My Nonprofit Reviews

OBAT Helpers does amazing work for the Rohingya refugee community in Bangladesh. Their grass-roots initiatives really empower the community through education, health and livelihoods programs.

Their Women's Empowerment Program is something to be especially proud of. I was lucky enough to visit this project and meet the women who had been empowered by this project to start their own businesses in sewing and agriculture. OBAT Helpers gave them the skills, education and resources to be able to run and sustain a business, allowing them to become financially independent and make an income.

I started volunteering with OBAT Helpers in December 2017, working with the education sector in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. OBAT does amazing work with all their projects in education, health and shelter. Working closely with the education team, I realised how dedicated they are: doing everything they can to provide an education to as many children in the camps as possible, giving them both a formal education and life skills to help them cope with the conditions in the camp. Along with learning English, Burmese and Maths, the children also learn health and hygiene skills, and meditation and exercises to help with their mental and physical health.

One of the most amazing things that OBAT does is empower the local Bangladeshi and Rohingya staff. OBAT is great at recognising the skills and experience of local people and building their capacity, so they feel confident in their roles and are constantly learning and developing new skills.

During my time in Bangladesh, I also visited Geneva camp in Dhaka. Here I visited a school for children of the Urdu-speaking Bihari community that is part of the Digital Learning Program. The children are given tablets and taught how to use them, learning English, Bangla and maths through games. The Digital Learning Program has also just been launched in Cox’s Bazar. To begin with, one local Bangladeshi school and one school in the Rohingya refugee camps will be part of this innovative project.

Congratulations to OBAT to all you have achieved and good luck for the future.