Project Name: Women’s Health Safety Project

Women’s Health Safety project aims at providing low cost biodegradable sanitary napkins.

In Bangladesh 95% of the women don’t use sanitary napkins, because they can’t afford it. They use old rags which are not comfortable and hygienic, leading to illnesses and absence from work. On the other hand, cultural believes and social norms restrict women and girls to directly purchase sanitary napkins from the dispensary making it difficult for women to manage their menstruation hygienically. Moreover, with over 45 million women in Bangladesh in the reproductive age, disposable sanitary napkins could present an ecological disaster as the pads will contain plastic. Even there are no solutions in the market for emergency single pack sanitary napkins.

Women health safety project has developed a unique solution to this existing problem. The solution is structured in two ways: first, creating behavioral change and second, product development and increasing availability. The primary beneficiaries are college and university going girls who live in Gazipur district. With significant market penetration in the targeted area women’s health safety project plan to go for an expansion.
Behavioral Change: The intervention strategy is based on campaigns at different institutions of Gazipur district which includes behavioral and awareness raising communication approach and capacity building.
Product development and availability: Part of the project is focused on product development; creating low cost disposable sanitary napkins which are affordable for the target group. Because of cultural habits women will bury their personal waste. The absorbents are made by natural products. In this project we will also replace the plastics used in the layer to prevent leakage by biodegradable materials. Another part of this project aims at providing easy access to the product. As women feel uncomfortable in purchasing sanitary napkins, we plan to make our product available in places where women feel comfortable such as; college/university hostels, girls common-rooms etc. We are also planning to launch emergency based single-pack napkins which will be cost effective and will provide more options to women in the time of emergency.

Project Name: Abbasi Zone

Abbasi Zone is an IT and skill development training center which provides IT training to the youths of Narayanganj at an affordable cost.

Unemployment has become a growing concern and often the rapid growth of Bangladesh is labeled as ‘jobless growth’. In spite of having a large demographic dividend Bangladesh is unable to exploit the full potential of this opportunity. A large number of youths are unemployed or underutilized and they are frustrated. Along with inadequate job opportunities, unskilled labor coupled with insufficient IT knowledge are working as key catalysts in aggravating the entire scenario. This situation is almost prevalent in every corner of the nation and matters will become worse if correct and planned measurements are not adopted.

Abbasi Zone has taken the step forward to change this scenario in its locality. With the help of professional trainers Abbasi zone has commenced its journey in providing IT training to the resident youths in its surroundings. With minimal capital investment, they have installed four computers that serve 40 trainees throughout the day. The sole purpose is to develop the IT knowledge of youths who can later on utilize this knowledge as an advantage in the competitive job sector of Bangladesh. Even they provide free practice session opportunity to IT enthusiast. The goal is to serve at least 100 trainees within next 4 months.

Project Name: Bhai Bhai Rope and Socks Factory

Bhai Bhai Rope and Socks Factory recycles waste materials from neighboring garment factories to create rope and socks. The factory is capable of producing five distinct kinds of rope that have enormous demand in markets across the nation.

In a recent study, Reverse Resources, an Estonia-based software company trying to develop an online market place for garment waste for ensuring its maximum utilization and better value, showed that the total volume of annual leftovers from the county's garment units is around 400,000 tonnes. More than 25 percent of resources are discarded in fabric and garment factories, which can go up to 47 percent in some cases, as per the findings of RR. These waste materials cause environmental degradation as well as loss in financial gain and if these leftovers are recycled, it will be a business of more than $4 billion. But there is a void of solid waste management system in garment industries.

With 3 rope and 2 sock producing machines in his backyard, Bhai Bhai rope and socks factory has taken the first step to turn the scraps into reusable materials - rope and socks. Remanufacturing involves practical challenges but Bhai Bhai Rope and Socks Factory is already able to witness the business potential and already generating profit. By recycling the waste materials of neighboring garment factories and utilizing local labor, Bhai Bhai Rope and Socks Factory is harmoniously addressing to intersecting pathways-business growth and climate change.

Project Name: Project TDM – Terrorism Defense and Martial Arts

Project TDM aims to provide self-defense training to female students so that they can not only defend themselves against physical attacks but also learn important values and principals such as hard work, dedication and perseverance.

Women frequently get harassed in public places and the number of rape victims is also experiencing an upward trend. Insuring women’s safety has become a concerning issue. Especially young students in rural areas are more prone to become victims of physical attacks due to the social settings. Male supremacy is more prevalent in rural areas and they gratify their male dominance through harassing women physically and mentally.

Shahina wishes to provide self-defense training to female students in her region. In order to make the training more accessible by the students, she intends to train the female trainees in their respective institutions. Instead of the students coming to her training center, she wants to reach out to them. With the assistance of the institution authorities she seeks to establish self-defense training centers in every institution that exists in her locality. By transforming classrooms to training center, Shahina not only dreams of teaching self-defense to female students but also teach them important values and principals such as hard work, dedication and perseverance.

Project Name: Online Boi Bazar, Manikganj

Online Boi Bazar, Manikganj connects readers with quality books through a simple online platform.

In Manikganj, it is difficult to find text books suggested by the university teachers. Libraries located in the main city remains closed most of the time and they charge higher price. There are no libraries even in rural regions of Manikganj and buying a good book for them, whether a textbook or a novel becomes very hard and sometimes impossible.

With a customer friendly simple online platform Online Boi Bazar, Manikganj is meeting the demand of books in Manikganj for more than one and a half years. Their efficient way of procuring has enabled them to offer books at an affordable price. Online Boi Bazar, Manikganj brings a wide range of books to the readers of Manikganj books with just a few clicks. Readers can browse and order their favorite and essential books online with their Facebook page. Within a few days, books are delivered to the readers.

Project Name: Don’t Import Let’s Make

Don’t Import Let’s Make aims at producing toys based on popular native cartoon characters such as; Meena, Sisimpur here in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh imports toy accessories worth Tk3,000 crore and majority of the toy market is dominated by Chinese products made from cheap plastics. Most of these toys represent foreign characters. As a result, children are only not getting familiarized with locally originated characters leading to cultural loss.

Don’t Import Let’s Make recognizes the potential of locally manufactured toys in reducing Bangladesh’s dependency on foreign toy markets and takes a unique approach. They plan to promote native characters by producing toys based on popular cartoon characters such as; Meena and Sisimpur while using good quality plastics. Incorporating sensor-led prerecorded social or health awareness messages into these toys they seek to uphold their products not only as a toy but also as an educator of positive change that will help to contribute in building socially and culturally aware young generation.

Project Name: Shift Here

Shift Here is a modern shifting service provider based in Manikganj, Bangladesh. It provides shifting service for workplace relocation, company relocation and home shifting.

Packing and Moving needs a lot of pre-planning and the person is burdened with so many works to handle alone. Home and office shifting to a new place can be very exciting or opportunistic, but it also comes with a heavy strain of packing & shifting entire home or office to a new location. Transferring each and everything to a new place is not an easy task; it is in fact, very time consuming and hectic. There are many shifting service providers in Dhaka city but in Manikganj, the market is still untapped and there exists significant need for such services.

To alleviate the extra burden of shifting to a new place, Shift Here offers professional packers and movers in Manikganj. They work efficiently and make the moving experience pleasant and stress free. With their knowledgeable team, Shift Here helps to shift products with commitment and responsibility and also it creates employment opportunity for local people.

Project Name: Seshbidai.com

Seshbidai.com plans to provide one-stop funeral service for the families who have lost their loved ones.

In our society, funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. Coping with someone's loss and simultaneously preparing for the complicated funerary customs is an overwhelming task, especially for the younger generation who most of time lack proper knowledge and understanding.

Seshbidai.com provides one-stop digital solution that arrange services in accordance with the wishes of surviving friends and family. It takes care of the necessary paperwork, permits, and other details, such as making arrangements with the cemetery, transporting the body from one place to another and providing obituaries to the news media. Seshbidai.com integrates all these different services and makes them accessible with ease which enables the grieving process more less painful and allows the family to spend time with the departed.

Project Name: Life Is Very Easy (LIVE)

LIVE is in the business of developing human capital through mentorship sessions that offer inspiration, instruction and information to the youths who are in dire need of guidance and proper direction regarding their respective future. They also provide assistance in building the bridge of understanding between parents and children.

In the age of modernization and social media, millennials have minimum space to share their point of view. They feel isolated and due to increasing number of working-class nuclear family the bridge between parents and children is at a shaky situation. With so much negativity that has grappled our surroundings, youths are increasingly becoming frustrated. They seem to be always confused regarding their future plan due to lack of proper guidance. On the other hand, many youths have stage fright and do not possess the art of public speaking and many do not have the ability or confidence to properly speak in English which ultimately hampers their career growth. Frustration and depression, has been labeled as the diseases of 21st century and these are certainly prevalent among the young generation of Bangladesh.

As a solution to these modern-day problems LIVE has stepped forward and dedicated themselves in building a step by step customized mentoring mechanism that motivates youths to create desired changes among themselves. Based on the needs of an individual, customized mentoring mechanism comprises- online motivational slides and videos, one to one suicidal counselling, relationship coaching and speech coaching. Live also facilitates individuals in developing their CV writing and interview techniques as well as presentation and communication skills. Till date LIVE has provided suicidal counselling to 100+ youths, motivated 4,000+ people through 200 motivational seminars and published a book comprised of case studies and motivational contents which sold over 7000 copies.

Project Name: Munshiganj Handicrafts

Munshiganj Handicrafts seeks to provide meaningful income opportunity for individuals impacted by Padma’s riverbank erosion by selling the handicrafts made by these people to different places and cities.

Riverbank erosion is one of the most unpredictable and critical type of disasters. Such calamity took tolls less in lives but more in livelihood as agricultural land and homesteads along with other livelihood options that are evacuated. The bank erosion enhances hunger and livelihood and forces people to migrate in more vulnerable places. As Padma devours more and more areas, the socioeconomic condition of people is also degrading day by day.

Munshiganj Handicrafts intends to create meaningful income opportunity for the people in his region who are affected by the riverbank erosion. In order to improve these profile’s socioeconomic condition, Shaon wishes to use internal and local raw materials and employ these people to produce handicrafts such as- Changari, Jhuri, Mora, Pol, Hat Pakha, Pati, show piece etc. and sell them at different market places in the main city.

Project Name: Jari Dol

With rhythmic storytelling, Khondokar Nahar Shorna and her JARI troupe aim to raise awareness among their local community members about numerous sensitive social issues and in the process trying to revive this famous branch of Bangladesh's traditional performing art that is already on the verge of disappearing.

In the era of globalization where people have various other sources of indoor entertainments available on TV, internet and different other gadgets, intangible cultural heritages such as Jari gaan is facing threats of disappearance. On the other hand, people in the rural areas are not aware about the causes and consequences of many sensitive social issues such as; dowry, violence, violent extremism, child marriage etc. This absence of consciousness is damaging and drives community members to participate in actions that are possibly detrimental to the society as a whole.

Khondokar Nahar Shorna and her JARI troupe compose their own Jari songs and address multiple sensitive social issues and spreads message of social unity, peace and harmony. The intention is to make it suitable for the ears of the audience and aware and educate them at the same time. With the assistance of her mother and few young local students, she is continuing to revive this traditional art form of Bangladesh and at the same time creating employment for local performing arts enthusiasts.

Project Name: Golden Shine Beauty Salon

Golden Shine Beauty Salon provides extended services related to skin health, facial aesthetics, foot care, haircut and styling to local women and simultaneously provides training and job opportunities for females.

Women have desire to look beautiful and going to a beauty parlor symbolizes growing independence in our conservative rural areas. But there is a lack of beauty parlors in rural areas which limits women’s desire and need to look and feel beautiful.

Golden Shine Beauty Salon offers various beautification services to local women. It allows the women to discover themselves and let them enjoy the feeling of being someone special. Moreover, Business Name provides training and knowledge to local women on beauty and employs them as beauticians, creating meaningful jobs for local women.