ABU DHABI // Ayinka Weerasinghe dropped off four large bags of powdered milk at a restaurant near her home this month.
The Grade 8 pupil at Cambridge High School was joined by her sister Ilaana, 9, and their mother, Shehani.
The non-profit organisation Abu Dhabi Cause Connect is running a powdered milk collection campaign for The Choice to Change Foundation a Dhaka-based charity which helps fight poverty in the slums of the Bangaladeshi capital. They have collected a tonne of milk to date.
For the 18 months, the charity has been sending or personally delivering milk to Bangladeshi schoolchildren. It runs two schools serving 128 students from the ages of 4 to 10.
"We wanted to help improve their nutrition," said Mark Azzam, an Abu Dhabi-based pilot and the managing director of The Choice to Change Foundation, who visited the schools during a recent trip in July.
About 41 per cent of children in Bangladesh under the age of five are underweight or malnourished, according to the World Health Organization.
A World Food Programme Bangladesh Nutrition Strategy 2012-2016 report shows that undernutrition in the country is caused by inadequate maternal and child practices, high levels of food insecurity and poor public health environments.
"We'd really like to help them," said Ayinka, 13. "We children have education and shelter that we take for granted and don't appreciate. It feels good to make a difference."
Residents are asked to pick up one or two bags of powdered milk on their next visit to the supermarket or start a collection. The month-long campaign kicked off on July 8.
"Ramadan is an important month of reflection and giving for the region, and Abu Dhabi Cause Connect always strives to connect the UAE community with causes that are worthwhile during this month," said Soffia Diop, a co-founder of the organisation.
"Our in-kind donation campaign provides the community with a simple way to give gifts directly from the UAE to the children in Dhaka, while helping Choice to Change reduce operational costs and meet the specific nutritional needs of the children."
Before the Ramadan campaign, the students drank milk three times a week, consuming three to four bags a week, in addition to a healthy daily breakfast.
"Now we've got so much milk," Mr Azzam said.
"We reached out to Abu Dhabi as a city and it's incredible to see privileged children helping the underprivileged. It's all about counting one's blessings and sharing them, teaching the children to share."
Mohammed Al Junaibi, 3, his sister Salma, 5, and two other Emirati children, Abdulla Al Shehhi and Abdulaziz Al Kindi, dropped off their bags of milk last weekend. .
A bag of powdered milk costs nearly three times as much in Bangladesh than in the UAE, Mr Azzam said. A 2.25 kilogram bag costs Dh135 in Bangladesh, compared to about Dh50 in the UAE.
"We work directly with destitute children in Dhaka, and have chosen to change their lives for the better," he said. "Our mission is to break the endless cycle of poverty found in Dhaka's slums by providing a primary education and basic health care to underprivileged children."
The non-profit charity, established in July 2010, is being run by two other volunteers: Eva Kernova, the founder, and Marius Belciug, director of quality and performance. It was an endorsed as an official foundation by the Bangladeshi government in March this year.
Its vision is to educate 500 underprivileged children from the slums of Dhaka, and attain world-renowned status to enable the foundation to open additional schools internationally.
The two schools in Dhaka employ 10 full-time staff and a school doctor who visits the pupils weekly. Choice to Change provides primary education, uniforms, school bags, books, stationery, basic medical care, daily breakfast and occasional meals at lunch time.
"The Choice to Change Foundation and the children we work with in Dhaka is done on a very personal level and is a very hands-on project for us," Mr Azzam said.
"Eva, Marius and I, are the three international administrators who voluntarily manage this charity project and fundraise from outside of Bangladesh to keep it running."
Bags of powdered milk can be dropped off at APi CAE Khalidiya, Honey Child Salon and Spa in Bain Al Jesrain, and Glamour Hair Salon on 4th street by Corniche Road in Al Markaziyah.
To donate, email AbuDhabiCauseConnect@gmail.com or info@thechoicetochange.org
