An Orphan From the Camps Finds His Way to Montreal, Canada

An Orphan From the Camps Finds His Way to Montreal, Canada I received a gift on Friday night, one unlike any gift I’d ever received before featuring a very special visit by someone not just from kilometers away, but from another world altogether: Mohammed Irfan Khan. I’d met Irfan twice previously under different circumstances. Our first […]

Snowball in the Camps

Snowball in the Camps There’s just something very Canadian about snow. When I think back to the start of this journey, a very small initiative with 28 kids, and subsequently cobbling together some more relatively small-scale humanitarian projects, it didn’t occur to me at the time where it would all lead to over 15 years […]

RIP Fahmida

RIP Fahmida I met Fahmida back in 2009. She was visually-impaired and lived alone in a small hut. Her husband and children did not survive the trials of time and conflict; she languished alone for close to four decades in a squalid displaced population camp. Her home was a tiny 8′ x 10′ space; the […]

An Unexpected Journey

An Unexpected Journey There I was, being hugged by a young boy not more than 8, his cheek on my cheek. He was a Rohingya orphan, far removed from his land, his community, his family. An orphan whose childhood innocence had been cruelly snatched and was left longing for the care, love and company of […]

How our eyesight restoration program opened my eyes

How our eyesight restoration program opened my eyes OBAT Canada posted this short video interview put together by students at one of the OBAT vocational centers- they did everything, including the subtitles in English. This product is amazing to see from our students, all from displaced population camps; it shows how OBAT has made – and continues […]

My Dream Come True…13 Years in the Making!

My Dream Come True…13 Years in the Making! Thirteen years ago, I was in Bangladesh for the very first time and ended up visiting some displaced population camps that I had read about. Seeing the condition of the people, it was impossible not to help. I was particularly motivated to help orphans in that forgotten […]

Dealing with COVID’s Education Challenge

The man punched the child in the eye, right in front of us, as another man was holding the child from behind. Remarkably no one among the throngs of people around reacted.

From the alley to the classroom

From the alley to the classroom The man punched the child in the eye, right in front of us, as another man was holding the child from behind. Remarkably no one among the throngs of people around reacted. My dear friend Matthew and I were on one of our trips to Mumbai, walking the narrow […]

Keeping the charitable in charity

Keeping the ‘charitable’ in charity Volunteer work isn’t easy. You spend countless hours – hours that you don’t really have, after a demanding full-time job and between familial and other responsibilities. Often it’s after hours, when your body and (more so) your brain is craving relaxation. Other times it means taking time off from work […]

Helping Rohingya Refugees Overcome their Tsunami of Misery

Warning: The following article contains content that may be disturbing for some readers. By Dr. Shujaat Wasty What do I say to someone who was tortured and raped repeatedly, by numerous armed men, a handful of minutes after witnessing her husband and young children have their throats mercilessly slit, their bodies lit ablaze? The thought […]