by Isabel Lemper
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS) is a registered non-profit organization in Bangladesh, founded by Mohammed Rezwan in 1998. It aims to protect people’s rights and lift them out of poverty with the help of floating schools, hospitals, farms, playgrounds, libraries, and training centers with internet access.
In Bangladesh, especially in the northwestern regions, many people have no access to education. One reason for this is the monsoon, the long rainy season from June to October. Hundreds of rivers swell during this time, forcing schools to close. In areas prone to flooding, most people have no access to schools, libraries, clinics, and other public services during this time. Unfortunately, girls are not allowed to move around freely and are therefore often unable to enroll in school. Daughters are often married at a very young age, are completely dependent on their husbands, and cannot make their own decisions about their health and well-being. Bangladesh has the fourth highest rate of child marriage in the world.
The idea of floating schools
Mohammed Rezwan also grew up in the countrys northwest, and refused to accept the situation in which many of his friends and relatives had no access to education during the monsoon season. He studied architecture and came up with the idea of floating schools. In 1998, with only $500 in start-up capital, he founded the non-profit organization Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha.
The beginning was difficult, and it took him many years to raise funds to build the first floating school in 2002. Rezwan and his organization have since received many international awards, including one from the United Nations. The innovation of solar-powered school-boats is also anchored in Bangladesh’s 2050 National Adaptation Plan.
The Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha organization works in four areas: school knowledge, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, and climate change.
In this way, it enables people to access education and information, acquire new skills, grow flood-resistant crops, and thus better adapt to extreme conditions.
Learning on the school-boat
The solar-powered school-boats pick up the children at river stops like a school bus and then begin lessons at the final stop. One boat can teach basic education up to fifth grade to three classes of 30 students throughout the day. This includes an environmental curriculum that teaches children about nature, especially the river, and their homeland.
Some boats are floating libraries, equipped with 1,500 books, two to four laptops with internet access, printers, and mobile phones. Children, youths, senior citizens and particulary women learn computer skills and get information about agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, job opportunities, human rights, government processes, and services.
Education is the key in the fight against child marriage
Rezwan’s organization operates more than 26 floating schools on the rivers. In every village with a school-boat, there is also a young women’s rights association that campaigns for girls‘ rights and alternatives to child marriage. Since the school-boats began educating people, the practice of child marriage has been declining in these areas. A great success! Rezwan’s idea of floating schools has spread throughout Bangladesh and to eight other countries.
Sustainable agriculture and the promotion of women’s rights
There are also floating training centers equipped with complete multimedia equipment. Their primary aim is to help women and girls develop independent skills, teach them about their rights as women, and familiarize them with sustainable agriculture. They also bring them into contact with agricultural experts from research institutes so that they can adapt their practices to climate change.
Healthcare
Floating clinics offer medical checkups to villagers and provide them with necessary medication free of charge. On top, the clinic-boat provides health education to the villagers.
Learning to understand climate change through farming methods
Many people in Bangladesh live in extreme poverty and do not own land to feed themselves. To give these people a future, the initiative trains local farmers in floating cultivation methods so that they can secure their income throughout the year. With this knowledge, they can grow vegetables and the traditional flood-resistant rice variety Aman, as well as breed fish and ducks. Effective seed preparation is also part of this. In addition, fruit tree saplings are planted along the riverbanks to strengthen the embankments and to reduce erosion. Harmful kerosene lanterns are being replaced by innovative solar lanterns (Surya Hurricane).
“My father listens to me now!”
A trainee at the floating training center describes the impact of the organization’s help very aptly on the website (https://shidhulai.org). She used her income to buy a calf for her mother and is supporting her sister’s education by covering her educational costs. Her father finally listens to her because she covers part of the household expenses. Girls in her community want to become independent like her, so she helps them achieve this too.
Mohammed Rezwan receives the World’s Children’s Honorary Award for his work
Mohammed Rezwan has been campaigning for 25 years for children’s right to go to school despite flooding and increasing poverty. In 2023, he was selected by millions of voting children as the recipient of the World’s Children’s Honorary Award.
In this video, you can see what Mohammed Rezwan and the school-boats are all about:
You can also support the SSS organization by making a donation. For more information, visit their website: https://shidhulai.org.
This article is protected by copyright.
