Promod Mankin opening the construction of the Ekmattra Academy

Dhaka, 6 September 2010

Guest contribution by Mahmudul Hoque Moni, Director, Media and Mass Communication Department of Ekmattra

On August 17, 2010, the foundation ceremony of the Ekmattra-Dutch-Bangla Bank Academy was held in Halughat, Mymensingh. Bangladesh’s honorable State Minister for Cultural Affairs Promod Mankin opened the foundation of the Academy in a blissful evening.

The Ekmattra-Dutch-Bangla Bank Academy is going to be a platform for the advancement of the disadvantaged children of Bangladesh. A young bunch of university students dreamt of such an academy in 2003 and formed the organization Ekmattra for that mission. Finally, with Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited’s announcement to bear the bulk of the costs of the construction, Ekmattra materialized the dream into reality.

It was a wonderful experience for the local people of Haluaghat, a remote sub-district of Bangladesh. Ekmattra invited more than 1000 locals to attend the ceremony. The program was supposed to start at 5 p.m. but enthusiastic locals and visitors from the capital started to gather as soon as early afternoon. Suddenly, hard rain encumbered the preparation and the program had to be postponed to the evening. Meanwhile thousands of people broke their religious fasting with a pack of food (iftar) given by Ekmattra.

Ekmattra and friends

All the guests reached the location on time and finally the program started at 7.30 p.m. Many journalists, well-wishers of Ekmattra and distinguished cultural personalities graced the occasion. The program started with the recitation of holy words from holy books. Then details of the Academy were presented to the audience. The local distinguished guests thanked and welcomed Ekmattra into the locality.

In his speech, the representative of the Embassy of Japan, Mr. Takanori Uehara, promised to help Ekmattra and to support its current and future projects. Mr. Saem Ahmed, Executive Committee Chairman, and Mr. Yasin Ali, Managing Director of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited expressed their solidarity with the objectives of the Academy and declared to donate 24.7 million BDT (i.e. about 277,000 EUR or 355,000 USD) for its construction. Then they handed over a check of six million BDT (i.e. about 67,000 EUR or 86,000 USD) to Ekmattra as the signing amount.

Handing over the first check for the construction of the Children's Village Haluaghat

Bangladesh’s honorable State Minister for Cultural Affairs Promod Mankin delivered his priceless speech in front of the audience. He honored the activity of Ekmattra and promised to give his full support. Then he asked the people of his region of origin (Haluaghat) to help construct the Academy.

Finally, the minister opened the foundation of the Academy at 9 p.m. Ekmattra distributed pens (with the academy’s name and date of foundation on them) among the audience as the symbol of excellence of the Academy.

The total construction budget of the Ekmattra-Dutch Bangla Academy is 35.8 million BDT. Dutch-Bangla Bank will bear the bulk of it. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the parties. Ekmattra has already started the construction work. The Academy is designed by the famous Bangladeshi Architect Mr. Iqbal Habib.

Memorial plaque of the opening ceremony

Ekmattra is determined to end the construction within a year and enroll more than 100 disadvantaged children into the Academy in January 2012.

Press review:

• The Independent: “DBBL launchs Ekmattra Academy“
• The Financial Express: “DBBL donates Tk 24.7m to Ekmattra“
• Dutch-Bangla Bank Newsroom: “DBBL donates Tk. 2.47 crore to establish EKMATTRA-Dutch-Bangla Bank Academy“