Feeding the poor to raise awareness

Golapi Begum, a slum resident in Dhaka's Tejkunipara area does not remember the last time she and her family had biryani.

But yesterday was different for her family, as non-government humanitarian organisation Prochesta Foundation offered them biriyani to mark World Food Day (October 16).

Since morning, Golapi and one of her sons waited in a long queue in Tejkunipara expecting to get the food. “Four of us will share the three packs of biryani for lunch. It's a matter of great joy for us to have such food,” said an elated Golapi, thanking the organisation.

“We live hand-to-mouth, so having biriyani is very expensive for us. I cannot remember the last time we had it,” added Golapi.

Ikram Uddin Abir, founder and president of Prochesta Foundation, said they distributed free food among 2,000 people in the slum, located on both sides of the railway track from Tejgaon Railway Station to Mohakhali.

“Our intention was to raise awareness among people so that they don't waste food, and instead, distribute their extra food among poor people,” said Abir.

The foundation also distributed food among around 1,000 underprivileged people in other parts of the city, distributed leaflets containing awareness messages and organised a discussion at Bishwa Sahitya Kendra.