DHAKA: Bangladeshi rickshaw driver Abdur Rahman has seen his income vanish since the government introduced a lockdown to combat coronavirus. His savings have gone too. “Life has become critical for people like me who live hand to mouth,” he told Arab News. But he has found hope in a tin hut offering emergency food support to those in need.
The House of Humanity was built by the National Press Society (NPS), an organization of media professionals and human rights activists, and it is helping people such as Abdur Rahman to survive. “I can save my life with some food and overcome the toughest time I have ever seen,” he added.
The hut stores packages of staple foods like rice, potatoes, lentils, as well as hygiene items. Anyone can pick up a package at any time. The hut is in Sylhet, a city around 250 km from the capital Dhaka.
“We wanted to help people in their daily struggles during these quarantine days,” Mohammad Jumman, NPS Sylhet president, told Arab News. “With each package worth $3, we provide support on which a small family can last for around three days.”
He said the initiative had proved successful and would be expanded as Sylhet residents were willing to help and many more people needed support. The NPS plans to set up another 27 help stalls across the city.
“We have received good support from different individuals and entities. We will continue this initiative as long as the lockdown continues. We have also planned to provide similar food support to those who will be fasting during the upcoming month of Ramadan,” Jumman added.
FASTFACT
The House of Humanity was built by the National Press Society, an organization of media professionals and human rights activists, and it is helping people such as Abdur Rahman to survive.
The nationwide lockdown, imposed on March 26, has been extended to April 25 and the number of known cases have sharply risen in the past few days. On Friday, it stood at 424, and there was a death toll of 27.
Officials told Arab News earlier this month that Bangladesh was set to convert all its stadiums into temporary quarantine centers or field hospitals to facilitate authorities in curbing the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Troops have also been deployed to assist law enforcers in implementing the lockdown, with the government urging people to stay at home and limit the spread of the deadly disease.
Morjina Akhter, a domestic helper, said the House of Humanity had come as an unexpected blessing.
“To me it’s something like a surprise gift,” she told Arab News. “If I couldn’t get the food support from here, I would probably have to starve along with my three children.”
