In Bangladesh, literacy is one of the crucial things still unachieved for a large number of citizens. People living below the poverty line are the most vulnerable is this case since they are totally illiterate and mostly without any education. With the tagline “literacy for all” WE Foundation Bangladesh (WEFB) facilitates literacy for the nation’s marginalised population.
WEFB runs a nonprofit project that works to provide much needed support for poor families and their children in Dhaka. It is an organisation which operates with the help of young people to improve the lives of people living below the poverty line.
WEFB aims to be an innovative organisation in improving the education and empowerment of socially and economically marginalised children, creating the agents of change of tomorrow. Having a strong belief in making a difference, WEFB is committed to making a breakthrough in children’s education by initiating a universal model of innovative education for them.
The organisation is trying to establish a very well balanced, technology-focused, innovative education system for marginalised children, free of cost, in order to facilitate vocation and self-sufficiency.
WEFB started its journey in 2009. Its founder, Firoz Alam, is an educational futurist who has a vision to bring “literacy for all” in Bangladesh. The foundation, since its inception, has accommodated over 400 students in its literacy centres and aims to reach out to many more.
WEFB has been running educational institutes since 2007. It currently educates close to 400 children from kindergarten through grade VI. WEFB aspires to extend its schools by up to grade XII. The foundation currently consists of four branches: Two operating in Gazipur, one in Pabna, and one in Dhaka.
The WEFB school in Dhaka is situated in Badda, teaching 60 underprivileged children who are mostly grade I students. All of them live in abject poverty in the slums of Badda. Most of the parents of the children are day labourers, with very meagre incomes failing them in sending their children to school.
WEFB inaugurated its Dhaka branch on September 2013. The centre also serves as the head office of WEFB.
WEFB’s Gazipur branch schools 100 children and teenagers. In the evening, the working teenagers and young adults are given lessons on English, computer studies, and life skills. Teenagers who are interested in pursuing a college education are given classes for board exams.
WEFB’s Pabna branch is located in a remote area of the district where the infrastructure is extremely poor. The school teaches a total of 160 children and is targeting to cater to the educational needs of the low income families of the rural area. It needs to be mentioned that Pabna is in dire need of schools that can provide quality primary education.
WEFB is fueled by volunteer support -- it is actively supported by a number of committed volunteers, from university students to professionals both in academia and in the research sector at home and abroad.
The WEFB team believes in its humanitarian effort and aims to provide training to the adult members of poor families in order to overcome their poverty and become self-sufficient and educate their children. WEFB also aims to give short-term aid in terms of clothing, food, and medical aid while the families are learning.
WEFB is an active and enthusiastic participator in the Bangladesh society. The foundation has a strong passion to better the lives of the country's marginalised population and it is compassionate and empathetic in its approach and activities. The foundation focuses as much on the development of the community as it does on the individual, with the objective to remain a participatory organisation instead of turning into a hierarchical one.
It is unique in the way that it tries to spread literacy, to give its students a foundational understanding of how the world works in order to navigate it, and build a meaningful, happy life. We promote a philosophy of loving life, not just surviving it. The operating ethos of WEFB is to nurture the endowed potential in every student to grow to its entirety.