Bhola means 'forgotten place'

The island, situated in the Ganges Delta, is one of the poorest part of Bangladesh and one of the world's worst area for cyclones. It is a substinence-level agricultural and fishing society. Access is by ferry boat, the twice daily ferry between Dhaka and Bhola takes twelve hours.

Some Figures:

• Bhola is about 95 km long and an average 35 km wide
• The population is about 2 million inhabitants, they speak Bangla.
• About 90% are Muslim, 10% Hindu and there are a few Christians and Buddhists
• Literacy rate is 37%
• High proportion of orphaned and disabled children because of floods, cyclones, lack of medical facilities, local customs and medical ignorance

People in Bangladesh are not cruel or indifferent to suffering. On the contrary, they are very gentle and caring people when they have the possibility and above all the knowledge and understanding.

We know some very dedicated and wonderful parents of some of our disabled children. But when a disabled child arrives, above all deaf and dumb, autistic, spastic, mentally retarded, in a family of a very poor, illiterate rural family with six, seven, eight children, living without electricity and just surviving, they find it impossible to understand what is wrong and what to do. They feel hopeless and above all don’t have any help. Therefore these unfortunate children are left to cope mainly alone as best they can, sometime living with animals, incapable of communicating with their families and friends. At the same time there are many orphans because of the many floods and tragedies due to cyclones