Change Makers
Change Maker / Following in her father’s footsteps
Fauzia Beethi is not a political figure in her area, but everybody knows her in Bogura’s Dhunat upazila for her philanthropic works.
Change Maker / For the love of a language
In a country where people laid down their lives about seventy years ago to uphold the dignity of their mother tongue, Bangla, the struggle is still on to preserve mother tongues of smaller ethnic communities.
The pursuit of a dignified life
Giving away her hard-earned income to the destitute, Dil Afroze Khuki of Rajshahi chose a life of constant battles. In her 60s now, she has been a newspaper hawker in the northern city for 30 years.
Change Maker / A beacon with books for all
A schoolboy who started a library in his village with only 10 books back in 2014 now supplies books to 30 salon-based mini-libraries in two upazilas with money earned from part-time jobs.
Ferdousi: A torchbearer of education
Paschim Barua village used to be pervaded by some typical social ills -- superstition, child marriage, and child labour. A remote village of 20,000 people in Kulaghat union of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, it has now been transformed by education.
The Daily Star honours: Soinuddin Miah, the man who paved a path for many
Mohammad Soinuddin Miah, a farmer of remote village in Tangail, put in superhuman labour for four years to construct a 1.5-kilometre long earthen road with the intention of ending the sufferings of his fellow villagers.
The Daily Star honours: Abdur Rashid, the man who gave it all for the children
For close to a decade, Abdur Rashid, a marginal farmer from a remote village in Lalmonirhat, has been running the school, “Kaliganj Pratibandhi Bidyalay”, with support from locals and specialised teachers who volunteer.
Mesmerising tunes to inspire them
A physically challenged youth in the remote Haziganj Bhatitari village of Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat is using music to inspire children in his village.
Shahjahan, an avid tree lover
“Only if my village looked as green as Malaysia!”--this is what ASM Khalequzzaman Saju, an avid lover of trees, had in his mind when he returned to his home at Kowri village in Manikganj in 1979.
Change maker: Farmer lays a road for his village
It all began with a simple thought -- the villagers need a road to go to the nearest market, but there is none. Nor did the local administration take any initiative. So Mohammad Chhainuddin, a farmer, took it upon himself to build one.
Change Maker: Eyes in distress, eyes of hope
Ehsan Hoque was lucky not to be blind for life, after his birth in 1964. Born with congenital cataracts, an optical disorder responsible for child blindness, he could survive with a limited eyesight. However, unlike most other victims of child blindness because of infections or nutritional deficiencies in pregnancies, his story was to unfold completely differently over the next five decades. His eyes in distress would eventually transform him into an angel parent of children in distress.
From worker to apparel entrepreneur
After the death of her father, Chhobi Das Gupta started working as a garment worker at the age of 12. She dropped out of school and became the bread winner of a family of seven struck hard by poverty.
On a mission to change lives
A banker by profession, Md Shahjahan Mia set out on a noble mission – to eradicate illiteracy from Nahata Union in Mohammadpur upazila, Magura.
Change Maker: For the love of learning
When 81-year-old Ziaul Haque was young, just one taka and two annas was all he needed to start class-VI. For his father, a curd seller
Change maker: Selfless friend of students
There are stories, now and then, of people succeeding in achieving higher education despite significant obstacles.
People's Doctor: Consultation, medicines for just Tk 40
At 79, Dr Basanta Roy would surely be excused if he put away his stethoscope for good. Instead he works morning to evening, consulting
Not a lonely fight, anymore
Shahana Chowdhury kept going back to the story of her 25-year-old son’s recent Hong Kong visit and repeatedly said how proud she was to have seen her autistic child along with 10 others win the best performance award in a cultural programme there. Her excitement was mixed with gratitude for Begum Nur Jahan Dipa, special educator at the Parents Forum for the Differently Able (PFDA)-Vocational Training Centre, who made it possible.
MINDMATTERS: Raising Awareness About Mental Health
To this day, the Bangladeshi community struggles with the stigma of mental health disorders and treatment. While people openly seek
