerseys for the boys.

Religious Festival

Shikha reported that the people of Bangladesh celebrated one fo their biggest religious festivals. The FFC children celebrated the festival as well. The children received new dresses, shoes and a special meal. No school or study on these two days! As well as breakfast and mango for tiffin, a lunch with special fried rice, roast chicken and egg curry was served, courtesy of a kind donor.

Family Found

Narunnahar, now 25, originally came to live at FFc when she was just three months old. She is now working and living at a women's hostel. Through a friend and Facebook, Narunnahar managed to find her family. Narunnahar's family came to FFC to take her home to celebrate the Eid holiday together.


Her family has taken over guardianship of Narunnahar. The photos show Narunnahar with her father, brother, sister and other relatives.

The children were divided into three groups in order to do activities with the volunteer students. One group played cricket, another groups was in the library, and the others children did painting and listened to stories read by the visitors. All the children had a great deal of fun.

Students Visit Dhaka

Shikha has reported that the children enjoyed a visit from a group of young students. The visitors brought games, paintings and story books with them for the children.

With different traditional food and cultural program we celebrate. Kids took part in cultural program and had traditional food. On this occasion the main dish is Hilsha fish which is our national fish.

Bangla New Year

Shikha has reported on the Bangla New Year events. Yesterday we, the Bengali people celebrated the Bangla New Year.

Craft Project Meeting

Shujon, our Dhaka project manager, has reported on a team meeting for those involved in the crafts projects.


Four of the older girls, Sharmin, Lily, Roshni and Ruma discussed working in the crafts activities. Several of the special care children also took part, working on various craft ideas.

Lions Club Visit

Shikha has sent along news and a photo about a visit to Dhaka FFC by the Lions Club. The Lions Club donated new school bags for the children and fabric to make new school uniforms and bedsheets.

After visiting all the floors, the Singapore students took part in drawing activities. They had brought with them paper, colored pencils, erasers and sharpeners for the FFC children to use in their art, as well as cookies and candy. They showed the FFC children how to make paper boats and birds. They then made a presentation using a laptop to show the children something about Singapore. The FFC children in turn showed the visitors some Bengali dances.

Visitors From Singapore

The children at FFC Dhaka were visited by five students from Singapore. The visitors spent a great day with the children. They first had a tour of the FFC building and saw the children taking part in various activities, such as listening to music and dancing.

Eid Holiday

Shujon reports that the FFC children are enjoying a number of activities for the Eid holiday. The Special Care children got together with the school students to take part in singing and dancing.

The girl shown at left is Surma, who is new to the FFC project. Surma is deaf and cannot speak, but she can read lips and enjoys dancing.

Anita will now have a chance to do post graduate studies and is very happy to be there. To celebrate, Anita bought candies for all the children at FFC Dhaka and went there to hand them out. Anita thanks everyone at FFC who helped to make this possible.

Anita At University

Anita has written from Dhaka, to report that she has completed an honors course in Economics from IUBAT. She then applied for admission to a post-graduate Masters level course in Economics and was accepted after passing a public university exam at Jahangirnagar University.

New Games

Muriel Hemmes has sent along some photos of the children at the FFC Dhaka project playing with some of the new games given to the children.

New Clothes For Children

Anita has reported on events at the Dhaka site. Anita is working as an executive officer in a university Alumni Office, and is also working towards entering an MBA program. One of her co-workers, Monowara Begum, in charge of the university library, donated a supply of new clothing for the Dhaka children, all of which was badly needed and much appreciated by the children. Anita, on the right in the photo, grew up at FFC, and was delighted to see their smiling faces.