Save the Rohingya

Dear Friends,

 Our team is excited to share with you our second 2023 update for OBAT’s Rohingya program which has been thriving with your support!

We received some great news beginning of this year. OBAT received the 2023 Seal of Transparency from Candid. Formerly known as GuideStar, Candid is the world’s largest information portal on nonprofits. The platinum seal awarded to OBAT by Candid denotes the highest level of transparency exhibited by a nonprofit registered in its database. OBAT recently renewed its due diligence with Candid and upgraded its seal to 2023. Click here to view OBAT's profile on Candid.

 In the first quarter of 2023, a total of 11,504 patients were treated for various health problems at the OBAT Rohingya health clinic. One of the unique features of the OBAT Health Post is that it has been running a well-equipped dental unit since 2018. Three dentists are continuously supporting the dental unit which is sponsored by RCF (Refugee Crisis Foundation (RCF). During Jan-March 2023, 1,359 people were treated for various dental problems.

 International Women’s Day was celebrated in the Rohingya camps through a fair organized by the NGO, BRAC. It was held at the women’s market in camp-5. Women from OBAT’s Empowerment Center participated in the fair by displaying clothes and other items stitched by them such as frocks, pillow covers and wallets.

Another important day was celebrated-this time in the OBAT Learning Centers.The International Day of Education is celebrated worldwide on January 24th 2023. This year, the theme was “to invest in people, prioritize education." OBAT runs 13 Learning Centers for Rohingya refugee children and celebrated the day with them by hosting an art competition. Students enjoyed drawing their favorite things. The students who produced the top three art works were given prizes.

 OBAT's goal is to provide a holistic education to its students-one that creates academically savvy as well as socially conscious students. Recently, one of OBAT's Learning Centers observed World Autism Awareness Day with its students. The objective was to provide information about the topic as well as create a sensitivity in the students towards fellow students who might be on the autism spectrum.

 Now that you are caught up with the impact you have been making in OBAT’s Rohingya projects this year, take a moment to share it with your friends and family and invite them to join you in your passion to make a difference in so many lives.

We will be back in three months with much more to share!

Have a wonderful start to your summer!

Your OBAT Family!

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Dear Friends,

Happy new year to you and your loved ones! Hope your new year is off to a fresh, crisp start and 2023 brings you closer to your aspirations and dreams.

It is time to bring you the first update in 2023 from OBAT’s Rohingya Relief Program. You helped us accomplished a lot in 2022! Here is a snapshot of the impact you made:

• 13 Learning Centers Educated 1,169 Children
• 91,515 Individuals Received Health Care through Outpatient Care and Health Camps
• 586 Orphan Children Received Support
• 838 Refugees Empowered through the Income generation program

 THANK YOU FOR CREATING SUCH AMAZING IMPACT!

Here are some activities that played a role in creating the above impact:

32 Rohingya and host community members undergo ENT surgeries 

OBAT runs an outstanding dental unit at its Rohingya Health post with the help of its partner, Refugee Crisis Foundation (RCF). During October, RCF visited from the UK with a team of five ENT surgeons and partnered with OBAT to provide ENT services at the UNHCR Ukhiya Hospital in Cox’s Bazar. Thirty-two patients from the Rohingya refugees and host community underwent tympanoplasty surgeries. The visiting team also built the capacity of the local doctors by training them on administering hearing tests and management of common ENT problems. Twenty-seven doctors underwent the training. Thank you to our partner, RCF for helping us provide amazing and much needed healthcare to the local community.

OBAT's US staff cements partnerships on the ground

Masum Mahbub, OBAT's Director of Policy and Partnership Engagement, often visits Bangladesh for evaluating and monitoring projects. This time, his visit was focused on building new partnerships and cementing existing ones to advance OBAT's mission. Partners from North America such as Bee Humble as well as Refugee Crisis Foundation, a UK organization, were on the ground and conducted site visits with him. The visits were fruitful in identifying new opportunities for collaboration as well as determining the impact of the current projects.

Among other organizations, Masum Mahbub initiated talks with UNHCR, ICRC and MedGlobal for potential future partnerships.

 Dental camp treats 159 patients from Rohingya community

During the visit of Refugee Crisis Foundation (RCF), three dental camps were also hosted in early October for the Rohingya community. These camps were hosted in the Rohingya refugee camps 7, 12 and 13. Four doctors from the RCF team extended basic dental treatment to 159 patients. OBAT is the only provider of dental treatment in the Rohingya camps. A dental unit is a part of its health post which offers a range of health services.

Rohingya students receive new books

New books based on the Myanmar curriculum were distributed to the students of grade 1 and 2. The books covered several subjects: English, Myanmar, Social Science, Physical Studies, Science and Life Skills. The young learners were very excited to receive the new books which were gifted by the Education Sector.

 New partnership will expand dental services to more refugees

OBAT’s partner, for its dental unit at the Rohingya Health Post, RCF (Refugee Crises Foundation), has been instrumental in providing remarkable dental care to residents of camp 4. A new six month agreement has been signed between OBAT, RCF and the organization, Food for the Hungry (FH). For the next six months, FH will facilitate the hosting of two dental camps per month by providing facilities and other essential amenities in camp 12. This will address an area of great need in the Rohingya refugee community where availability of dental care is very scarce.

 Thank you for standing with us in 2022! As we embark on the New Year, our resolution is to make this even better and brighter for the Rohingya refugee community and we need your help to make this happen! Do talk about OBAT’s Rohingya Relief Program to your friends, neighbors, family, coworkers- in short, anyone who shares your kind heart!

Stay tuned for the next report in another three months. Until then, stay safe, happy and healthy!

Your OBAT Family!

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Dear friends,

Most of you around the world have experienced the first signs of fall already. Hope you are ready to rake the leaves from your backyards and enjoy the pumpkin infused scents and beverages, characteristic of this weather.

 Being in late September means we are bringing our third update of the year to you! Where did the time go?

 There is much to share with you about OBAT’s Rohingya Program. All three sectors of OBAT’s humanitarian response, education, health and empowerment, have been running efficiently and smoothly, thanks to your support.

Here are some specific highlights from the last few months:

• A new latrine has been built in the Rohingya camp, thanks to the CIC office (Camp in Charge), This latrine is very close to OBAT’s learning center for Rohingya girls aged 13 and above. Forty-six girls study at this center which is being run by the generous support of the Maiya School. The latrine will provide a much-needed sanitation facility for the young girls and the female teachers who will no longer have to walk a long distance to access one. We are thankful to OBAT’s team who are constantly advocating for the welfare of its students.
• The Bangladesh Navy provided about four acres of land to OBAT to create employment opportunities for the Rohingya refugees settled in the remote island of Bhasan Char. The land is being utilized for cultivation of crops. Two types of vegetables are being planted and grown in this land. Some such as gourds grow horizontally, while others such as okra and eggplant grow vertically. Volunteers from the Rohingya community are piloting this cultivation system and also preparing quick compost made out of sawmill dust, oilcakes and poultry drops. Once the cultivation system is piloted, it will benefit 1,000 Rohingya women and enable them to cultivate vegetables to earn an income.
• The Education Sector of nonprofits which determines the curriculum of education for Rohingya refugees, recently distributed 200 books to students of OBAT's learning centers. A new and scaled up curriculum is now being followed for Rohingya children and is known as the Myanmar Curriculum.
• A compassionate donor wanted to spread some light in the lives of Rohingya children. Thanks to their generosity, 150 Rohingya kids received gifts which consisted of paints, pencil, coloring pencils and paper, sharpener, eraser and pen. We are grateful to our donors for creating happy moments for our children
• It was a great case of happenstance when our Rohingya Clinic Medical Assistant and Physician were both en route to Naokhali from Bhasan Char (a remote island where OBAT serves some of the relocated Rohingya refugees) on a boat which was also taking a Rohingya woman for delivery to a bigger hospital. The woman started with active labor and began to bleed during the boat ride. OBAT’s Medical Assistant, Golam Rabbi, carried out the delivery successfully after being granted permission from Bhasan Char’s Health Coordinator and the boat’s magistrate. All the passengers welcomed the new baby and commended Mr. Rabbi on his timely and adept intervention. We are incredibly proud of and grateful for our amazing staff!

Heartwarming stories like these abound when a team is made up of deeply committed and dedicated individuals. OBAT is lucky to have many more Rabbi’s on its team- every day for them is an opportunity to make another life better. They can only do so knowing that there are many invisible hands like yours, propping them up and enabling them to do more good.

We will forever be grateful for your support. Thank you for making lives better EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Your OBAT Family.

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 Dear OBAT Family,

Summer is here and we hope that it has brought lots of sunny weather and happy moments your way. We are bringing you the second update for our Rohingya projects, which, thanks to your support, are doing really well. Before sharing some of these amazing updates, we are excited to let you know that our 2021 annual report is out! Find out all about the impact you clicking here. 

The Rohingya community recently celebrated the month of Ramadan and the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr. Every year, OBAT distributes Ramadan food packages to thhelped us make last year by e vulnerable refugees to lessen their struggle in the holy month. The food packages consist of staple  items such as rice, flour, soyabean oil, lentils, sugar, milk, semolina and salt. 1,183 food packages were distributed amongst refugee families, thanks to the generous sponsorship of RCF (Refugee Crisis Foundation), HCI (Human Concern International) and FHII(Friends of Humanity International). 

 We are constantly investing in our staff and giving them access to trainings to improve our operations and services to the beneficiaries of our projects. A slew of trainings took place since you last heard from us:

• Prantic Unnayun, OBAT’s implementing partner for Rohingya projects, organized a three-day strategic planning workshop to train staff and help them develop a plan for the next three years. We are grateful to work with partners who invest in staff development and training!
• During February, the United Nations organized a two day training on gender and diversity. Key staff from OBAT’s education, health and empowerment projects in the Rohingya program attended the training. The training covered areas related to gender norms, SDG, gender equality and roles, gender relations, and stereotypes and gender based division of labor.
•  Another training undertaken by the staff included a social cohesion and gender based violence (GBV) training conducted by BRAC University and UNHCR. The participants of the training learnt how to increase social cohesion among host and Rohingya communities and how to address GBV in their areas of work. OBAT’s project officer from the Rohingya Women Empowerment Center attended the training.
• Seven staff members from our team received a two-week training in Fund Raising Management. Two of these staff were from our Rohingya projects. The training took place in Turkey and was organized by the Ibn Haldun University, Türk Kzlay, and Intuitive Institute. It aimed at training participants to become skilled fundraising managers. At the end of the program, participants received a certificate issued by Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.The training will allow OBAT and our implementing partners to build strategies together and expand our fundraising efforts to local donations and not depend primarily on foreign support. This was the staff’s very first time going abroad to receive training and we are very glad to provide them this opportunity. 
•  During March, a training on Disability and  Inclusive Education was organized by Handicap International & Unicef for the organizations working in the education sector of the Rohingya refugee camp.The training highlighted what inclusivity meant in education, the rights of individuals with disabilities, what constitutes disability and what are the barriers that are faced by disabled individuals, teaching strategies as well as how to detect abuse.

 The government of Bangladesh has been moving Rohingya refugees from the crowded Kutupalong camp to the island of Bhasan Char. OBAT has set up various initiatives for these refugees, including a learning center, health post, women empowerment, and income generation programs. The ninth batch of 797 refugees has arrived on the island. OBAT is extending primary health treatment to these refugees as a priority. The total number of Rohingyas now settled on Bhasan Char is 20,000.

OBAT’s Rohingya Health post provides ongoing dental services through its partner, RCF or Refugee Crisis Foundation. In an effort to make this service readily accessible to the refugees who don’t live very close to the health post, OBAT is hosting dental camps in different locations. Thirty-five refugees received dental care at this camp. The dentists also shared dental hygiene practices and other tips to ensure dental health with the refugees.

 Thanks to the support of our partner, HCI (Human Concern International), 263 students in OBAT’s Learning Centers in the Rohingya camps received backpacks. This distribution is a part of the child support program sponsored by HCI in the Rohingya camp. HCI’s private donors also participated in a video session with 21 of these children in February 2022. The donors later on sent gift boxes to the kids.

 Thank you for always standing with us to support the vulnerable Rohingya refugees. Your support is a lifeline for them.

 Wish you the very best and hope that you are able to create happy memories with your families this summer.

 Your OBAT Family.

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Dear OBAT Family,

As we embark on new adventures, aspirations, and goals, we are reminded that there is still so much work to be done. Together, we celebrate the New Year’s possibilities and hope that we can rise to the challenge together and help those who need it most.

As always, there is so much news to bring to you from the Rohingya refugee camp. And that is only because so much gets accomplished because of your support! Read away about what’s been transpiring since last October…

• Efforts at Rohingya Camp Allow Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

For the second time, OBAT’s implementing partner, Prantic, participated in a COVID-19 vaccination campaign organized by the district-level health service in Ukhiya. As a result of this effort, 1,900 people were vaccinated over the course of the 2-day campaign held towards the end of 2021.

These vaccines allow the camp residents to stay safe from the effects of COVID-19 and help life return to normalcy.

Amidst this challenging environment, the safety of our students is of utmost importance to us. OBAT’s education project staff received special training on workplace first aid and Covid-19 resilience. The training was conducted at OBAT’s Rohingya health post and was conducted by the doctors who work there

• OBAT Celebrated 17^th Birthday in a Virtual Event

On October 17th, we celebrated our 17th birthday. There were no balloons and cake at this virtual party; but the event was festive nonetheless. More importantly, the guest list was stellar!

Fourteen OBAT pillars and pioneers came together from 10 different states to share their personal OBAT journeys, hopes, and dreams for the future. Many more sent messages, videos, and signed virtual birthday cards. 

Thank you to everyone who attended our 17th Birthday Bash, and a special thanks to the all-star lineup who presented their heartfelt OBAT stories to make the event so very special. If you missed the Birthday Bash, you can watch the event’s recording here! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV1ThqlfTLc&t=5s

•  New Learning Center in Bhasan Char Brings Hope to Rohingya Children and Parents

The Government of Bangladesh has so far relocated approximately 18,000 Rohingya refugees from the overcrowded Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar and resettled them in Bhasan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal. OBAT has been supporting the refugees settled there through the help of its implementing partner, Prantic. To address the education needs of the children living in Bhasan Char, a Learning Center has been opened. The Center operates in two shifts to serve a total of 116 children, 63 girls and 53 boys are being nurtured and empowered by the education they will receive at the Learning Center, and their parents are overjoyed.

•  Income Generation Activities expand for remote Bhasan Char Island residents

OBAT is dedicated to creating avenues through which the Rohingya refugees can generate a sustainable income. During the month of November, 25 ducks and 25 chickens were distributed among ten women settled in Bhasan Char. These 10 women will raise these animals and sell their eggs which will provide a source of income while they also distribute the chicks and ducklings to other Rohingya families. This is amazing news because it thereby creates an ongoing chain of income generation.

• Health Screenings, food and hygiene kits ensure wellbeing of Rohingya children

 OBAT’s valuable partner Human Concern International is sponsoring a child support project in the Rohingya camps. Under this project, 386 students from our Learning Centers will receive health screenings. These screenings check vitals of students such as heart rate and blood pressure as well as growth metrics such as height, weight among other indicators of health. At present, 140 kids have undergone health checkups including 79 boys and 69 girls. These checkups ensure the general health of our students and also make their attendance in classes regular and participative. In addition, 383 students also received hygiene kits (consisting of soap, toothpaste, etc.) as well as food packages of staple food items. Thank you to HCI for undertaking this valuable initiative with us.

• New learning center added in the Kutupalong camp!

During November, a new learning center was added in the Kutupalong Camp for adolescent students. These students are in the 14-24 age group. The students will study English, Math and Burmese subjects and acquire basic numeracy and literacy skills. They will also be taught basic life skills. This project is sponsored by RCF, Refugee Crisis Foundation. RCF is also our chief partner for the dental clinic at OBAT’s Health post.

• 321 Baby Kits Nurture Vulnerable lives

OBAT is fortunate to partner with Bee Humble (www.beehumble.org) for supporting newborn babies and their families in the Rohingya camps. New born baby kits are distributed to mothers to ensure that their babies thrive and receive the care they need at this nascent stage in their lives. These kits consist of cribs, blankets, baby mattresses and other items covering essential needs of a newborn. Twenty-eight kits were distributed on December 8th to new mothers. The no. of kits distributed in 2021 to date is 321.

• Clothes stiched by Rohingya sewing students sold at winter market

Our students in the Rohingya women empowerment center are proud of the beautiful clothing they stitch. Recently, their hand made clothing was displayed for sale at a winter market in Cox’s Bazar. OBAT participated in this winter exhibition organized by Cox’s Bazar Food Security Sector, to increase the marketability of the clothes. We are happy to share that the colorful clothing attracted a lot of attention from visitors!

• Universal Health Coverage Day is observed to draw attention to health challenges

 Universal Health Coverage Day is observed on 12th of December annually. The day marks the anniversary of the United Nations’ historic endorsement of universal health coverage in 2012 calling for all nations to provide for their citizens affordable and quality health care. Our Rohingya health post observed this day to draw attention to the health challenges faced by the Rohingya refugees. The clinic staff organized a rally and a health checkup for the students of OBAT’s Learning Centers.

We hope that this new year brings you much joy and health and keeps you and your loved ones safe. Thank you for walking with us in 2021. Here’s to treading 2022 with you!

Warmly,

OBAT team

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