Even so, unemployment remains high, at 23 percent. The annual per capita income is estimated to be $500, many families survive on less than $10 a day.
Recent accomplishments include:
- Assisting over 3,100 students with school fees, enabling the children to continue their education.
- Distributing textbooks to 2,600 students, improving the quality of education.
- Supplying notebooks to 4,500 students, equipping them with tools for learning.
- Immunizing children, protecting them from disease.
- Providing medical check-ups for over 3,800 children, helping to ensure good health.
- Training people on sewing, embroidery, and computer skills, improving their future employment opportunities.
- Educating people on loans and how to use them to begin income-generating activities.
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, is located in the northeastern portion of the Indian subcontinent on the Ganges River delta and is bordered by the Bay of Bengal, India, and Burma.
Agriculture employs 63 percent of the labor force. Crops grown include rice, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, jute, tea, oilseeds, spices, and fruit. Natural resources include arable land, coal, natural gas, and timber. Severe overpopulation has resulted in inadequate crop production.
In Bangladesh culture, parents often arrange for their daughter to marry when she is very young. She will then live with her husband’s family as she grows up. Typically, her husband is older, and she will never address him by name. Many people in Bangladesh do not know their exact birthday, only an estimate of the date.
Letter writing is not a common practice in Bangladesh. Your sponsored child is probably not used to writing letters, so he or she may require the assistance of a World Vision staff person. If you write a letter, ask your child about household chores or favorite games your child enjoys playing.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated and fastest growing countries yet one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world. The country suffers from frequent cyclones and floods that have slowed economic growth for the past three decades.
Currently, 45 percent of people throughout Bangladesh live below the poverty line and 41 percent live on less than $1 per day. Frequent flooding and cyclones, inadequate port facilities, and mismanaged government programs contribute to slow economic growth. The 5-inch rise in sea levels predicted due to global warming has the potential to displace millions of people and place half of the country underwater by 2030.
Through sponsorship, World Vision is partnering with families and communities to help meet immediate needs and promote lasting changes that will strengthen communities and move families toward self-reliance.