OBAT's President, Mr. Anwar Khan visits the camps
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Anwar Khan (middle on the left) bouncing ideas with OBAT Bangladesh team
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Mr. Anwar Khan visited the camps for the second time this year. Here are some highlights of his activities from the visit:
Leadership and outcomes workshop: Mr. Khan conducted a three day workshop for his staff. The focus of the workshop was on performance measurement and personnel development. With his team, Mr. Khan reviewed personnel and organizational strengths and weaknesses and developed action plans for continual improvement in 2015.
Camp cleaning: All the staff of OBAT joined Mr. Khan in conducting a clean up of the camp premises in Market camp, Dhaka.
New year visits: On new year's eve, Mr. Khan visited some families in the camps, spent time with them and spoke to them about their needs and aspirations.
English language class: Mr. Khan also inaugurated a class for teaching camp youths to be fluent in the English language.
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A student contributes her ideas at the convention
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For the first time, a Scholarship Students' Convention was organized at Rangpur. Two hundred and thirty-five students from OBAT's scholarship program attended the convention. The event was also attended by all the teachers of the tutoring center as well as OBAT's staff. The main objective of the convention was to encourage a close relationship between the scholarship beneficiaries and OBAT, to involve the youth in camp development activities and to hear the students' feedback and ideas.
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Scholarships light futures
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From left: Saima, Sumi and Farzana
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In the photo above, are three bright, young ladies who are studying in the 3rd semester of the BBA program with the help of a scholarship from OBAT. In October, they all also started working as Field Officers for Islamic Relief, a leading humanitarian organization. OBAT's scholarship program has helped nearly 850 students who cannot afford further education, to advance in technical fields of study. These students are hardworking and intelligent and represent the hope of their families to rescue them from poverty.
Light up the future of many more young ladies and men in the camps by contributing to the scholarship program here: http://bit.ly/1fnvrIn
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OBAT's Think Tank and CHANGE collaborate on developing renewable energy sources.
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OBAT's partner in Bangladesh, CHANGE received a grant from the U.S Department of State for a program which has been designed to mentor young innovators and engineering students with a specific focus on research and developing renewable energy products. CHANGE and OBAT THINK TANK are collaboratively going to implement this project.
The objective is to train up to twenty-five youngsters through an intensive curriculum. Fifteen of these participants will be from the camps in Mohammadpur. The rest of the group will be from different universities and vocational institutions. This group will receive two months of hands on training from certified, expert trainers on developing renewable energy appliances. Starting, 20th of December 2014 and ending on 20th of February 2015, three classes lasting two hours will be held every week. At the end of the course, the participants will come up with five innovations which might have the potential to be launched at a national level.
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Farewells and Graduations
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Graduating student from computer center receives a certificate.
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On October 18th, a graduation ceremony and farewell program was held for the students of the Khulna sewing center, Khulna computer training center and the embroidery training center of Khulna. The 5th batch graduated from the sewing center, the 7th from the computer center and the 1st from the embroidery training center. Ward Councilor, Mr. Moniruzzaman Monir was the Chief Guest of the program and awarded certificates of completion to the graduating batches.
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Gemmer Foundation awards grant to OBAT
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| Students at Syedpur tutoring center |
The H.C Gemmer Family Foundation recently awarded a $3,000 grant to OBAT for the annual operating cost of the Syedpur tutoring center. This was the second grant received from Gemmer-the previous one funded the annual cost of the Syedpur sewing center. We are very thankful to the board of the Gemmer foundation for considering OBAT for this grant.
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Where have we been since October?
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Attendees at the Spirit and Place event, engrossed in a discussion.
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Spirit and Place Festival 2014:
OBAT participated in the 2014 Spirit and Place Festival, with its partner, the Second Presbyterian Church on November 9th.
This year's festival was centered around the theme, "Journey." The event comprised of a documentary, discussion, and a large scale exhibit created by a human rights photojournalist, Katie Basbagill, from photos taken during her visit to the camps. The audience also got the opportunity to engage in insightful conversations with the presenters who had journeyed to Bangladesh and returned with their unique and personal inspirations, ideas and reflections.
Global Gifts community give back night:
Global Gifts held a community give back night for OBAT on November 21st at its Nora location in Indianapolis. The organization donated 10% of its sales between 5:00 to 8:00 pm to OBAT. Meet and Greet brunch in Kentucky:
On December 6th, a brunch was hosted by Dr. Tariq Muhammad in Kentucky to inform the local community about OBAT's programs. It was attended by OBAT's representatives, Mr. Anwar Khan and Mr. Rezwan Khan. We are very grateful to Dr. Muhammad for holding this event and to all the guests who attended and contributed generously. Victory Day in Indianapolis:
The local Bangladeshi community held its first celebration of Victory Day (Independence Day of Bangladesh) on December 30th. It was a privilege for OBAT to partner with and sponsor the event. The event involved the showing of a movie, art competition for children, music and other entertainment. The children created hand made cards for the kids in OBAT's schools while the adults signed encouraging messages for them.
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About OBAT
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OBAT Helpers is a U.S. based non-profit, 501(c)3 organization committed to providing aid, support, education and economical empowerment to suffering and displaced people. Our immediate focus is the forgotten and ignored Urdu speaking community, commonly known as stranded Pakistanis/Biharis, who have been suffering silently in the many shanty camps across Bangladesh for the past 43 years. OBAT was formed ten years ago to empower the camp residents through its various projects related to health, education and micro finance.
We hope that you will continue your generous support and create hope for these unfortunate and forgotten people. Together, we are making a difference in their lives as we help them fulfill their hopes and dreams.
Please share this message with your friends and families and invite them to join us on this journey!
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We value and appreciate your support tremendously. For questions and concerns, please email us at [email protected]
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Prominent newspaper in Bangladesh laud's OBAT's efforts.
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OBAT welcomes new board member
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Camp youth receive English language and professional training
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Camp kids celebrate World Children's Day
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Board member, Dr. Ayaz Malik visits camps
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Blankets distribution keeps camp residents warm
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Khulna preschool celebrates annual result
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Canadian guests conduct survey in camps
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Staff attends Training on Information Act
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Shop at Amazon and help OBAT
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