A Struggling Child from the Slum with High Hopes

“In the future, I want to be a doctor and cure my mother of her illness as she has been suffering from Hepatitis B for 5 years and I want to give free treatments to those who are poor and underprivileged like us,” said Md. Habibulla Tusher, a 9-year-old boy of Chalantika slum area in Dhaka.

Tusher is a 9-year-old bright kid and a dweller of the Chalantika slum area. His father’s name is Md. Kamal Mia and his mother’s name is Taslima Begum. There are six members of his family. He has three siblings. 15 years back, Tusher's family came to Dhaka from Bhola district which is located in the southern part of Bangladesh. His family migrated to Dhaka due to the river erosion as they had lost all of their lands into the river. Since then, they have been living in Chalantika slum. His father is a car driver and mother work as a housemaid. Tusher is not less deserving than the others who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Unfortunately, his family couldn’t provide his other basic needs except for three meals per day.

A few years ago, life was not the same as it is now for Tusher. Everything was going well. His father took a bank loan and built their house consisting of two rooms in the Chalantika slum. They had been repaying the installments of the bank loan consistently, using the money they got by putting one of their rooms for rent. In the year of 2014, Tusher's mother has diagnosed with Hepatitis B. That news came to them like a bolt from the blue.

In Bangladesh, the treatment of ‘Hepatitis B' is very expensive. For better treatment, Tusher's father sold the room which was rented. And they spent all the money they got by selling the room for his mother’s treatment. Soon she was cured of the disease.

But unfortunately, during giving birth of her third child in 2016 she was diagnosed with hepatitis B again. She became very sick. After a year, she gave birth to her fourth child. It was very tough for them maintaining the cost for the treatment of his mother. So, they borrowed money from other people. To repay them, they were forced to sell their only room in which they lived and started to live in a rented room in Chalantika slum. Due to this critical financial problem, they couldn’t afford the treatment of his mother.

His elder brother is now an eighth-grader so his father has to take care of his education. Therefore, they are struggling to comprehend the problems they are facing both financially and mentally.

In the year of 2015, Tusher’s parents came to know about CSCDP project of ADRA Bangladesh and they admitted him in the nursery grade at the school steering by CSCDP project. He is learning so many good things from ADRA center. He always helps his mother in household chores and takes care of his siblings. He has become famous among his neighbors. Everybody admires him for his humble, friendly and polite manners. Right now, he is studying in grade three at his school and getting all sorts of support from the CSCDP project, such as educational materials, nutritious foods, etc. Without the support of ADRA Bangladesh, he might not be able to continue his education.

“He is by far the best mannered, obedient and humble student in my class. He is always the first one done with his class tasks. He is very good at drawing. His favorite subjects are Mathematics and Bangla. He always takes care of his siblings. I wish one day his dream will come true and he will have a better future,” said Juliet, one of the teachers of Tusher's school.

“I want to complete my graduation from a medical university, then I want to join in a government hospital as a doctor. I would love to take medical science as my profession because my own mother has been suffering from Hepatitis B for 5 years and I want to give free treatment to those who are suffering particularly from Hepatitis B and various other diseases,” Tusher said confidently about his life goal.