AGAMI: Promoting Basic Education in Bangladesh

Promoting basic education in Bangladesh is Agami’s simple mission statement and goal. The simplicity of the message resounded through the organization’s most recent fundraiser held on Friday, October 19^th, 2007 in Fremont, California. This fundraiser featured an evening full of great entertainment and good food – all in the name of a very noble cause.

In Bangla, ‘Agami’ means future and for the children Agami has helped in Bangladesh, this organization has been a key factor in securing their future. Agami’s aim is to provide education to those at the very bottom of the pyramid – the disadvantaged victims of poverty: children. Agami gives these children access to basic education to help them secure a brighter future for themselves and their families.

The goal for this fundraiser was to raise $25,000 for Agami’s current projects of building basic educational institutions throughout a number of villages in Bangladesh. Agami’s current projects vary from village to village; one of their initial projects, the Comilla project is building a girl’s high school in Laksham district of Comilla, and has already impacted the lives of 350 young girls. But Agami also recognizes those even in metropolitan areas such as Dhaka city need attention and care too. As a result, Agami’s Pearabagh Slum project is raising funds for the basic informal education of poor children living in the Pearabagh slum area in Maghbazar, Dhaka. Agami has many other similar projects throughout Bangladesh and the wide variety and scope of these numerous projects reemphasize Agami’s main vision and goal: to create a bright future for the children of Bangladesh.

Friday’s fundraiser did just that. The evening began with an overview of Agami’s current projects and goals from Agami founder, Babu Rahman, and also from Agami chairs, Mahmudul Hassan, Sophia Rahman, and Sabir Majumdar. After dinner, the audience welcomed Mr. Kazi Islam, CEO of Grameen Solutions, all the way from Bangladesh. Mr. Islam really set the tone of the evening – he brought with him a message from Nobel Laureate Dr. Mohammad Yunus commending Agami’s efforts which was truly an honor for Agami. Dr. Yunus’ message was simple: what can we do to help MORE – to not just donate, but to help sustain growth for those at the bottom of the pyramid. Mr. Islam’s eloquent and inspiring words really challenged all that attended, and especially all Bangladeshis throughout the globe to do something and make a positive difference in the world we live.

The rest of the evening included much laughter, courtesy of the two colorful comedians at the fundraiser event. Naveed Mahbub is a Bangladeshi engineer with a shining career in stand-up comedy and entertained the crowd with jokes from politics, the south-asian diaspora, and outsourcing. Anand Chulani made his thunderous entrance dancing in the audience and getting everyone revved up for Friday night. Anand has a comedy school and is also the first Indian writer for American sitcoms. He succeeded in getting the audience to participate in his hilarious antics.

By the end of the night, the fundraiser was a success, reaching its target goal of $25,000. The evening concluded in celebration with live DJ music and lots of jubilant dancing. It really goes to show what a difference even a small group of people can make. This money will go towards funding all the current Agami projects in Bangladesh for 2008. For more information about Agami’s projects and to contribute, please visit http://www.agami-us.org/.