PROJECT CLOSED !!!

Project Closed on 31st December, 2010 ! 

.

To follow Maria's new involvement in the humanitarian field please visit the Facebook Group :

"Maria Cristina Foundation"

.

DONATIONS IN AUGUST

Feeling much grateful for the generosity addressed to the most in need, we present the list of donors who made their donations in August 2010:

• Anonymous donor - 500 EUR,
• Carlos Figueiredo - 4 EUR,
• Armando Martins - 10 EUR 

Thank you very much on behalf of the adults and children helped through the Catalyst !

"WE ONLY NEED AN OPPORTUNITY" - MOSHAROF

Seven Dhaka children to whom Maria Conceicao gave her help through a humanitarian project, are now in Dubai. 

Their goal is shown in the following article published by The National newspaper at http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100829/NATIONAL/708289940/1139  as in the text below:

Bangladeshi youngsters on a mission to enter Dubai school

Leah Oatway
Last Updated: August 29. 2010 1:06PM UAE / August 29. 2010 9:06AM GMT
 
Diving into a brighter future: The children, from Dhaka, play with new friends at the Libra summer camp at Dubai British School, which is also helping assess how they adapt to their peers and surroundings. Jaime Puebla / The National
 
DUBAI // Splashing around in a school swimming pool this week, the seven newest recruits to summer camp looked like they had known their Dubai peers for months, not days.
For almost all of them, this is the first time they have been away from their home in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Until three years ago, Sujon Ishaq, 12, Shewly Akter, 11, Taslim Hossain, 14, Shah Alam, 14, Mosharaf Hossain, 15, Bilkis Akter, 13, and Milon Mia, 12, did not have passports and had never visited, let alone attended, a school.
Outcasts in their own city because of their families’ low social status, they could not speak their national language – Bangla – properly, much less English, and Dubai was a place they knew nothing of.
Today, despite sharing jokes – in almost fluent English – with their summer camp leaders, their three-week mission in Dubai is a serious one. They hope to secure a place at a Dubai school where they can continue their education and gain international qualifications.
“When I came here to visit in 2008, I saw children studying here and had a lot of dreams that one day I too could come and study,” said Mosharaf, who Libra camp staff say possesses a terrifyingly fast spin bowl.
Like his travelling companions, the articulate teenager has outgrown the free education provided to him by The Dhaka Project, a non-governamental organisation established by the Emirates Airlines air hostess Maria Conceicao four years ago to provide education and health care to the children from Dhaka’s slums.
In a bid to provide the next step for the children, Ms Conceicao established The Maria Project, aimed at empowering them with the tools they need to enter adulthood and become self-sufficient.
“If I can finish my studies here, I would be able to go back and work as a national defence officer, and show other people what is possible,” Mosharaf said. “We only need an opportunity.”
His companion, Sujon, a talented artist, wants to be a cardiologist.
“It is expensive to get treatment for the heart, so most of the poor people die because they have no money,” he said. “I want to help them and make a hospital in my village.”
Ms Conceicao, who organised the visit with the support of the Emirates Airline Foundation and local sponsors, said: “They need internationally recognised education certificates so that they can go on to great careers and contribute to their home country. They have gone as far as they can at our school. The schools in Dhaka will not accept them and they deserve a chance.”
During the three weeks they are here, the education group Taaleem, which owns several private international schools in the UAE, has agreed to assess the students with a view to providing those eligible with future scholarships.
Ms Conceicao, grateful for Taaleem’s support, is anxious that the older pupils find a school, and sponsorship, for this coming academic year. Attempts to enrol them at schools in Dhaka had proved futile. Ms Conceicao attributes this to the stigma attached to their social background.
Clive Pierrepont, the director of communications at Taaleem, confirmed that the group is looking into creating “long-term education opportunities for students from The Dhaka Project” but said the purpose of the children’s visit was, primarily, to ensure they could adapt happily to life here.
Each child would need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, he added, and assurances would need to be made that any child accepted at a school could remain sponsored there for their entire education – with a view towards college and university.
In the meantime, the children are making the most of free access to the Libra summer camp at Dubai British School, which is also providing an opportunity to assess how they adapt to their peers and surroundings.
“They have excelled in everything,” said Danny Phillips, operations director at Libra. “They are really intelligent, bright children and have mixed immediately into the camp. One of the boys was even showing us all how to measure water pressure using a plastic water bottle – he was so charismatic.
“Their English is good, they are very respectful and they just want to make the most of every moment. They are used to challenges in life, many of them have come from backgrounds we cannot ever imagine. It is quite humbling to see how quickly they have adapted and how grateful they are for everything.”
For more information, or to find out how you can help, visit www.mariaproject.com.pt or email maria_conceicao@yahoo.com
loatway@thenational.ae

LUISA'S FEEDBACK

My name is Luisa and I was a volunteer in the Dhaka Project and the Catalyst for a month. I think it may have taken me some good two months after returning home to realise how many little things had changed in me because of this experience. I can maybe now start understanding why it was difficult for Maria to just ignore the reality she saw and the people she met, although it is still very much impressive how she took such a great task in her hands. A month is really not enough to make a difference. I probably spent half of that time getting used to the very hot weather, trying to understand what I should be doing without being a burden more than a helping hand to the staff... Having Mr. Jewel waiting for me at the airport and showing me around in the first couple of days made all the difference though. I did not have to worry about practical issues, such as shopping, where it was safe to eat, exchanging money, etc, which in Dhaka may be quite difficult to manage on your own without speaking the language. There was also much flexibility on what tasks we could do, sometimes too much flexibility – in a month I was maybe hoping to do too much and I may have felt a little lost sometimes. I would normally spend the day divided between the Clinic with Dr. Jahid and the Catalyst in the evenings. It was very insightful to observe the Doctor’s work and I would help as much as I could, although, to be honest, I probably learnt more here than the contribution I was able to give. In the evenings I would go to the Catalyst, where I taught Portuguese to a group of children, who had already started learning the language with previous volunteers. I also took some English classes for the older children, although much improvisation was needed with so many power cuts and the almost unbearable heat in the classroom sometimes. Other tasks I was involved in included sorting out the books in the school’s library, helping in the recruitment of an English teacher for the Catalyst and organise a movie night for the children. Most importantly for me, perhaps, was having this informal contact with the children after school. Palash, who is the main person working at the Catalyst, makes sure the volunteers have the best chance to do some work for the project but at the same time get to know the children a bit better. ‘Nice to meet you’, some would say, always shaking my hand. I could write another essay on how lovely they are, but suffice it to say they are definitely the main reason why I decided to go back as soon as my life permits. In the meantime, I will try to get news from them and hope the Project will receive all the help it needs. For future volunteers, I would say, read the information in the ‘pre-departure’ document, you will find some useful tips in there! Also, try to discuss, as much as possible, what tasks you will be doing beforehand. It would also be good to keep some continuity to what other volunteers have done in the past, e.g. carry on with the classes someone was teaching, bearing in mind what topics have already been covered. If you wish to donate goods to the project (e.g. clothes, stationery), the best thing is to buy them – cheaply –from Dhaka and avoid carrying this stuff around the globe with you (like I did). I know they do ‘warn’ us to be flexible, but it is true, many situations may become frustrating or overwhelming. Things don’t always happen at the pace you want or don’t happen at all, but you do learn how to appreciate the struggle these people face every day. So, just do your best to mingle and I can assure you it will be worth it.

DONATIONS IN JULY

Below is the list of the donors who kindly made their donations to Maria Conceicao Project - Associacao .

• Cristina Leonor -------- 30,00 EUR
• Maria Clara -----------  60,00 EUR
• Christelle Gateff ----  325,00 EUR
• Armando D. S. Martins  - 10,00 EUR
• Ben van Rooyen ------- 7000,00 AED
• Dina M. M. Antunes ----- 50,00 EUR
• Sanaa Moubayed -------- 328,28 EUR
• Anonymous ------------- 100,00 EUR
• Carlos Figueiredo ------- 4,00 EUR
• Anonymous -------------- 67,00 EUR
• Anonymous -------------- 56,59 EUR
• Óscar Rodrigues -------- 10,00 EUR
• Orlando Duarte --------- 25,00 EUR

The team wishes to express huge thanks on behalf of the slum dwellers of Dhaka and their children!

VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION !

The Catalyst kids have recently welcomed two Portuguese volunteers!







Joao and Oscar arrived in Dhaka at the end of June for a holiday period volunteering towards the betterment of the kids and wishing to give a push ahead to their parents who are learning English at the Catalyst.

The adults have followed their methods enthusiastically as it can be watched in the video below:

Later, Dr. David Aristoteles has joined them for the remaining 15 days and they have dedicated all their efforts sharing their skills to help our slum dwellers.

Also they have taken and donated 3 laptops, what is a precious gift to help the students learning with multimedia support.

Finally, they gave away their new and used clothes and a guitar to the Catalyst before leaving Dhaka back to Portugal.

The Catalyst team, the children and the adults are so grateful for their contribution towards them; they show their happiness for the gifts left by our volunteers.

We present huge thanks from the Catalyst team on behalf of the Dhaka slum dwellers!

ITEMS DONATIONS

There have been a few reported donations of items along the last month as follows:

• Ben van Rooyen, Dubai - organized a huge collection of items at CGS schools; they collected a lot of boxs and bags full of items, and managed to deliver them at our drop off point.
• Shaeda, an Emirates staff - donated her family unwanted clothes, delivering them at an office in Dhaka airport. She has yet paid for transport to get a Catalyst staff to collect the items.
• Sérgio/Cristina Ribau, Aveiro - donated a receipt book and a legal registry book towards our Portuguese association for the first steps. Also donated a huge help providing all means to make the association registration possible, as the pre-preparation of legal papers, transport, accomodation, meals.
• Jorge Reis, Dubai - left a box at our drop-off point, containing a game and a bag containing several toys as well as a few books for kids.

A great thanks to these donors on behalf of the Catalyst supported slum dwellers.

DONATIONS IN JUNE

Maria Conceicao Project - Associacao's team is happy to address grateful thanks for the kind donations received from individuals and companies as listed below:

Shaheda (Ek staff) ----------1000.00 BDT
George Theodoridis ----------- 85.00 AED

Camilla Glanzmann ------------600.00 AED

Olga Maria Simões Pinho ------ 25.00 EUR

Joshua Last ------------------ 30.00 EUR -(28.42 EUR)*

Paula Cristina --------------- 12.00 EUR

Nadine Pilar Abreu Lima ------ 20.00 EUR

Carlos Manuel Sousa Mendes --- 55.00 EUR

Ana Sofia Melo --------------- 10.00 EUR -( 9.31 EUR)*

Greg Stainer ----------------- 20.00 EUR -(18.87 EUR)*

Freguesia de Santa Isabel ----  7.00 EUR

Soluções e Equações, Lda -----  6.00 EUR

Nova Residir Imobiliária Lda -  2.00 EUR

José Carlos D. Costa ---------150.00 EUR

Abílio Zacarias --------------  5.00 EUR

Ferret Laurent ---------------150.00 EUR

Anonymous --------------------200.00 EUR

Fernanda Cardoso ------------- 30.00 EUR

Joaquim Casado/Licínia Casado-150.00 EUR

Eduardo Miguel Borbinha ------  2.00 EUR

Maria Teresa Almeida --------- 50.00 EUR

António Pinto ----------------  5.00 EUR

Anonymous -------------------- 10.00 EUR

Anonymous -------------------- 50.00 EUR

Armando Martins -------------- 10.00 EUR

Albino Freire ----------------100.00 EUR

* - Via Paypal, after transfer cost
Thank you for joining us, giving your support to our work, to better the slum  children's future through their parents' education.

PAUL'S FEEDBACK

P/o Paul's feedbcak located at: http://web.me.com/paulvanderboor/Dhaka./Reflection.html

" Maria has built up the project with virtually no money and no local support but once RSF decided to take over they could have leveraged the momentum of the project to expand it further but it seems they are leading it into its demise. Not an unfamiliar story in Bangladesh. Maria has started a parallel project named The Catalyst, just around the corner of The Dhaka Project. The aim of The Catalyst is to provide jobs for the parents of the children to they can sustain themselves and their family to ensure that their children will continue to have access to education. After suspecting that our advice would not be welcome at The Dhaka Project we spent most of our time with Palash, the ‘captain’ of The Catalyst. We listened to the parents that daily attend English classes to increase their competitiveness in the labour market. We spoke to the children. The Catalyst had just hired a new teacher to teach English. While we sometimes felt desperate about the lack of pro-activeness in the people, we were absolutely blown away by the determination of some of the parents at The Catalyst. One parent, a rickshaw puller, told us his dream has always been to become a medicine salesman (pharmacist) so he could provide cheap medicine for the poor people in the slums. For that he needed to learn to read English to be able to read the names on the medicine boxes. Everyday, at 11 in the morning he goes to The Catalyst and attends 8 hours of English classes until 7pm. Then he goes home to drive his rickshaw until 5am in the morning to earn money to feed the family, before he briefly sleeps and goes to class again next day. He told me all of this in English after 7 months of classes.
"
Paul

CHRISTELLE'S FEEDBACK

I have indeed been giving English classes to The Catalyst kids for around 2 weeks. Everybody at TDP and The Catalyst has been extremely welcoming and friendly.
I did not plan to give lessons in the first place, but Palash though it was better to take over after Luisa (a Volunteer who had been there for one month), so that there would be a kind of continuity.
Athough it was a bit tiring (I was already working all day long at the Sewing Centre), I actually enjoyed it a lot and I am extremely happy to have done it.
The kids are great, and very motivated, it was a delight to interact with them and The Catalyst is the perfect place to do this for people like me (who want to have activities with kids without being professional Teachers). I literally fell in love with those kids and going there in the evening was the icing on the cake of each day for me.
I suffered a bit of power cuts and of the heat in the classeroom, we had to stop activities linked to the computer every day but it was not a big deal.
I think you are doing a great job there, we can clearly see that the kids are happy and having fun and at the same time they are also pleased that they can learn from us.
I honestly had the time of my life in Dhaka and will definitely come back, I would be so happy to bring a few friends to show them what is being done there.
Many thanks to all for the fantastic experience and oportunity to bring a little help there. I enjoyed every minute of this wonderful adventure and met some great people.
Count on me for promoting both organizations and trying to get more help!
Christelle