Serving up an education

“When I grow up, I want to be a doctor to help the poor people in my village,” says 11-year-old Morsalin, who lives in Kisoreganj in northern Bangladesh in a single-roomed house he shares with his mother, who is a domestic worker.

His mother, Mossamida, says: “His father died three years ago, and after he died, I lost all hope."

“There was nothing to eat in the house because he was the main breadwinner and we didn’t have any land to grow food. I didn’t know what to do for my three sons, who were crying for food. There was darkness all around me.”

The 39-year-old continues: “I got jobs for my two oldest sons in a local restaurant. Every day, they went there early in the morning and came home around midnight, but they didn’t earn much."

“Also, the owner didn’t give them enough food, so they had to steal some at work just to stop feeling hungry. Sometimes he [the restaurant owner] physically punished them, so they quit."

“I knocked on the doors of all the well-off men in my village looking for a job, but nobody gave me one; they just gave me food. So my two [eldest] sons resorted to stealing in our neighborhood to get money and food for me."

“One day, some villagers punished them for stealing food, money and other things we needed to survive, so they left the village. Now they’re working in a garage in Chittagong, so Morsalin and I are on our own."

I got jobs for my two oldest sons in a local restaurant. Every day, they went there early in the morning and came home around midnight, but they didn’t earn much.

“I was searching for a way to make a living when I realized that only education could change our lives, so I sent Morsalin to Mosrot Paniya Pukur, which is a state primary school. He finished grade two there."

“But we were still poor and hungry. Morsalin would come home from school and demand food, toys and other things I couldn’t provide. I had to ask my neighbours for some food for him.”

Wiping her tears with her sari, she says: “Sometimes, he felt so tired he’d say, ‘I can see letters spinning around me and it’s all dark. Please give me food!’ I was crying inside and prayed to God for help.”

The mother explains that her youngest son was forced to leave school and get a job, like his brothers, in a nearby restaurant, where he worked from morning to late at night and earned only 50 US cents for a day’s labor.

Mossamida says: “He gave me the money to buy food and other things we needed, but he was tired every day. Sometimes he cried and said if his father had still been alive, he would have had everything.”

Two years before, World Vision had started a child labor project in the area, including a non-formal education center that Morsalin joined. At the same time, one of World Vision’s local team obtained written consent from the restaurant owner for Morsalin to attend the school.

Morsalin says: “I go to the restaurant at 6am to wash the dishes and serve bread and tea to the customers. My boss pays me and gives me breakfast, but it [the meal] isn’t enough.

World Vision’s local team obtained written consent from the restaurant owner for Morsalin to attend the school.

“I see full plates of food on the customers’ tables, so I’ve asked for more bread, but the owner just threatens me and sometimes punishes me. I finish work at 8am and then go to school."

“Bengali, English and mathematics  are my favorite subjects and I like to play with my friends there. School ends at 11am and then I go back to the restaurant before returning home at 5pm."

 “Suvo is my best friend. He’s like me and we work at the same place. We share our bread and toys and when we have time, we go to the river to chat."

“When I’m at work and see my friends going to their [state] school, I feel lonely. If my dad were still alive, I could go to school like them. But I’ve got some new clothes, toys, books and a football, and I eat good food, like fish, meat and eggs."

“I’m going to carry on working and studying, and if God is with me, I’ll be a doctor.”

 To help her son, Mossamida also attends the World Vision school to learn to read and perform elementary arithmetic. “Sometimes I think if I were educated, I could get any job,” she says. “Only that [education] can save us.”

Photo : Mother and son both are educating themselves in a non formal education center 

Sakila Akter, a teacher at the school, says, “We have two groups of 50 children, but there are many more from families like theirs around here. Ten of the children have jobs. But it’s encouraging that they and their mothers are learning to read.”

Mossamida says, “I don’t need anything else from World Vision because their school has opened my eyes. Just pray every day that my children and I will overcome our problems and that they [her children] will achieve their dreams.”

 By Md. Golam Ehsanul Habib, World Vision Bangladesh Communications