Flyer "Bengali Blast"
Heidelberg, 31 January 2010
As night falls on Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, more than 200,000 children do not go home to a warm and cozy bed. Instead they roam the streets of the city, often barefooted and scantily clad, looking for a safe shelter to sleep.
Located in South Asia, Bangladesh is one of the poorest nations in the world with a GDP per capita of about 525 USD (2009). One of the most exposed and excluded groups of Bangladesh’s society are the street children, whose number the government estimates at around 380.000, 55% of which live in the capital of Dhaka. Approximately every second of these children (49%) is under the age of ten.
Cities in Bangladesh are overburdened with slums, shanty towns and street shacks, all of which are home to thousands of children. The growing poverty in rural areas and resulting migration into the cities is still causing a rapid incline in the number of people living in slums and on the street. Rural unemployment, missing living space, river erosion, natural catastrophes, family conflicts and a dysfunctional legal system force families living in rural areas to abandon their homes with the hope of betterment of their situation in an urban environment. This trend adds to the deterioration of traditional systems of family and society and leads to a growing number of children suffering neglect and abuse in these urban areas.
A group of young individuals living in Heidelberg are convinced that education is essential to break through the cycle of poverty.”Because only if they learn to understand the world and become self-sufficient do they have a chance to a fulfilled and independent life”, says Rainer Ebert, one of the project executives. The group, comprised of students, doctorates and employees, in association with the Dhaka-based organization Ekmattra, therefore strives to build a children’s village for Bangladesh’s street children in the north of the country. According to the Heidelberg doctorate Maqsuda Afroz, who has worked for Ekmattra in Bangladesh for years, the children’s village Haluaghat is supposed to provide a living space for the children in which they can prepare for a self-determined life. They will be supplied with shelter and basic medical services as well as a proper education.
Within the scope of the German donation campaign for the Kinderdorf Haluaghat presentations on the street children’s problematic situation in Dhaka, charity concerts, movie screenings, exhibitions and an exchange program with Bangladesh are planned. The first charity concert is taking place under the title “Bengali Blast” on the 25th February 2010 at the Billyblues im Ziegler (Bergheimer Str. 1b, Heidelberg). The rock and alternative-rock bands performing are 1, 2,… JETZT! from Heidelberg, Eat That Frog from Stuttgart and Die Kunstbanausen from Adelmannsfelden. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at the box office for eight Euros. The fee includes one welcome shot. All revenues from the ticket sale will directly benefit the Kinderdorf Haluaghat. Furthermore there will be the possibility to donate during the event.
