The Sreepur Village News (Shishu Polli Plus)

These were made possible by the generosity of British Airways who allow us one free ticket per trustee each year.

I always forget how far from the main Dhaka Road the children’s village is located. It was about 3 am and I had landed in Dhaka an hour or so previously on a lightening trip to Shishu Polli with Trisha and Maureen. I was interested to see that the road was actually called Shishu Polli Road now and through the darkness could make out many more houses than when I was last there about 4 years back and even the skeleton of an enormous factory being built. So different from when I first visited nearly 20 years ago. The road was unmade then and there were only a few mud houses alongside it. Once the road was made-up for the children’s village when it opened, development followed.

In the light of day, it was reassuring to see the familiar buildings looking so good still after nearly 20 years in the Bangladeshi climate, which can wreak havoc on bricks and mortar. The grounds shady with mature trees, vegetables growing in the fields, the cows dozing in the sun and, of course, and most importantly, the children, looking fit and happy and as excited as ever to see us and desperate to have their photographs taken at every opportunity!

New additions that had popped up since my last visit were rubbish bins! Pat Kerr had looked everywhere for the ideal child friendly bin and had at last found exactly the right sort. These were strategically placed and amazingly the children used them. The whole project looked very well cared for.

I was eager to see the Psycho-social building (now called the Shayo Kunja Centre) and Halfway House which were new additions and I wasn’t disappointed when Pat showed us around. The Shayo Kunja building was really impressive but nestled into the grounds very well so wasn’t intrusive. On three floors there was plenty of space for the various counselling activities and a lovely new home for the special needs children, plus a large meeting room (where we joined a keep fit class!!) and bedrooms for visitors.

Also in this building is a Multi-Faith Quiet Room. This had just been finished and Trish officially opened the room. This was followed by a lovely little ceremony with all the different faiths, Buddhist ,Christian, Hindu and Muslim taking part.

To get to the Half-Way House we had to go out of the main gate and turn left down a country lane. This was a dirt track similar to all the minor roads that run off Shishu Polli Road. Just down this road we entered the Half-Way House where girls live just prior to leaving the project

Here they get used to looking after themselves, cooking, etc. and can come and go as they please, although there is house mother to keep and eye on them. The house backs onto the project and initially one could enter through a gate directly from the main grounds. However, this became such a thoroughfare that it was defeating the object and the gate had to be locked. On two floors with a balcony running all around the first floor, the house faces onto a thriving vegetable garden, planted and maintained by the girls.

Sleeping at Sreepur is always a problem as the nights are very noisy – security guards whistling to one another, peculiar animal noises (probably dogs), odd sounding birds and very early in the morning the constant hum of children at play. This time however there was an almighty storm. I’ve experienced some pretty noisy storms, particularly in the mountains, but this beat the lot. One could hear it approaching and the thunder sounded different from any other. When it was overhead the thunder didn’t break. It was just a continuous roar, with the lightning flashing and the rain just falling down in sheets. It was impossible to sleep so I got up and watched it. Very exciting but I hoped the radio tower had been earthed. Luckily all was well in the morning.

One of the new vocational courses introduced fairly recently is beauty therapy and the students were happy to have some guinea pigs to work on! I was lucky enough to have a facial, which was so good I made a mental note to have them on a regular basis when I got home. Maureen had a manicure and Trisha a pedicure. Eventually the girls will work out of the Visitors’ Centre in Dhaka.

Before we flew out of Dhaka, we also visited this new Centre. The building has been purchased by the Charity and the interior has just been finished. It is beautifully decorated and furnished in a very cool, simple way that enhances the products displayed, all of which are made at the Sreepur Village. The Centre is near to the airport and it is envisaged that travellers coming to Dhaka could easily visit to purchase cards and other gifts and also see a demonstration of weaving and other crafts undertaken on the project.

Such a lightening visit was over far too quickly, but I left feeling very proud that I was just a little part of this inspiring project.

My last visit to Sreepur was in 2004 for the 15th anniversary celebration of the project. I was really looking forward to my visit this March for much has been achieved during the intervening years, and I was extremely keen to see the progress and completion of new buildings and programmes.

The latest buildings are very impressive. The Halfway House is set in a delightful area with its own little garden of herbs and vegetables. It establishes a great environment in which the older girls can be supported as they take their first steps to full, independent lives.

The Shayo Kunjo Centre makes a striking impression with its large, airy rooms and serene atmosphere. The ‘Quiet Room’ was officially opened during our visit. It is a wonderful concept, allowing as it does all religions to be embraced, and anyone who needs time to be alone for any reason to contemplate or grieve quietly.

The older girls are creating exquisitely delicate embroidery on saris and scarves, many of which will go on sale at the visitors centre in Dhaka. The card making and weaving continue to develop, as both the quality and design of the products improve. I am sure many of our long term sponsors, when buying the Christmas cards over the past years, will have noticed the strides being made.

All the children look so happy. They clearly enjoy considerable freedom to run, play and take part in sports and physical activities. It was especially delightful to see the little ones, who constantly practised their English language skills on us, with ‘Hello, how are you’ and ‘What is your name’ as a constant refrain wherever we went. We sat in on one of the older girls' English class lessons, which the pupils obviously enjoyed. Their enthusiasm was very encouraging.

The visitor’s centre in Dhaka was magnificent. Once again, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was so much more advanced than I had imagined. Patently a great deal of thought and a lot hard work has gone into making this into what I am sure will be a thriving project.

Pat has done a fantastic job overseeing the village and implementing the wide range of programmes that enable its ongoing success. Your support has ensured this project is something of which we can all be very proud.

Annual Meeting of Sponsors

The trustees are planning a general meeting in May 2009, and we would like to invite all of our sponsors to come and join us for an afternoon. We think that the best venue is probably somewhere in London, but before we get organizing, we would like to know how many people think they can join us.

If you would like to meet us, hear directly from Pat about Sreepur and our plans for future, and perhaps come armed with suggestions on how to improve our programmes or fundraising, please write and let us know or email us at info@thesreepurvillage.org If we get sufficient interest, then we will start to plan an enjoyable get together in May 2009.

Ruby, one of our trustees, recently received the following email from Khadija Sultana, our Executive Director at Sreepur:

“You will be happy to know that Razia, one of our older girls living in Dhaka, has opened a bank account yesterday and deposited taka 40,000 (the equivalent of around £300) which she saved over a period. She was very pleased to go to the bank for the first time. We were having severe problems to open a bank account for the abandoned older boys and girls, but you will be happy to know that one of the banks is very supportive to us, and around 40% of the abandoned children now have bank accounts. Our Social Worker is working very hard to make it 100% within a short time”.

It is hard for children without any family to establish themselves, so this is a real step forward.

Bangladesh Textile Exhibition

Monday 11^th August to Friday 22 August 2008 (except Sunday 17^th)

10.30 am – 4.30 pm

Liverpool Town Hall

Handmade Kantha Quilts

Photography of rural Bangladesh

Silk scarves, cards and gifts for sale

If you live near Liverpool, please put this in your diary and support The Sreepur Village, and drop by to have a chat with Ruby Porter, one of our trustees.

SREEPUR VILLAGE CARDS

Please tell your friends and family to check out www.sreepurcards.org where the new designs for 2008 are now available to buy online.

SUMMER SALE

We have a quantity of 2007 Christmas and blank cards still available.

Special prices for sponsors:

Blank cards: 10 for £5

Christmas cards: 12 for £5

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