Bangladesh project profile

Laudob ADP

Education
Many children drop out before completing primary school, mostly for financial reasons. Secondary and tertiary education is likewise beyond the means of most families.

Laudob ADP helps students by supplying stationery or assisting with tuition fees. Schools receive furniture and sports equipment. Holiday work programmes enable older students to earn money to pay their fees, while benefiting the community through road repairs, ground levelling, roadside tree planting and pond weeding. Adult literacy classes and coaching classes for children needing extra tuition are other ways World Vision supports education in Laudob.

Health
Due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, most groundwater in the area is too salty to drink. Also, as in many parts of Bangladesh, the groundwater is contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic. People who draw their drinking water from unprotected ponds are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

Due to travel difficulties and expense, most people go to village healers when they get ill, rather than to trained medical professionals. Pregnant women rely on traditional birth attendants, with no formal training,, to help them in childbirth.

Laudob ADP tests tubewells and fits filters to prevent arsenic poisoning, and builds rainwater reservoirs to collect safe drinking water. It also organises community health education classes and training for traditional birth attendants. Health check-ups and preventative measures, such as de-worming, are held regularly. The ADP supports the government immunisation programme and encourages women to get pre- and ante-natal care.

Agriculture
The main crops grown are rice and vegetables. Cows, goats, chickens and ducks are kept as domestic animals.

Farmers receive training in improved agricultural methods. World Vision also helps by supplying seeds, livestock and animal vaccines.

Income generation
As the land in Laudob is very fertile, the main source of income is agriculture. However, the amount of land available for cultivation is decreasing because of river erosion and pressures from the increasing population. Some of those without land may find work on farms, in factories or other industries, however many people are unemployed. Many parents turn to moneylenders to pay for their children’s education or medical treatment.

World Vision is establishing small savings societies called ‘development groups’. Group members contribute a small amount of money regularly to a pooled fund. They receive training in basic literacy, credit management and bookkeeping, and can later borrow from their group’s fund for personal needs or to establish a small business.

Sustainable development
World Vision started the Laudob Area Development Programme in October 1993. It is training the community’s leaders to continue managing sustainable development initiatives without World Vision’s direct assistance. We will keep you updated on the community’s progress.