Five deaths. Four Weeks. All of which could have been avoided. My beloved paternal grandmother (Dhadhi), passed away during childbirth – pregnant with triplets – of which she had no idea - due to the lack of maternal healthcare. Shortly followed by the deaths of each newborn and my grandfather - (Dhadha) who passed away out of grief. 

This painful set of events that shaped my father’s childhood, and
led to me to making promise to myself that I would do something to change this. I knew this was all too common. It simply wasn’t fair that economic disparities meant differences between lives and deaths. 

This summer - I have been given the greatest opportunity to partake in the award-winning Global Health Leadership Programme;  where I will be travelling with several students and a team of trained doctors, and medical specialists -  to my home country, Rural Sylhet, Bangladesh -  with Selfless, an organisation that aims to tackle global health inequalities. 

Having returned from Bangladesh with Forgotten Roots, I have witnessed first-hand the stark difference of healthcare and how difficult it can be for some to access even the basics of medical care, simply because they cannot afford it. 

In Bangladesh 60% of the population do not have access to healthcare. Healthcare should be available to all regardless of income, race and social status, but sadly this is not the case and Selfless is taking steps towards improving the situation at a grass roots level. With the support of local doctors, we will be setting up camps and providing free healthcare services to those most in need. Selfless have been working with communities in Bangladesh since 2008 and have served over 30,000 patients during this time. 

With the help of your donations, the focus this year is to develop the following projects: 

- Upahar: Antenatal Services for new mothers. The project provides care to new mothers with care bundle for the newborn. The bundle has everything you need for the first 8 days of life.

- A Brush With Kindness: Dental Hygiene Campaign This project is attending primary school to educate the importance of brushing their teeth and maintaining oral hygiene. Selfless will also provide the children free toothbrushes to maintain their hygiene. 

- Porishkar: Cataract surgery service. This project is to provide a cataract surgery service in rural villages. Selfless supports people that are jobless due to having lost their eyesight due to cataract. Your donation will help to fund patients to have the procedure. Helping them to get their job back and start earning for their families. 

.. and primary care health camps 

Any kind contributions you make will go towards funding these free health camps as well as providing treatment to the patients we will see on our trip. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit my page and I really hope you will donate generously towards this effort to reduce health inequalities faced by the people of Bangladesh!