In 2013, during my travel to the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, I worked with over 60 street children in three different villages in Biswanath as part of an international NGO project that provided a day school for young children who lived on the streets. Through the little funds that I raised, I was able to provide the children with school materials such as a school bag, stationary set and sports equipment so that they were able enjoy activities that most of us take for granted.

A year later, I was devastated to hear that the school had closed down due to lack of funding and the children were back on the streets. I could not sit back and do nothing so with donations from family and friends, along with all my savings, I went back in 2014 to reopen the school. In our first year, we took on over 40 children but this time each child also got a brand new school uniform. We moved into a better facility with a small playground and named it ‘Butterfly School’. Each year we took 30 new children and made sure that the older children transitioned into mainstream school.

I am planning on going back to Bangladesh during February 2018 covering my own travel costs and expenses in order to continue with this charitable cause and support these vulnerable children. We aim to take on a new batch of children, as young as 3 years old. If we help them early, they are more likely to stay and go onto mainstream school thereafter. Your donations will help reduce child exploitation, child marriages, gender discrimination, and ultimately reduce poverty through education and prosperity. 100% of your donations will be used to sustain this much needed project and will provide the following:

- Provide every child with a school uniform, school bag and stationary set;

- Provide the school with a variety of sports equipment, arts and crafts materials to support their learning;

- Teacher training and mentoring; and

- Pay for the running of the school including tutor costs for the next 5 years.

Education is the defining factor of any child’s ability to develop, it offers them the chance to empower themselves and the tools they require to craft a more positive future.

The Butterfly School is designed specifically to combat these barriers; with the help of our supporters we were able to ensure that hundreds of children who were not previously getting the chance to go school gained access to that basic human right.

Through this project, we will encourage the children to realise their potential and make a transition from the streets back to family and community life. Child poverty is wrong and you can do something to help!