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Welcome, Seattle Friends of OBAT!
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OBAT Helpers would like to extend a heartfelt welcome and thank you to our new Friends of OBAT chapter in Seattle. The Seattle community welcomed us to a wonderful event held on Saturday, September 21, 2013. Hosted by dynamic community leaders, Rizwan Samad, Jawaid Ekram, Munaf Khan, Kamran Salahuddin, Munir Rizvi, Hamid Mahmood and specially the youth leadership of Seattle. The event was attended by over 150 people. Dr. Ayaz Malik (OBAT Board of Directors), Iqbal Malik (coordinator friends of OBAT Dallas, TX) and Anwar Khan (President OBAT Helpers) were the key people representing OBAT. They especially convey their gratitude to our new chapter for their compassion and generosity. With the help of our Seattle group, we will be able to continue and expanding our educational programs.
We look forward to cultivating our relationship with Seattle and are more than happy that our OBAT family is growing to such great heights. If you would like to be a part of the OBAT family, we would love to hear from you and take a trip to your city to establish new ties and welcome you to our fold.
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OBAT'S NEW DOCUMENTARY- "The Journey to Change."
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Zach, with a young camp resident from Chittagong
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Watch OBAT's new documentary, "The journey to change," a creation of talented videographer, Zachary Rockwood(www.lenume.com). Zach offered his talents to OBAT pro bono and visited the camps in December of 2012. During his almost two week stay there,he went from camp to camp and filmed and talked to the camp residents. The result was this impactful and extremely well-executed documentary that is not only a heart-wrenching portrayal of the lives of the camp residents but is also a testimony to Zach's prowess as a skilled videographer. The documentary can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/c-hW198tw3A
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Another Tubewell in Geneva Camp!
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Construction of well is underway
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We are excited to report that a second tube well's construction is underway by OBAT at the Geneva camp in Dhaka. This camp is one of the most densely populated camps in Bangladesh with an approximate population of 40,000. This new tubewell is expected to be completed towards the end of October.
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Food distribution in camps during Ramadan
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Some recipients of Ramadan gifts
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To enable the camp dwellers to enjoy Ramadan and Eid, several hundred families received assistance from OBAT in the camps during the month of Ramadan. The items distributed to them included staples such as oil, sugar, flour, rice and vermicelli etcetera. Approximately 2,500 families received the food gifts in
Chittagong, Dhaka, Rangpur, Syedpur and Khulna.
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OBAT'S winning picture in the 2012 Annual Report on Philanthropy.
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Winning picture of OBAT's mobile health clinic in Syedpur
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A photo submission by OBAT was selected as the winner in a contest held by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The photograph, as a result, was published in the Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2012 and it appears on page 170 of the report. The photograph was taken by talented photographer, Katie Basbagill (www.bohemianredimages.com) during her visit to the camps in December 2012.
The report is written and researched by Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University.
You can view the report here:http://www.givingusareports.org.
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"Make it Green-Keep it Clean." A project by OBAT's youth Think Tank.
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Some members of the project
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OBAT Think Tank is an organized group led by the youth of the camps. It works hand in hand with OBAT Helpers. The main goal of the Think Tank is to organize and involve the youth with positive community building activities. The group aims to keep its members focused on the betterment of youth, while simultaneously improving their leadership and communication skills. It also works on spreading awareness regarding health, safety and a clean environment. Read more.
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So many places- so little time!
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Immad Ahmed, OBAT's outreach coordinator, DC area at our ISNA convention booth.
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There were a slew of places that OBAT made an appearance at these past few months:
July 3rd-7th: OBAT Helpers participated in the 2013 annual Association of Physicians of Pakistani Decent of North America (APPNA) in Orlando, Florida from July 4th through the 7th. In addition to serving as an exhibitor, the APPNA invited OBAT to conduct two presentations to conference attendees. Attending from OBAT were Mr. Anwar Khan, Founder and President, and Mr. Carey W. Craig, Director of Operations. Read more.
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About OBAT
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OBAT Helpers is a US based non-profit, 501(C)3 organization committed to providing aid, support, education and economical empowerment to the suffering and displaced people. Our immediate focus is the most forgotten and ignored Urdu speaking people, commonly known as stranded Pakistanis/Biharis, who have been suffering silently in the many shanty camps across Bangladesh for the past 40 years.
We hope that you will continue your generous support to provide help to these unfortunate and forgotten people. We are the only hope for them, as they don't have any help and support from anywhere else around the world. Together we are making a difference in their lives as we help them fulfill their hopes and dreams.
Pass along this message to others who can
join us on this journey!
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Thank you for sponsoring our educational projects. Currently our needs encompass the following areas:
Health Clinic Rangpur: $14,500/yr
Health Clinic Syedpur: $23,600/yr
Computer Training Center Rangpur: $3,500/yr
Computer Training Center Dhaka: $3,500/yr
Cataract surgery: $15,000 (Total 1000 cataract patients will be served. Total cost $35,000 @ $40/person- $20,000 donated by HCI Canada)
Economic Empowerment: $250-$900/project
Family Assistance program: $300-$600/yr
Educational scholarship: $200-$500/yr
Clean water infrastructure: $6000 motorized deep tube well
Non-Formal Schools for working children: $13,100/yr
for 10 Schools
Community latrines and Drainage system: $10,300
We value and appreciate your support tremendously. For questions and concerns, please email us at [email protected]
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| Eid-ul-Adha Mubarak! |  |
On the sacred occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, share your blessings with the forgotten people living in Bangladesh's camps. For the past six years, we have been arranging qurbani on your behalf and distributing meat to more than ten thousand families.
Let's continue to share the spirit of Eid with them every year. Download the Qurbani form here and mail it to us or contact us by email or phone for your qurbani needs.
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| Camp development through its youth. | |
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In order to help develop their evolving youth population, OBAT Think Tank organized their first ever youth seminar. The objective of the seminar was to promote development among the youth; determine their role in the betterment of camp life; protect youth from drug addiction; establish equal rights for education for women; and also to ban the system of dowry.
Youth from different camps of Bangladesh took part in this seminar to discuss the aforementioned topics. Barrister Sadia Arman was the chief guest in this seminar. Also present as special guest was, Mr. Abdul Jabbar, the president of SPGRC. Murtaza Ahmed Khan, OBAT's project officer was the convener of this event. The slogan of the seminar was, " Develop camp life through its youth."
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| Spectacular results! | |
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Recently, we received the High School Certificate (HSC) results of the students who prepared for the exam at the Dhaka tutoring center of OBAT. Out of the fifteen students taking the exam, fourteen received an A +, A or an
A-; only one student received a B. We are so proud of these hard working students!
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| Enhancing education through training |  | |
The government of Bangladesh recently changed the textbooks for all elementary schools.A three day training session was organized for all of the Khulna School teachers to accommodate this change in their teaching methodology.The focus was on teaching from the new editions of the Math and English text books. On one of the three days, the training focused on teaching methods for preschools.
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| Visitors from Bangladesh | 
On September 15th, OBAT had the honor of hosting four bright young men who were visiting the United States from Bangladesh on invitation from the State department as a part of the International Visitor Leadership Program. The group all work for community organizations in Bangladesh and were interested in learning about the operations of OBAT. The delegation expressed deep interest in forming affiliations with OBAT in Bangladesh. We look forward to working with them and initiating partnerships that will serve to enhance and grow our programs there.
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| How can YOU Help? | |
Volunteer for OBAT
Intern for us
Spread the word
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