A Slum Child is Struggling for His Dream

“I want to be a doctor and I’ll help the poor by providing with free treatment,” a mild voice was coming out over from a house in Chalantika slum in Dhaka. Ibrahim a destitute child was telling his mother about his dream.

Ibrahim an 11-year-old boy is struggling in Chalantika slum area in Dhaka to meet the basic needs of life. He is deprived of all the basic needs of life. He is missing out a lot of opportunities. Ibrahim lives in the slum with his family. He has four members in the family including his father, mother and his younger brother.

“We came over here in Dhaka from Barisal to live a better life. My father and mother were combatting to get a better job after arriving in Dhaka. My father stopped working when he became sick and started begging. He took me with him to assist him in begging. My father forced me to involve in begging when I was only three. I didn’t like to beg anymore. My father couldn’t afford us three meal a day. I wanted to study in order to get a better job to live a better life. My mother had been working as a housemaid and struggling a lot to support us financially. I could eat good food only when my mother brought foods with her from other’s house,” Ibrahim was unfolding his distress.

Not only in Bangladesh but in all the under-develop countries the scenario of the slum area is almost the same. Life is full of struggle in the slum. Especially children are mostly deprived of their basic education. They have to fight against the gruesome vulnerabilities constantly.

Ibrahim’s father is a demoralized person who is addicted to drugs. He doesn’t work properly to support his family. He engaged Ibrahim for begging which is inhumane. Ibrahim’s mother is striving to pave the future for Ibrahim and his brother Yeasin.

“My father and mother are quarreling most of the time. My father can’t support our family financially. Our family is depending on the income of my mother and it’s very hard for her to maintain the family with her little income. We live four persons in one single room even we need to share our toilet with 6 other families,” said Ibrahim.

They are living in a slum which lacks all the basic amenities. Their house made of bamboo with CI sheet roof. The rooms are very tiny in the slum. They can’t get the water for drinking properly which disrupts their daily life. They are suffering a lot due to the lack of garbage management system. People throw garbage everywhere in Chalantika slum which causes odor. This is the real scenario of Chalantika slum in Dhaka.

Nasima, mother of Ibrahim studied up to class two and she cherished to continue the education of Ibrahim. She knew the necessity of education by bones. She came to know about the CSCDP center of ADRA Bangladesh from one of her neighbors. Then she met with CSCDP project staffs and admitted Ibrahim to CSCDP education center. Now, Ibrahim attends class three at CSCDP center.

“I’m very happy to see my child learning a lot of good things from CSCDP center. My child is getting everything from CSCDP center e.g. foods, educational materials, health support. CSCDP staffs take care of every child and they teach following modern techniques which is sustainable,” Nasima was describing the advantages she is getting from the CSCDP center.

Ibrahim is friendly, polite and gentle. He can understand his mistake by himself and he loves his friends. He wants to be a doctor and wants to help the poor who doesn’t have money to get better treatment. He is fond of drawing and painting. In leisure, he loves to draw pictures and color it.

“Ibrahim is so attentive to his study. He can do better in the future. I wish his better future,” said Shilpi a teacher from CSCDP center.