Empowering the underprivileged: Hashimukh Somaj Kallayan Songstha's impactful journey

Founded on the pillars of compassion, innovation, and inclusivity in 2014, Hashimukh Somaj Kallayan Songstha operates with the mission to serve underprivileged communities through inclusive educational programs, healthcare initiatives, and nutritional support. Founded by Nusrat Akter, alongside a group of driven individuals, Hashimukh began its journey on the streets of Paribagh, Dhaka.

The co-founder, president, and CEO of the organisation, Nusrat Akter, recalls, "We started Hashimukh Somaj Kallayan Songstha out of our passion, and back then, we didn't have any funding or resources. We started to teach children for free — especially, adolescents — and gradually, we had more students coming in and joining the classes."

The early days saw Hashimukh's founders teaching adolescents on the streets, a modest beginning that soon attracted an increasing number of students. "The children trusted us," Akter shares, highlighting the critical role trust and dedication played in the organisation's growth. Today, Hashimukh School offers education from playgroup to grade twelve, with over 300 students currently enrolled. The school operates five days a week, a noteworthy achievement from its humble street-side classes.

Understanding the challenges faced by their students, most of whom live in slums, Hashimukh prioritised providing nutritious meals. "Most of our students live in slums, and so, it is very difficult for them to consume nutritious meals three times a day," Akter explains, emphasising the importance of health for educational attendance.

In 2016, after being officially registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare and securing funding, Hashimukh began offering nutritious meals five times a week, addressing a critical need for its students. Nevertheless, nutritional support was just one aspect of the holistic approach Hashimukh envisioned.

Akter and her team quickly identified another pressing issue; a lack of basic hygiene knowledge among their students, which often led to illness. In response, Hashimukh, in collaboration with other voluntary organisations, launched awareness campaigns to educate children on fundamental hygiene practices.

These campaigns extended to menstrual hygiene awareness among female students, a topic often neglected due to socioeconomic constraints. By distributing free sanitary napkins to female students and their mothers, Hashimukh aimed to promote the use of sanitary products, ensuring that the initiative went beyond mere distribution to educate and encourage healthy practices.

"Empower Her" represents Hashimukh's latest project, targeting the empowerment of marginalised women through digital literacy. Recognising the gap in digital knowledge and access among women in underprivileged communities, the initiative focuses on teaching basic smartphone operations and digital financial services like Nagad and bKash.

"Women, who mostly belong to the marginalised community, don't know how to operate the basic functions of a smartphone or digital finance services," Akter points out, underlining the initiative's goal to provide comprehensive numerical and digital literacy education.

Organisations such as Hashimukh serve as a critical resource for the underprivileged population — providing education, health care, and nutritional support. As Hashimukh Somaj Kallayan Songstha moves forward, its comprehensive approach serves as a model for community-based development initiatives for our society.

Photo: Courtesy

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Website: https://hashimukhbd.com/

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