A Slum Kid is Struggling to Support His Family Financially

Md. Ripon, an a-13-years old slum kid struggles to fulfill his dream in the Chalantika Slum area of the megacity Dhaka. Ripon is attending class-V at Islamia Govt. Primary School. Ripon operates his own business at the very early stage of his life. He sells fish in the local market besides his study.

It’s been six years, Ripon along with his family relocated to Dhaka from his village called Chorpata located at Bhola district in the Barisal division. His parents moved to Dhaka due to the loss of a family business.

After arriving in the megacity Dhaka, his father Md. Yusuf was struggling to find a job to support his family financially. Then he got a job as a laborer. His income was too poor to support his family comprised of six members.

After few days, while working he got injured and he got sick. They found out that he had a kidney problem. They went to the Popular Hospital in Dhaka for treatment. He is still not fully healed so he cannot work and carry heavy loads.

Then their family was encountering a financial crisis. His mother and elder sister compelled to work in the garment factory to support their family. In the meantime, they fall into a financial crisis again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My mother and my sister lost their jobs as the factory was closed due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. We were suffering a lot and couldn’t arrange three meals a day. Sometimes, we had to spend the day without having any food,” Ripon was unfolding their hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was starting selling fish in the roadside market to support our family. I do it part-time as I need to attend my classes. I want to see my family happy. I would like to earn a lot of money and want to treat my father,” Ripon was expressing his thoughts which were dormant in his mind.

Ripon likes to attain Chalantika Slum Children Development Project (CSCDP) classes. He is an attentive student. His favorite subject is English. He is growing up with the help of the ADRA-led CSCDP project. He is acquiring knowledge, awareness, and moral ethics from the CSCDP center.