“Strength is the new pretty” reads a tee shirt on a boy in Camp 8 for Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh. After meeting some refugees who will soon start English classes with the support of the Bill Cook Foundation, I came to understand the appropriateness of those words.
Two years ago, 700,000 Rohingya fled their homes and desperately crossed into Bangladesh as the army of Myanmar was carrying out what the UN calls crimes against humanity. How anyone survived the danger and humiliation of their situation is beyond my comprehension. Yet starting next week, 16 young men and women will be studying English, which will significantly expand their opportunities to find work.
Amidst the chaos of seemingly uncountable children, many naked, running around everywhere, beside the crowded homes made of scraps of plastic and a bit of bamboo, there is a stark metal building that is a place of learning and hope. I hope all of our donors and followers are as proud of this work as any we do.
When I approached an organization on the ground about having such a project, I was reminded that outside the camps are many poor Bangla kids who do not go to school. So we agreed to support two classes in a school. When I walked to the home of one of the girls, her father, a subsistence rice farmer, hugged me and cried because we have given her daughter a chance to go to school.
I was asked by both the Rohingya refugees and the teachers and students at the Bangla school if we could do more. How could I say no? So, I hope you will join in the work we do at the Bill Cook Foundation with a gift for these dear people in Bangladesh—any amount makes a difference. www.billcookfoundation.org/donate. I think we should make tee shirts that say, “Generosity is the new pretty.”
