Abstract:

This presentation describes a privately funded, health and education project in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is s a small, tropical, agricultural country located on the Southeast coast of the Indian continent. Most of the citizens are poor, minimally educated, and work in brick plants or the agricultural/farming industry. The government and primary religion are Muslim, but people of many religions and languages live together amicably. Bangladeshi people are warm, friendly, and hard working, but even basic health and education are unaffordable luxuries for most rural families.

The American founder of this project visited Bangladesh in 2006 and 2007. During this time, she developed an acute awareness of the limited resources and acute health and education needs of the Bangladeshi people. In 2009, she launched a project grounded in Bahai socio-economic principles and the micro-economic theory of Dr. Yunnas, Nobel Laureate and citizen of Bangladesh.

The project vision is to foster socio-economic development by providing initial funding and leadership, prior to placing the project in the hands of the project participants. The project premise is that this is the key to living peacefully in a global community. The objectives of the project are: 1) to provide virtues education for young children (ages 5-7), 2) to promote participation of women as contributors to family socio-economics, and 3) to provide for the health and safety of the project participants. The daily operations are supervised by Bangladeshi Directors with ongoing e-communication and leadership by the project founder.