The Pirganj community programme
The Pirganj community development programme is located in the
north of Bangladesh in the Rangpur district. World Vision reaches
333 villages with a total population of 23,040. World Vision's
partnership with the community started quite recently in 2010, and
is envisaged to continue until 2025, when the community will be
fully equipped with the resources and skills to take ownership of
its own development. In the past year, World Vision focused on
mobilising the community to become involved in the development
programme and establishing partnerships, as well as food and
nutrition.
Issues covered: Nutrition, community
mobilisation and early childhood education
Updates on World Vision's work
Community mobilisation and early childhood
education
- 200 community members received orientation training in the
Child Sponsorship programme, and a community-based child monitoring
committee was established to help foster a child-friendly
environment.
- 162 children aged 4-5 years were enrolled in eight childhood
development centres to help prepare children for school. In
addition, 270 parents of children aged 0-3 years, attended a
parenting course to help improve the well-being of their
children.
Nutrition
- 4 nutrition awareness-raising programmes reached 400 community
members to increase their knowledge about good nutrition. In
addition, a survey was conducted in eight villages to identify
malnourished children for nutritional assistance, and mothers for
nutrition education programmes.
- 15 nutrition centres were established and 64 severely and
moderately malnourished children (aged 6-36 months) were supported
with nutritional assistance, and their mothers received nutrition
education.
The Pirganj community is in the third year of its development
journey with World Vision.
Life on
the ground in Pirganj
Vegetable gardens improve nutrition and
income
Sree Rabindranath, 49, in the vegetable
garden he has started with his wife, Sreemoti Bobita, 38.
As part of the livelihood and food security projects being
implemented in the Pirganj community, families are encouraged to
grow their own vegetables in an eco-friendly way to help them
provide better food for their children, and to increase their
household income. In the past year, 150 small farmers received
training in vegetable gardening, and were supported with vegetable
seeds. They also received training in making their own biological
pest control using garlic or soap and water, and compost to improve
soil fertility. One of the trainees was Sreemoti Bobita, 38. She
and her husband Sree Rabindranath, 49, have two children,
17-year-old Sree Komol Roy, a college student, and 7-year-old Sapna
Rani. Supported with seeds, Sreemoti planted vegetables such as
eggplant, asparagus and beans. She also made her own compost from
organic kitchen and garden waste. In just three months, Sreemoti
has produced 45kg vegetables, of which she sold about 35kg. "I am
so much happy that my family can eat pesticide-free vegetables, and
that they can fulfill their daily requirement of vegetable
nutrition," says Sreemoti. She expresses the hope that this
training and knowledge will be continued and replicated throughout
all villages.
Bangladesh at a glance
Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world. The
country's land area is slightly smaller than the South Island of
New Zealand, yet, is home to about 162 million people. A
combination of frequent natural disasters, internal political
strife and corruption affects the people's struggle to rise above
the poverty line.
