Dino and Rotna, a future for the children from Dhaka’s slums
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Nurjahan was 13 years old when she was given away in marriage by her parents. After three months of marriage her husband abandoned her, while she was two months pregnant. The family refused to take her back. This was in 2002 and in Dhaka, in a slum of the capital of Bangladesh.
Nurjahan knocked on the door of a Catholic couple who lived nearby, for help and hospitality. Dino and Rotna welcomed her home: This is how the missionary work of these lay people began, dedicated to the women and poor girls of the city. Today their apostolate is called Friends For The Poor and includes a sewing school, a production center, a literacy school and an orphanage.
Dino, whose name
in Bengali
means "poor thing", comes from
a very poor family from Khulna. At the time of his birth his family was in
dire straits. He knew only hunger until
he entered the minor seminary of a
religious congregation. After completing his higher studies he married Rotna, also in Khulna. The
two moved to Dhaka, where they
found work as teachers.
"The experience of hunger - says Dino - left a
deep mark on me. The fact that
you did not eat yesterday or today, the feeling of an
empty stomach and the weakness of starvation however, are nothing compared
to the anguish about the future, not know
if and when you will ever eat". It is this
sensitivity that drives man
to show concern for the poor living in the slums,
especially girls, who in a very poor
society like that of Bangladesh are also the most vulnerable.
The birth of a female is considered a burden to the parents, who do not see any economic advantage in sending a child to school. Most remain illiterate and are given in marriage as soon as they reach puberty, incapable of living an "adult" life and not ready to face the demands of motherhood. The husband, as in Nurjahan's case, may prove unreliable and abandon his young wife for trivial reasons.
In first helping this girl, Dino and Rotna decide to teach her to sew and embroider: teaching her a trade will allow her to become independent and so raise her child, even alone. After Nurjahan other girls begin to arrive, and receive the same help from the couple. Dino begins to exploit its contacts - especially foreign missionaries and nuns - to try to sell the girls creations (tablecloths, linens etc.) and fund young girls upkeep. In the heart of the slum, a sewing and embroidery center was born.
The initiative is successful, Dino and Rotna open two more properties
in Rajshahi and Dinajpur, but the girls only succeed in selling their products abroad. At the suggestion of the wife of an Italian industrialist in Dhaka, to stabilize the revenue the center began to focus on dressmaking and tailoring,
a product that is more marketable
locally. The new centers soon closed, due to management
difficulties and the couple decided to concentrate on
the centre in Dhaka.
Over the years, the structure has changed location several times - because of a lack of water,
or flooding problems, or because of a landlord
demanding higher rent - always
within the slums and thus becoming
an integral part of people's lives.
At the same time, Dino and Rotna opened
a literacy school. They rented a bigger premises and the first female students were the girls from the
sewing center, whom they taught to read
and write. Given the large number
of poor and hungry girls that roam the slums,
they decided to extend
the teaching to younger girls. At first, to entice them to attend school, they gave each 10 kg of rice per month. However, when
they realized that in many cases the
food is sold by their parents to make money, the couple changed strategy: every day
the offer the girls a hot meal at the school.
Thanks to his network of contacts, Dino
managed to find all sorts of help for his little female
students: not only money, but also teaching materials, often in English. Two
teachers from the American School in the capital agree
to give some lessons, with
the result that these girls know English better
than many peers who attend
regular schools.
Today the center in the slums of Dhaka is
divided into tailoring school, production
center and the literacy school. There
are 10 students per course at the tailoring school. Each
course lasts three months. The
environment is very friendly and meets
the girls' needs: almost all
are already mothers and it is very
common to see them learning with their children by their side (see
photo). Once they have mastered the
craft, they usually go to work in shops that offer small tailoring
repairs, or they buy a sewing machine
and open their own.
The production center has a dozen workers,
most of whom were the first young girls saved by Dino
and Rotna. In
fact it was with a promise to give them a job so they would no longer pose a burden, that many families allow these girls to study.
The literacy school counts 120 girls, divided
into three shifts a day.
The opening of the girls orphanage
is a recent expansion for Friends For The Poor. It is located on the outskirts of Dhaka, with 25 little
girls who attend schools in the
area. Dino and Rotna now live here,
along with their three daughters who
were born in these years. In order to manage and organize all of their initiatives Dino has left teaching.
A generous donor has guaranteed him a monthly salary,
the same as he had received when teaching, provided he
continues his work with the
children of Dhaka.
Most of the girls are Muslim, but there are also Hindus, tribal and
Christian. While living their faith in a conservative manner,
being in a country with a Muslim
majority, Dino and Rotna have never hidden their religion and everybody
knows they are Catholic.
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