Giving the slum girls of Nyanagar a little ray of hope
By Lorraine Shearer
(From The Orcadian dated July 19, 2001)

Mike and Rosey Whittles have returned to Orkney from Bangladesh for a break
but are returning to carry on their Asha project to provide opportunities for deprived children

Rosey Whittles with some of the children who live in the Bangladesh busty - illegal squats.

He refers to them as his daughters and they call him papa. They share no blood ties, but for Mike and Rosey Whittles their "adopted" children are now their life.

The Orkney couple are giving up almost everything to live, breathe and work the Asha project in Bangladesh, supporting 31 girls and eight boys.

These once illiterate teenagers are now attending school and receive shoes, a uniform, bags and books. They also receive a monthly allowance that varies from 400-1,000 taka (between £5-£10), according to age.

"Though the Asha project is barely six months old we are seeing major changes in the lifestyles and attitudes of these children," Mike said. "Not only are they now having the opportunity to learn, but also to play and socialise in safe surroundings."

The couple were back in Orkney this month for a short visit. The children they left behind were very upset, believing they were not going to return, Mike said.

For some it is an opportunity to relax from the heavy adult responsibilities that were forced upon them at a young age.

Thirteen-year-old Sokina, Koruna and Dorifa have each been key contributors to the family income for many years.

Despite the hardship for the young girls, there is hope and they are happy with very little.

"'I will be beaten tonight,' Sokina once whispered to me. 'My father always beats me when I come home without any money.'"

According to Mike that is not unusual for those children who have fathers.

The couple, who plan to keep their house in Finstown, have been in Bangladesh for two years. Their stay is open-ended.

Mike continued: "Attitudes are changing too, as they experience life with us. Still at times turbulent in emotions and subject to fits of jealousy and pique, the girls are nevertheless noticeably more tolerant and gentle. And giving.

"It amused me when Selena, normally so careful with every taka in her possession after three years in the market, told me that she had tipped her rickshaw wallah when she came to visit us."

"He was very poor, papa. He didn't even have any shoes, so I let him have 15 taka," Selena said.

The couple have rented a flat in Nyanagar slum to serve as their Asha Centre - somewhere they can call their own and where they can meet with the girls and provide facilities for them. Up until that point the drop-in centre was Mike and Rosey's home.

In the Asha Centre they will be offering recreational facilities, somewhere to wash and iron and relax, as well as a place to offer health care, education and tutorials.

All their girls live in poor quality "busty" houses - illegal squats, often little more than shacks, with difficult access to water. Severe overcrowding, lack of sanitation and privacy makes for a difficult life in the busty.

The young mother is ony 12 - she is now alone after her husband walked out.

"It was only a short time ago I came across ten-year-old Labia standing silently in a corner of the market. With her loaded basket on her head she was obviously waiting for a customer and at first I thought not to disturb her, but then I saw the tears running down her cheeks, and, suddenly concerned, went across to speak," Mike said.

But Labia couldn't reply. She was struggling desperately to hold steady the crushing weight of vegetables on her head.

"I lifted the basket down myself, with some difficulty, and held her for a moment while she sobbed into my shirt. I then had to explain to the portly disgruntled Bangladeshi matron who had employed her, that a child could not carry such a weight and should not be made to try. She accepted the fact with poor grace."

Young boys have many more opportunities in Bangladesh than young girls. The girls are married off when they reach puberty, often at the age of 12. One of the photographs shows a 12-year-old girl with her child. Her husband has left her.

Families do not see the point in spending money on educating their daughters, when they will leave and become someone else's responsibility. Once the girls are married off, they rarely see their families again.

Mike explained that often the girls become slaves for their mothers-in-law.

Teenage girls in the Dhaka slums often have stark choices to make. Family poverty means they often do not attend school. Instead they work - mostly in the markets or ragpicking on the streets - to help provide rice for the family.

At 12 or 13 they will be dispatched to one of the many garment factories to work 72 hours a week for as little as $3, Rosey explained.

Mike and Rosey Whittles help feed some of the street children of Bangladesh.

"Or they become bond servants to richer Bangladeshi families - a service that often results in systematic abuse and borders on slavery. None of these choices is legal but in Bangladeshi society that counts for little. The sooner an older daughter can be disposed of and responsibility for her passed on to someone else, the better."

Asha means "hope" in Bangla.

Rosey is to continue her work teaching at the Grace International School, to financially support their work.

Sponsorship costs for schooling average about 1,000 taka (£12) a month plus the cost of paying school fees, uniforms, books and providing for medical care and family help.

For the future, they plan to try and reach many more illiterate girls at risk, provide hostel accommodation and offer literacy lessons to the mothers of their girls.

Mike added: "Please consider giving to the Asha project over the months ahead. We will be delighted to work in partnership with you, providing information as to how the money is spent and letting you participate in the good things we see taking place."

More information can be obtained by e.mail at whittles@citechco.net or by writing to them at the Grace International School, House 78B, Road 23, Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh. You can give money directly to Lloyds TSB Bank, Aberdeen, Sort code: 87 34 01, account in the name of M.D and R. A Whittles, no 85789168, or send a cheque made out to Whittles (Asha) to the Grace International School address given above.