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Resources > News Service > Bulletins > By Country/Territory > Bangladesh > Advocates for the...

Advocates for the Blind Bring Vision to Impoverished Bangladesh, July 20, 2007

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AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin 112, July 20, 2007
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Barisal, Bangladesh: Early in life, Ruhulamin, 17, suffered from a botched medical procedure that left him almost deaf. Today, he is one of thousands of disabled Bangladeshis who have been empowered by microcredit and accepted as an asset in their communities rather than a liability.

The approach has been pioneered by the Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organization (BERDO), an advocacy group whose work is being profiled this summer in the blogs of Caitlin Burnett, a graduate student from American University in Washington, DC. Ms Burnett is volunteering with BERDO as a Peace Fellow of The Advocacy Project (AP).

Advocating for the disabled is dauntingly difficult in a country that suffers from relentless poverty and repeated natural disasters. Ms Burnett writes about recent floods that killed 120 people in mudslides.

Adding to the challenge, Bangladesh is currently ruled by a military-backed caretaker government, and this makes traditional human rights advocacy considerably harder. BERDO lobbied successfully for passage of the Bangladesh Persons with Disability Welfare Act in 2001, but finds it hard to follow up while parliament is suspended.

Despite the obstacles, BERDO celebrated its 16th anniversary on Tuesday on a high note. The organization's use of microcredit is particularly noteworthy, even in the country that put microcredit on the map through initiatives like the Grameen Bank. By the end of 2005, BERDO had made loans of $875,000 to 10,752 groups that included disabled members like Ruhulamin and others like his mother - the loan holder.

According to Ms Burnett, the loans range between $50 and $200 and are usually invested in "planting vegetable gardens, purchasing a rickshaw, (or) buying small stocks of cloth." The repayment rate of disabled borrowers is 100 percent.

The loans also provide an incentive to the other members of the groups to understand disability and support their disabled colleagues. "Somebody has hands, eyes, or legs, while others don't," said one group member to Ms Burnett. "We must come together to work."

Among its other programs, BERDO offers disabled students a chance to continue their studies by providing Braille material, scribes, tape recorders and the chance to go to university. Last week, BERDO presented scholarships to 20 blind students, in front of the press.

The founder of BERDO, Mohammed Saidul Huq, is himself blind, and his vision of empowerment was praised yesterday by Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka, which awarded Mr Huq a fellowship in 1993. "I have long admired my friend, Saidul Huq. Nothing discourages him," said Mr Drayton.

BERDO's other international supporters include Zonta International, the international women's service organization. The Dhaka branch of Zonta is supporting BERDO's scholarship program and Ms Burnett's blogs are being followed by members of the Zonta Club of Washington, which hopes to host a reception for her on return.

Eventually, however, even innovation runs up against Bangladesh's inescapable poverty. Ms Burnett met one 28-year-old blind woman who went through university on a BERDO scholarship and achieved a master's degree in history, but is still unemployed.

In some places, the pressure is unbearable. Landless poor move to Tongi, near Dhaka, in the hope of finding work in the garment industry. But there are no jobs in Tongi and the price of food has doubled in recent months - partly because the government is unwilling to crack down on corrupt business syndicates.

The people of Tongi, writes Ms Burnett, "appear worn down by the difficulties of their life." One woman put it simply: "We have no power."

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