In many prosperous countries, being able to take your sick child to a doctor is guaranteed. Early in the child’s life, immunizations were given, providing protection from diseases. But in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, where 5 million people live, it’s not always so simple.
Piles of garbage are the playground and even food sources for young children. Disease flourishes in these squalid areas. Typically, medical treatment is neither affordable nor available. It is estimated that one child out of ten doesn’t make it past age five.
Pneumonia, TB, polio, hepatitis, measles—they infest the slums, and find victims in the smallest children.
You can help the very young survive childhood with vaccinations. In the areas we work, more than 95% of children get vaccinated. But thousands of other boys and girls still need this basic care.
Just $100 can immunize and provide health services to 100 children in the Dhaka slums, putting to rest the fears of mothers like Sharayn as they receive medical treatment for their precious children. Many infectious diseases, including diarrhea, hepatitis, TB, measles and polio can be prevented with a simple vaccine. In the slums, their children are literally all these mothers have.
Sharayn Akper walked a mile to our clinic—one of 16 mobile and permanent slum clinics—with her six-month-old daughter, Bastir. The child was miserable, with a fever and cough.
“I was worried,” explains the young mom. She and her husband can afford to take Bastir to this donor-supported World Concern clinic in the slum. But if the clinic did not exist, families like hers would be forced to walk further to hospitals they can’t afford, or go to dubious “practitioners.”
Arvin Beiradee, the clinic’s administrator, explains, “Often, people who live in the slums fall victim to practitioners, and they get cheated. They never get well—sometimes they get much worse. Here, we provide treatment and also health education, teaching about what to do to prevent disease.” She adds, “If this were not here, most of them would not be able to have good treatment.”
The clinic’s doctor counseled Sharayn, reassuring her and providing treatment instruction for Bastir, who’s going to be fine.
Bastir is a child born and raised in the slum. In so many ways, circumstances are lined up against her. But she’s her mom’s joy—created in God’s image. And thanks to your support of the clinic, she’s much more likely to make it past five and enjoy a healthier, happier life.
• You’re providing life-giving care to young children who receive vaccinations to prevent deadly diseases
• It’s affordable for people in extreme poverty. Thanks to our donors, care is provided to those in greatest need
• Our clinics are strategically located within walking distance, since most people lack transportation
• Poor families are treated effectively and with dignity by clinic staff. They receive education to maintain good health
• Clinics are focused on education. You’ll help us teach moms how to prevent diseases
• World Concern served at 16 clinics in Dhaka slums
• 1,213 pregnant mothers were given health care
• 5,051 children under the age of five were provided with treatment
• 4,093 children and women were immunized
• 18,311 women were provided with health education about disease prevention, including AIDS
World Concern is a Christian humanitarian organization that focuses on sustainable development for the poor in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We work in some of the world's most remote places, offering life, opportunity and hope to 6.5 million people a year in the name of Christ.
Learn more about us at www.worldconcern.org.
