Dhaka Street Children

Our first project takes us to South Asia, namely, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The project aims to tackle the issues that children in street situations endure on a daily basis. Restless Beings works with marginalised communities and this growing community of vulnerable children who are living and working on the streets of Dhaka are finding themselves more and more prone to the dangers associated with pornography, prostitution, child labour and human trafficking.

New additions to the RB team in Bangladesh: Dr Quazi Ahmed Zaki, Shipa Bhuiyan and Shoeb Mahmood

Its taken me a while to get around to it, but I wanted to update you all of my recent visit to Bangladesh. I was during my planned time in Dhaka, so following some impromptu diary management, i hooked up with Dr Zaki our Bangladesh co-ordinator a couple of days before I flew back to the UK.

Fatima, the girl who ensures her appearance is that similar to a young boy so she can 'escape the hands of physical abuse by locals 'mastans' (pimps). I met her in Kamalapur Station, Dhaka. She was hungry and tired. She told me how she left home because of her abusive father and how the streets became her refuge. Sleeping on the platforms of Kamalapur station was taking its toil and Fatima sighed and told me she had had enough. She wanted to move on, to somewhere safer. But she didnt know where.

Rahima, Co-Director of RestlessBeings (trip to Dhaka, July - August 2008)

Malnutrition is central to many of the health issues in Bangladesh, as well as in many developing countries, for instance low birth weight, poor growth, slow cognitive development and susceptibility to infections.

But what is malnutrition?

"Malnutrition" is a condition that results from an inadequate or excessive intake of nutrients. Obesity caused by excessive intake of refined carbohydrates and fat, is also a form of malnutrition which is more common in industrialised countries, but recent studies have shown that this 'western' problem is now seeping into the developing nations leading to the situation of a "double burden" of under- and over-nutrition.

Child prostitution, still a prominent and apparent problem in many countries; several nations have been successful in reducing the incident of this misconduct, giving the children effected, that have been trapped in this mortifying means to income, a chance for a better life. However a vast number of other countries still overlook this degradation and tainting of the life of the innocent.