Help us provide financial support to one of the most low-income daily wage earners in Dhaka, Bangladesh as their livelihoods are hit hard with closures due to COVID-19.
The Problem
Assalamu Alaikum everyone,
As we self-quarantine ourselves in our secure homes loaded with essentials and continue our regulated jobs by working from home, the vast number of rickshaw pullers in the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh face the worst of the crisis as they lose their daily income which sustains them and their families.
With people staying home, schools/universities/businesses suspended, and economy as a whole slowing down, the rickshaw pullers are not able to find commuters for their daily income. However, their daily expenses remain the same in terms of the rent they pay for their rickshaw, along with the sustenance of their families, and necessary precautions for keeping safe from the coronavirus.
Moving around the streets of Dhaka, we have already seen clusters of rickshaw pullers who had to come out to work despite the risk of infection, yet having to sit idle, anxiously looking towards the empty streets. You can read more about this in the article below:
https://www.thedailystar.net/coronavirus-deadly-new-threat/news/how-i-will-buy-food-my-family-daily-wage-earners-counting-losses-during-coronavirus-outbreak-1884520
How We Want to Help
We believe a small amount of money can go a long way to keep them from starving or going destitute. A rickshaw puller pays about 100 BDT (~2 CAD) to rent a rickshaw for a day. With only 1500 BDT (~25 CAD) its possible to make sure that they don't fall into debts for at least 2 weeks. With our target of 5,000 CAD, we plan to help 200 rickshaw pullers. We also believe that handing out the money directly to the rickshaw-pullers in cash can help them use the money in a way that is most effective for them. (If you are wondering why we feel that way you can read this article - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/07/541609649/how-to-fix-poverty-why-not-just-give-people-money)
We plan to hand out the money individually by ourselves (you can get know more about us below), and so we want to keep our target small and attainable. We want to make sure that although we plan to reach only 200 people, the money can make a real difference in their lives in the crisis period.
Who We Are
We are a couple from Bangladesh who wants to contribute in some way during the crisis. I am Hassan - I live in Canada and work at Amazon as a software developer, currently in Bangladesh on a sabbatical. My wife is Dr. Sanjana, and she is the Assistant Professor at a private university in Dhaka.
Over the last couple of days since the roads of Dhaka started to empty, we have personally gone out to rickshaw pullers and handed them whatever little sum of money our families and ourselves could put together. We realised there may be many more of you who would love to help these hardworking yet disadvantaged workforce. We therefore created this campaign hoping to facilitate anyone who would like to contribute.
"The likeness of those who spend for Allah’s sake is as the likeness of a grain of corn, it grows seven ears every single ear has a hundred grains, and Allah multiplies (increases the reward of) for whom He wills, and Allah is sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower).” (Qur’an, 2:261)
