Committed to early learning

Setara is passionate about early learning and created OFP’s two pre-primary learning centers. These centers started as open-air groups. OFP has used donated funds to build simple shelters so that the classes are protected from sun and rain.

Setara has completed a BA degree and teaches pre-primary English, Bangla and Mathematics, as well as Grade 3 Bangla and Grade 5 Religion at Bluebell. In addition to teaching, Setara coordinates community service projects by the Bluebell students.

“I love kids and enjoy teaching through fun activities that involve my students in community service that relates their education to real-life.”

Knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics in Bangladesh

Antibiotic resistance is a significant global concern, worsened in Bangladesh because antibiotics are widely available without a prescription. IUBAT nursing grad Ariful Haque Tutul and colleagues recently published a paper on unprescribed antibiotic use in the journal of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. They found that prevalence of antibiotic administration without prescription was over 37% among survey participants. “Our study revealed significant gaps in the participants’ fundamental knowledge … regarding the administration of antibiotics, including antibiotic identification, disease types, and the ability to differentiate antibiotic-treatable diseases from those that would not respond to antibiotics.” Survey participants were all urban dwellers, but the study found significant differences in various regions of the country.

Distribution of administration of antibiotics without prescription by division

OFP Advisor Sigfried Janzing

OFP Advisory Committee member Sigfried Janzing is a specialist in Archives Management and Right to Information who recently moved from The Netherlands to Portugal. Sigfried has made many journeys to Bangladesh from 2010 - 2019. He has supported the Bangladesh Archives and Records Management Society with training and worked with OFP in his role as a Human Development Advisor for COMMEET Fellowship. COMMEET is a group of experts who help communities to reach Sustainable Development Goals.

"OFP is for me the powerful story of a young man, Rabiul Islam, who decided to serve his community of Balagram by organizing at the grassroots. He left for a business degree in Dhaka and returned to his home district to implement that knowledge by building opportunities for the children of marginalized members of his community. The establishment of "Bluebell School" is his first major achievement. The second, OfP Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), for technical and vocational education and training, is actively supported by COMMEET."