Altaf is a tea-seller in the village Charkoilash of Hatia. His son Rakib would light his father’s stove every morning then go off to work on leased land. Altaf would run their seven-member family with by making tea.
Rakib Uddin would dream. He would dream of studying and then getting a job. One day he would extinguish the fire of the stove and the burning in his heart. His father secretly shared his dream and was desperate to make this dream come true for his son.
And then Prothom Alo came along to make his dream come true. Prothom Alo hunts for poor and meritorious youth to help materialise their dreams. Rakib was provided assistance under the BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Adamya Medhabi (Indomitable Talent) scholarship initiative. He used this fund to complete his studies and now works as a promotion officer at the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation in Noakhali.
The BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust, under the Adamya Medhabi (Indomitable Talent) programme, every year provides scholarships at the HSC and Bachelors level to students based on their SSC and HSC results respectively. Prothom Alo representatives go on a hunt around the country to scout out these hidden talents. So far 942 students have been provided with scholarships under this programme. Of these, funds were provided for 718 from BRAC Bank, and for 224 students from other individuals and donor agencies.
Presently, 271 are receiving scholarships. At the Bachelors’ level, among the 221 receiving scholarships, 107 are studying in government and autonomous universities, 19 in medical colleges, 32 in universities of science and technology, 55 under the National University and eight under the quota for the poor in private universities.
Meanwhile, 94 of them have graduated with Bachelor degrees and many of them have jobs. They have woken up to a new life.
Rakib’s field of dreams
Let’s look back at Rakib’s story. The village Charkoilash in Hatia is an isolated island off Noakhali district. There is no electricity there and by dusk the village plunges into darkness. After a long day’s work in the fields, Rakib would study at night in the flickering light of the lantern. If the kerosene oil finished, the lamp wouldn’t burn and he couldn’t study. But he would not give up. With the help of his teachers, he got a scholarship in Class 8 and he got admission into Class 9 in the science group. He passed his SSC exam with a GPA-5 score in 2010 from the Sukhachar Union Bangabandhu High School.
His father Altaf’s joy at Rakib’s results were mixed with a sense of apprehension. Where would he get the money to send Rakib to college? That year Prothom Alo carried a report on the talented Rakib’s success and then he received the BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship. He used the money to get admitted to Dhaka’s Government Science College.
In the meantime his father was afflicted with schizophrenia and the tea stall was closed down. Despite this fresh crisis, Rakib did not have to look back. After passing the HSC exam, Rakib got admitted into Noakhali’s Begumganj Textile Engineering College under the Bangladesh Textile University. He secured a first class first BSc degree in wet process manufacturing Engineering and won the principal’s award. He became the champion of the inter-university Talent Competition of Textiles 2016. He is now a government officer and has ensured his father’s treatment. His father is much better than before and their family is doing well.
“Prothom Alo is a part of my life,” says Rakib, “The BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship has made my dreams come true. Now am a first class government officer and am part of the development of both my family and the country. What could be better?”
Weaving dreams
Mukta Khatun in from Belkuchi in Sirajganj and her father is weaver. Her mother does crochet work and Mukta would help her while weaving her own dreams.
Their family, comprising Mukta, her parents and two brothers, were poor. Mukta, the eldest, knew she would have to study to fulfill her dreams. Her mother would encourage her. She got scholarships in Class 5 and 8. So despite poverty, she passed the SSC exam in 2011 with a GPA-5 score from the Garamashi-Jidhuri Girls High School in the commerce group. Then she received the BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship and passed the HSC exam in 2013, against with a GPA-5 score. She then graduated in accounts and information management from Rajshahi University and now works on contract as a lecturer at the Bangladesh Army University of Science and Technology in Syedpur of Nilphamari district. She now pays for her brothers’ education and helps in the family’s expenses.
Mukta says, “BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship has made my life easy. I wouldn’t have been able to come so far without that. Now I also want to help needy students complete their education.”
Spring comes to Lincoln’s life
Lincoln Chandra Ghosh is from Kutirhat, Feni. His father Sunil Ghosh is unwell. He has no land or property and is destitute. Lincoln’s mother is a housewife. Coming from such a family, studies seemed a luxury to Lincoln. But hope sprang eternal within Lincoln’s heart.
“Studies were not easy. I would wear the same shirt and pants throughout the year. During puja everyone would wear new clothes and I would feel sad. When we could hardly get three square meals a day, I didn’t dare ask my father for new clothes,” Lincoln says frankly.
But Lincoln was determined to march ahead despite all constraints. He just waited for things to get easier somehow.
In 2010 Lincoln did the SSC exam from Bishnupur High School in Feni and passed with a GPA-5 score. And then Prothom Alo scouted him out. He received the BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship. Having excelled in HSC as well, he went on to get a scholarship at the Bachelor’s level too. He got admitted to Dhaka University’s department of management information systems. Completing his BBA and MBA there, he has joined Janata Bank this year as a senior officer.
Lincoln says he has bought clothes for his parents this puja. He was thrilled to be able to give them the new sets of clothes. It has lifted a weight from his heart.
A bright sky for Falguni
Falguni Saha’s story is different. This young girl from Golachipa, Patuakhali, had hard times from a very early age. When Falguni was just two years old, she was electrocuted and her two hands had to be amputated. She couldn’t play dolls with her friends or study. But Falguni was not one to be defeated.
She would dream of one day extending a hand of help to others, even though she had no hands of her own. Her father Jagadish Chandra Saha was a small-time grocer and hardly could make ends meet for his six-member family comprising himself, his wife and four daughters. Falguni’s mother Bharati Saha would make and sell packets for sweets.
The Falguni began to study despite her physical disability and poverty. She passed the SSC exam in 2011 with a GPS-5 score. Father Jagadish was worried about how to pay for her college admission and studies. The local Trust College came forward and with their help she passed the HSC exam in 2013 with a GPA-5 score.
Falguni Saha said she ended her dreams there as there seemed no hope of going ahead any further. But then Prothom Alo changed things around and two reports about her were published on 4 and 16 August in the newspaper. She then received the BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship and she resumed her dreams. She was admitted in the physically disabled quote in the geography and environment department of Jahangirnagar University in the 2013-14 academic year. Then in 2014 her father died. She was broken, but did not give up. After graduating, she was admitted to the Masters course in the same subject and passed out in 2018. The next year she joined the BRAC Barishal head office as a human resources officer.
Falguni says, “Prothom Alo allowed me to dream again. The BRAC Bank-Prothom Alo Trust Adamya Medhabi scholarship made my dreams come true. I am doing well now.”
Indeed, she may not have hands of her own, but she now extends her hands of help to others. Two of her sisters are married. Falguni now lives with her mother and other sister in Barishal. She is helping in her sister’s education at BM College. He mother no longer has to make sweet packets. Falguni has overcome all obstacles and only sees bright days ahead.
This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir