To bring growth and the promise of a brighter future to the Bede community – a minority group in Bangladesh living on boats – GFC’s youth-led partner Alokito Kori stepped in with education, financial, and social support, all through a community-led approach.

Imagine spending your life on a small boat traveling over the huge rivers of Bangladesh, where the boat is used not just as a source of transportation but is where you cook, sleep, bathe, and, at leisure, rest.

This is the reality for the nomadic Bede community in Bangladesh, a minority group that has long faced discrimination.

Their boats serve as their homes, and the lack of a permanent address further complicates their access to basic services like education and healthcare. While Bangladesh boasts a primary education rate of 77%, the rate in the Bede community is less than 1%. Preventive healthcare is almost nonexistent, with only 2% of Bede children receiving vaccinations, leaving them susceptible to various diseases.

Recognizing these profound challenges, Alokito Kori, a youth organization in Bangladesh, stepped in to make a difference. Alokito Kori’s journey began in Munshiganj, near the Padma River, where the organization started building relationships with more than 200 Bede families. The initial focus was on education, as the children were not attending school—partly due to bullying and discrimination in local schools.

Alokito Kori took a significant step by establishing a school within the community. Families living on boats usually return to the same place at certain times of the day, allowing children to access school more easily. In addition, some families live on the river but remain nearby. The school initiative aimed to provide a safe and encouraging environment for the children to start their education. The results were promising: more and more children began to join the school, showing a growing interest in learning. This school became a beacon of hope, symbolizing the possibility of a brighter future.

However, Alokito Kori soon realized that education alone was not enough. The Bede community faces numerous other challenges, including financial instability, malnutrition, child marriage, and domestic violence. To address these issues comprehensively, Alokito Kori adopted a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on improving overall living conditions, ensuring food security, promoting financial independence, and tackling social issues that hindered the community’s progress.

The partnership between Alokito Kori and Global Fund for Children (GFC) under the – which is supported by We Trust – has been instrumental in driving change. This collaboration focuses on community-led development, inspiring Bede people to take charge of their lives. Through collective ideation and action, the community has begun to believe in their power to bring about change.

For more than nine years, Alokito Kori has been working to facilitate community ownership to lead transformative change. However, many in the Bede community were reluctant to step out of their comfort zones and embrace new opportunities in collaboration with people from the mainstream community. To overcome this, through the ARC initiative, Alokito Kori started using the SALT (Stimulate, Appreciate, Listen, Learn, Team, and Transfer) and CLCP (Community Life Competence Process) frameworks to emphasize community ownership for bringing about change. To make these processes more effective, Alokito Kori has also been preparing SALT facilitators from within the community.

Jannatul (not her real name) first started attending the Alokito School when she was 10. In the Bede community, it is common for girls who are not in school to marry at a young age. Through the school’s supplementary education program, Jannatul was able to continue her studies and avoid early marriage. Today, at age 17, she remains dedicated to her education and has a strong ambition to build a career. Jannatul also serves as a SALT facilitator with Alokito Kori, helping to bring about transformative change in her community.

A través de SALT conversations, members of the Bede community in the Munshiganj area have begun to take ownership of both the community’s achievements and its challenges, using these discussions to recognize their strengths and create a shared vision for improvement. The community has prioritized several key initiatives:

• Educación: The community has committed to improving educational opportunities, with adolescent groups taking responsibility for teaching younger children. This approach reduces the need for extra tuition, which many families cannot afford, and fosters strong peer relationships within the community.
• Prevention of Early Marriage: SALT conversations have led to a significant reduction in early marriage, as parents have come to realize the importance of allowing their daughters to complete their education rather than marrying at a young age.
• Rehabilitation and Livelihood: Recognizing the challenges of living on boats with limited access to basic needs, community members are exploring relocation to areas with better infrastructure. Moving closer to areas with accessible job opportunities, clean water, and education is helping families work toward a more stable life, while also strengthening their social connections with the broader community.

SALT has become a valuable tool for the Bede community to foster sustainable changes in education, livelihoods, and social norms, creating a more supportive, informed, and resilient community and demonstrating how community-owned approaches can address the critical needs in people’s everyday lives.