Overcoming to Learn in Bangladesh
Description
Find out how World Vision's street children education program is making a difference in one girl's life in Bangladesh.
Bithi Aktar, 13, graduated from World Vision’s street children education program in Dhaka Shishu, Bangladesh. Bithi’s father had an accident that left him disabled a decade ago, leaving her mother to provide for the family. Bithi worked with her mother as a housekeeper to help and looked after her siblings, leaving no time for school. Then, in 2009, she joined World Vision’s street children education program. She graduated from the program, and though she still works, Bithi also attends school and is in the fifth grade. “I want to be a medical doctor,” she says. “I want to serve poor children, so they won’t have the experiences I had.”
Each day, millions of girls around the world can’t step into a classroom. Instead, neglect, abuse, and poverty create seemingly insurmountable barriers to their education, resulting in about 496 million women who can’t read and write today. World Vision works in nearly 100 countries to help girls overcome these barriers so they can attend school, improve their lives, and help advance their communities.
Bithi Aktar, 13, graduated from World Vision’s street children education program in Dhaka Shishu, Bangladesh. Bithi’s father had an accident that left him disabled a decade ago, leaving her mother to provide for the family. Bithi worked with her mother as a housekeeper to help and looked after her siblings, leaving no time for school. Then, in 2009, she joined World Vision’s street children education program. She graduated from the program, and though she still works, Bithi also attends school and is in the fifth grade. “I want to be a medical doctor,” she says. “I want to serve poor children, so they won’t have the experiences I had.”
Written by Kristy J. O'Hara