Moving to New Premises Soon

Hello and happy New Year to all our friends.

It's not long to go now before the school moves to new premises, the last of the refurbishment work is being done to the new building. Fingers crossed, we'll be in there in the next few weeks. We'll keep you posted with pictures as soon as the builders are out!

Thanks for following the school.

A Birthday Tea Celebration in aid of the SoH

Marianne Dingley has been supporting the SoH for a while now; recently she celebrated her 70th birthday and decided to raise some money for the school at the same time. Her Birthday Tea was a resounding success(as expected); so from us at the SoH, "Happy Birthday" and thank you for the wonderful donation.

Room to Stretch by Sandie Walton-Ellery on The SoH Fun Days in April 2010

I am an Australian who lives in Dhaka. One of the most noticeable contrasts between the place I grew up and the city I now reside in is the lack of space. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world; Australia is one of the least. I notice this every time I step outside my front gate; the roads are crowded, the markets are crowded, the footpaths are crowded, the parks are crowded, and, if you try to drive out of Dhaka to the rural areas, the crush and clamour of the urban sprawl goes on and on and on.

Not only is Bangladesh the most densely populated country in the world, but Dhaka is the most densely populated city in the world. Right now, the UN estimates the population to be around 10 million people, but other estimates are sometimes much higher due to the difficulty of obtaining this figure and the continual migration into Dhaka from rural areas as people look for a better life and attempt to escape hardships such as seasonal unemployment and vulnerability to natural disasters.

The population density of Dhaka is around 40,000 people per square kilometre; to put this into perspective if the urban area of New York was this densely populated it would be able to hold the entire population of the USA and Mexico. If this is not dramatic enough, the population density of Dhaka’s slums is even more incredible to imagine; some estimates are that it is as high as 1,000,000 people per square kilometre. At this density the population of the entire world would fit into the Tokyo-Yokohama urban area, leaving 10 percent of the land for open space. It makes my head spin.

This is the environment that the children who attend the School of Hope live with every day. No room to kick a football, no room to run at full speed, room to stretch. This is why the fun day on the large green field of the International School of Dhaka (ISD) is such a treat. For one day the children get to play the kinds of games most children in western countries take for granted. They get to run, to slide, to get wet, to tumble on the grass, to shout, to be uninhibited.

This year the fun days were held on the 16^th and 17^th of April 2010. It is the second year that ISD has kindly invited the School of Hope to use its facilities, ensuring the equipment is set up on the field, arranging volunteer helpers and providing the children with a fantastic lunch. I don’t think we can fully comprehend what these kinds of opportunities mean to the children, but we can see the sheer joy on their faces. A huge thank you to everyone at ISD, we look forward to many more fun days!

Garment Sale helps raise funds

On probably the hottest day of the year, The School of Hope held a garment sale in the gym hall of the American International School, Dhaka. It was an overwhelming success and the proceeeds fron the sale will go a long way towards the running costs of the school. Thank you to our garment donors, thanks to all the volunteers and a huge thanks to all the people that came to the sale. Watch out Bongo's Bazaar!

The FG3 Team donate Toothbrushes & Toothpaste for our Oral Hygiene Program

A technical team visiting the British High Commission heard about the School of Hope and wanted to do something positive while they were working in Dhaka on a tech program. So between them they donated enough toothbrushes and toothpaste to last a whole year to the children of our school. In the main picture we have from left to right: Neil Gosling, Darren Kewley, Paul Cavendish, Chitto, Peter Flint and Mike Maksymczuk. Thank you for taking the time to help. You're the best FG3 guys that have ever visited our school and donated toothbrushes and toothpaste!

Newmains Primary School & HSBC donate computers to the school

We're very lucky to have some wonderful friends, both near and far. With the kind gifts received from Newmains Primary School in Scotland and HSBC Bangladesh we now have enough computers to be able to run an after school computer class. So thank you to each and every one of you who helped this happen. You can see that the children thoroughly enjoy their time in the computer room, even if it is after school!

Thanks to The Canadian International School in Dhaka

We've got some great supporters here in Dhaka and from places further afield.

The students of the Canadian International School in Dhaka along with their Principal, Sylvia Gillett have once again helped to improve our school library by donating some book shelves, library furniture and books. Everyday it's looking more and more like a proper school library.

So thank you for your continued support, it really is appreciated by all the students and teachers.