Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM001210S
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00:01 Child Impact International is an organization
00:04 that gives hope and fosters permanent, 00:06 positive change in the lives of disadvantaged children 00:09 and their communities. 00:12 Countries include Zambia, Kenya, 00:16 India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. 00:21 Child Impact's investment in the lives 00:23 of more than 3,500 children 00:25 continues to yield infinite returns. 00:28 Outreach spans from child rescue operations to providing 00:31 an education and a home for deaf and blind children 00:35 and orphans. 00:36 Above all, Child Impact's sponsors 00:39 give hope to the ones who need it the most. 00:56 Bangladesh is a country in South Asia that is almost 00:59 entirely surrounded by India. 01:02 It is the eighth most populous country in the world 01:05 being home to more than 163 million people. 01:10 Even though it boasts a large population, 01:12 it is a fairly small country with a landmass approximately 01:16 the same size as New York State. 01:19 For reference, New York State has approximately 01:21 20 million people. 01:23 Of those 163 million, 01:25 approximately 40% are children. 01:29 Children have it very hard in Bangladesh. 01:31 Many are orphaned and don't have access to schools. 01:35 About 1.7 million are in child labor 01:38 and approximately a fourth of them are between 6 01:41 and 11 years old. 01:43 Child marriages are also an issue. 01:46 While the numbers have reduced, the practice is still common 01:49 and generally accepted. 01:51 One of the best ways of helping to prevent this 01:54 is education and sponsorship. 01:56 In rural Bangladesh, 35% of the population live below 02:01 the poverty line. 02:03 And amongst woman, it's even higher. 02:06 There are statistics like that people only earn $1.98 02:10 a day and the absolute poor are 32% of the population 02:15 and the extreme poor are 19%. 02:19 And both those categories are above poor. 02:23 We've heard from the children the stories of struggle 02:26 of their parents, of their solo mums. 02:29 And we've heard how they've been struggling to feed them. 02:33 And so we see that sponsorship is much greater than education. 02:38 Sponsorship is supporting the family. 02:41 It's giving the parents hope 02:42 and there's a huge benefit to the community. 02:46 Sponsorship is effective and sponsorship 02:49 is making a difference on a wider 02:51 scale here in our program in Bangladesh. 02:55 Milton is one of those whose life has been 02:57 changed by sponsorship. 03:00 I'm here today with a real success story of sponsorship. 03:03 I'm with Milton Das, who was the leader 03:06 of our sponsorship program in Bangladesh, 03:10 and Milton is wearing the Bangladesh flag. 03:13 Milton was a sponsored child right from the beginning 03:17 of his education in a mission school 03:19 all the way through school and then college 03:22 and then he graduated with a degree. 03:25 And now Milton heads up 03:27 the team in Bangladesh that supervise 03:31 the running of our sponsorship program, 03:34 and it's just so great to see a success story of sponsorship. 03:38 And now that we have Milton leading our team in Bangladesh. 03:44 It has changed lives like Milton's that create 03:47 a ripple effect of positive change all around them. 03:51 He was a needy child who was helped by sponsorship 03:55 and now he is helping other needy children 03:57 who will grow up to help those around them. 04:00 A current student who has aspirations 04:02 of helping others is Man Singh. 04:05 He isn't able to visit his home often 04:07 due to how remote it is and the challenges 04:09 of traveling in many parts of Bangladesh. 04:12 Many of the challenges are due to flooding 04:14 and roads that aren't well maintained. 04:30 This is Ruma Bazar, 04:32 and we need to go through a river way. 04:38 There is no road out there. 04:53 It's a wonderful place and we're going to visit. 05:25 Man Singh da Marma is a student 05:27 of BASC being sponsored by Child Impact. 05:31 He is traveling back to his village 05:32 which is about 250 miles away from the school. 05:36 That is a long journey by bus, 05:38 but there are no roads to his village 05:40 because of how remote it is. 05:42 So the last part of his journey is by boat. 05:53 This is Panthala Marma Para, that means 05:59 Panthala Marma Village. 06:04 So we're going to visit Man Singh's house. 06:09 He is our student. 06:11 We had a long travel to meet him up here. 06:18 Man Singh is currently a 10th grade student at Basque. 06:22 So Man Singh is one of our students of Basque, 06:28 and he is currently studying in grade 10. 06:33 And next year, 06:35 we are hoping that he's going to sit for the SSC examination, 06:39 and we pray that he is going to have a successful result. 06:45 And he lives here with his parents. 06:48 And you can see the beautiful village 06:52 where he lives. 06:55 After the short visit, 06:57 we are not going to stay for long. 06:59 We have just come to see his family members, 07:03 his house where he lives. 07:15 This is Man Singh's house. 07:17 So his parents are farmers. 07:20 So, they work hard in the field and, 07:26 I know, grow peanuts. 07:28 And you can see they have some sacks of peanuts. 07:32 His father sells this 07:35 and with these earnings, 07:38 actually, his father, you know, does not earn a lot. 07:43 Whatever he goes, he sells in the market 07:46 and support his child, but this income 07:52 is not sufficient to pay his tuition fees. 07:55 In my family I'm having my dad, mom, 07:57 brothers and brothers-in-law. 07:59 But where are they? I don't see them around. 08:02 Every one of them have gone for Jhum cultivation. 08:04 When are they coming? Will it be late? 08:06 Yes, 5 o'clock, 5 to 5.30. 08:08 We are in such a time when nobody is around. 08:10 Yes, everyone is on work. 08:13 So how much your dad and mom earns? 08:16 Is it enough for your family? 08:19 To run the family, it's difficult for my parents 08:22 because we are four brothers, 08:23 so the earning is not enough to provide our tuitions. 08:27 Since 2012, I'm studying at mission school 08:31 and from 2012 onward, I'm receiving sponsorship. 08:34 Now I'm reading in class 10. 08:37 What's your aim in life? 08:39 My aim in life I mean, I want to be a teacher 08:42 and teach my students. 08:46 Yeah. So as like me? 08:49 Okay, I'm so happy to hear that. 08:51 So I'm praying for you 08:53 so that you may be a successful teacher 08:55 And be successful teacher. 09:44 The progress that Man Singh has achieved shows the power 09:47 of sponsorship and education. 09:50 Since Man Singh is far from any city or school, 09:53 the hope of having a life outside of his village 09:55 would be in vain. 09:56 Man Singh's goal of becoming a teacher shows that changing 10:00 one life does not end there. 10:02 Because he's going to positively change 10:04 the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of future students. 10:09 While there has been great progress in educating 10:12 many poor children in Bangladesh, 10:14 there are still many more that are in need. 10:17 One of the great aspects of my job 10:19 is getting to the field to see what Child Impact does. 10:22 And as you go through the day, just occasionally something 10:25 happens that has a big impact on you. 10:28 And just yesterday, it happened. 10:31 I was standing here at the gate, 10:33 near the gate of the school and a lady came in. 10:36 You can see she was distressed. 10:38 She was crying. 10:39 She wanted to speak to one of the teachers. 10:42 And when she did, tears were rolling down her face. 10:46 I could see that something was wrong. 10:48 And she's a solo mom, her husband has left her, 10:52 run off with another woman to India 10:54 and she is struggling to bring up two girls. 10:57 And to be honest, she has to get out 10:59 and earn some money because she can't feed them 11:02 and look after them. 11:03 She's also worried that they're going to be trafficked 11:06 or taken away from her. 11:08 So she wanted them enrolled in the school. 11:11 She wanted them sponsored. 11:13 And I could see that it wasn't just an education, 11:16 it was giving her hope. 11:18 It was giving her hope that her children could be fed 11:22 and have an education. 11:24 Sponsorship is making a big difference. 11:26 And if you could sponsor a child or you could help with 11:29 the Unsponsored Child Fund, it will make a difference. 11:35 Child Impact's sponsors have accomplished 11:37 many great things in Bangladesh, 11:40 from humanitarian work, 11:41 to education for needy children, 11:43 but always accomplishing the most important thing 11:46 and that is changing minds for God's kingdom. 11:50 But there is still much work to be done. 11:52 Thank you to all the sponsors that are continuing to invest 11:56 in changing lives. 12:01 The video you just watched creates a compelling 12:03 case for child sponsorship. 12:05 My name is Tom Evans, CEO of Child Impact International. 12:09 Why is sponsorships such an effective way to make 12:12 a difference? 12:13 The stories of Milton and Man Singh in this video 12:15 clearly capture this. 12:17 Milton was a child in need 12:18 who was sponsored to attend a mission school. 12:21 Today he is giving back 12:23 and is the field coordinator for over 1000 students 12:26 sponsored by Child Impact. 12:28 Man Singh is currently in year 10 12:30 and has a vision for his life that would not have 12:33 been possible without sponsorship. 12:35 He plans to give back by becoming a teacher. 12:39 The impact one sponsored child opens 12:42 the possibility to thousands being influenced. 12:46 I have some exciting news to share. 12:47 Child Impact has committed to sponsor 12:50 150 new children in Bangladesh 12:53 and there is capacity for 200 more. 12:56 My family personally sponsors a child from Bangladesh, 12:59 and I'd like to invite you to consider doing the same. 13:03 You can select a child on our website childimpact.org 13:07 or by calling our office at (423) 910-0667. 13:13 If you aren't quite ready for that commitment, 13:15 I'd invite you to consider our Unsponsored Child Fund. 13:19 Thank you for the difference 13:20 you're making through sponsorship. 13:22 The full impact will only be known in eternity. |
Revised 2021-11-04