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ASPIRE
Your Monthly News & Updates

September 2017

Lots of good is happening at OBAT and it's because of  you ! 
Aspire is now being released monthly to keep you up-to-date with all the news of positive changes  and the impact you are making.

Thanks to your compassion and generosity, OBAT's team has carried out the qurbani and meat distribution in the camps. One hundred and fifteen goats and eighty-four cows have been sacrificed. We will provide another update about the city-wise distribution in our next newsletter, as we will have received more information from our Bangladesh team by then.
OBAT team distributing the food packages.
OBAT Staff and Think Tank Aid Flood Victims

According to the Dhaka Tribune, at least thirteen people have died and thousands  have been stranded in Dinajpur, Bangladesh  after the district was hit by floods caused by a deluge of rain. OBAT's emergency response team distributed  food packages to more than two hundred families living in the flood affected  area of Baniya Para Dinajpur. Prior to the distribution,  OBAT's Rangpur and Syedpur team visited the
areas damaged by the flood, determined the needs of the affectees and discussed a plan of action with other NGO's working in the area.
A huge thanks to our dedicated team who worked very  hard to conduct the distribution effectively. OBAT's Think Tank  members were actively involved in this process and have been trained in disaster management. We are very grateful to all the OBAT students, staff and committee members who donated toward the emergency fund and initiated  this relief effort.
A student receiving her certificate of completion
OBAT IT Center Celebrates Graduations

On August 25th, OBAT's IT Center in Jowtola, Chittagong, organized a course graduation and awards ceremony.  The center was celebrating the graduation of fifty-one students from the MS Office Applications course and nine students completing the Office applications and graphic designing course.  Several notable guests including Lions Club Chittagong's District Governor were present to encourage the students to delve into digital learning and promote the Bangladeshi government's plan to build a digital 
country. The youth who graduated from OBAT's IT center  belong to an underprivileged background and received the training free of cost.

Mr. Jawaid Ekram
Valuable addition to OBAT's advisory board

We are honored and thrilled to announce an extremely valuable addition to our Board of Advisors- Mr. Jawaid Ekram is based in the Seattle  area and has been involved with supporting OBAT's projects for the forgotten camp residents. He is a cloud computing industry veteran and  an entrepreneur, with over twenty-five years of experience in engineering and operations of large scale systems. Mr. Ekram is a co-founder of  Uhuru Software and was a former General Manager at Microsoft where he was responsible for  Global Foundations Services (Data Center) and Live  Meeting Services (SaaS). Before Microsoft, he
was CIO/VP of Services of Placeware which was acquired  by Microsoft for $230 M. He served as Sr. VP of Visa  International for 5 years and was responsible for global engineering and operations. 
Mr. Ekram was also at United Airlines where he was instrumental in the development of Apollo, one of the  largest global airline distribution systems. He is also serving on the Board of  The Citizens Foundation USA and has served  as a board member for Entrust Technology as well. Mr. Ekram holds 
an MS degree in Computer Science from IIT. 
We would like to extend a warm welcome  to him on joining our advisory board-his experience and  expertise will be invaluable in devising solutions for improving the lives of the camp residents.
Students slurping noodles
Some Noo dle Slurping and a Magic Show for the Kids- Thanks to Knorr!

Knorr Bangladesh visited OBAT's SB Nagar School recently to feed some tasty noodles to the students. During the same visit, they also carried out  a check up of the students' height and weight to  determine nutritional deficiencies. The students received a gift  of noodles and got entertained by a magic show, thanks to the graciousness of Knorr. We are very thankful to Knorr (a brand of Unilever Intl.) for brightening  up the children's day, many of whom don't get enough to eat at home.
Students looking at paintings
Dhaka English School Students Visit Art Exhibition

OBAT English School's students visited an art exhibition organized 
by Shilpa Kola Academy (Arts Council of Bangladesh) in Dhaka.
The kids also enjoyed a Korean  dance and a puppet show. We are thankful to the Shilpa Kola Academy for inviting the students and providing this opportunity to them.

A child receives the gift of school shoes
Canadian Organization Distributes Shoes in OBAT's Halishaher School

CFM (Canadian First Multicultural) Foundation, a nonprofit organization registered in Canada,  donated school shoes to OBAT's Halishaher School's students. Two hundred and  twenty two students received the shoes. CFM also gifted books for a library and donated a monetary  sum for the treatment of a cancer stricken camp resident.  Member of Parliament, Mahfujur Rahman Mita was present
as a chief guest during this program along with other local Councillors.

More Clean Water for C amp Residents

A woman draws clean water from a handpump
In the cities of Rangpur and Khulna, new hand pumps were installed recently, thanks to the generosity of the RS Foundation and HCI International. Ten of these pumps were installed in Rangpur while five of them were installed in the city of Khulna. About 2,500 people will get access to clean water from these pumps.
Board Meeting on August 6th

The second board meeting for 2017 took place on August 6th. The agenda included the fundraising plan for remainder of 2017, committees and their structure as well as new board members. Dr. John Clark who has formerly served as the Executive Director of OBAT, was voted in as a board member. Current Executive Director, Immad Ahmed informed the board about the project developments that have taken place since the last meeting and ideas for chartering the future course of OBAT were shared by the various members of the board. The meetings take place virtually, as all board members are scattered across different states in the U.S.
Mr. Saiful talks to the teachers at the Chittagong Preschool
OBAT's Education Program Gets Evaluated and Assessed

Mr. Saiful, an  international analyst, has been hired by OBAT to evaluate its  entire education program. He has worked with JAICA (Japanese Agency for International Cooperation), Save the Children and  DFID (Dept. for International Development in UK's government). Mr. Saiful interviewed the teachers and spoke with the students at the  computer and tutoring centers, schools and preschools run by OBAT in Chittagong. We are hoping to benefit greatly  from his findings and to incorporate his recommendations  for improvements to make our education program better and more effective.
Ferozeshah students holding up their trees
Rotary Club Creates Green Awareness in OBAT's Schools

OBAT's SB Nagar and Ferozeshah schools' students were happy to receive trees from the Rotary Club. The tree distribution is a part of an initiative of the Rotary Club to create green awareness among students and to make them more environmentally conscious.
Mr. Noyel (2nd from right), with the students
Turkish Pilot Visits Halishaher School

Mr. Kaiser Noyel, a co-pilot from Turkish Airlines  visited OBAT's Halishaher School in early August.  He gave a motivational speech to the students and also spoke with the head teacher about improvements and the curriculum.  Mr. Noyel was very pleased to see OBAT's work and expressed his gratitude  for OBAT's President, Mr. Anwar Khan for 
his "wonderful humanitarian work."

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