A new idea

During the last 30 years about 50 of my relatives came to the USA. Some of these relatives passed comments that sparked an idea that has captured my mind and my heart, an idea I would like to share with you. I would like to get your support to turn the idea into a pilot project that could eventually help all the people in Bangladesh.
But before I tell you about their comments and the idea I want to give you a little background. I've been tracing my genealogy for over a year. I recently visited my birthplace, village & Union:-Bhatra, Upazialla:-Ramganj, Dist.:-Lakshmipur. During the course of my visit, I met almost 50 relatives and hundreds of neighbours. I was overcome by their delight at my visit, by their warmth, by the stories they told about my family members' contribution to the village and by their love of America.
One neighbour said, Mozumder Shaheb, you know, Bhatra gave fifty talented people to America, what we can expect back from America. I guess fifty out of a population of about 2,000 is a lot. He reminded me that of the present 80 people in the Mozumder family, thirty-five had gone to America. I am one of those thirty-five. My father, who died in 1970, had the largest and most successful agriculture farm in Bhatra. My father was the first man from the village of Bhatra to graduate (BA degree) from the college in UZ Ramganj in 1920 and spent all his life in Bhatra as teacher, farmer and president (now called chairman) of Union Parishad.
Those facts sparked this idea. I asked my cousin Ruhul Amin Majumder(84), retired joint secretary, why couldn't the people from the village of Bhatra who came to America build something in memory of my father? This thought led to other thoughts about the kind of the memorial. I didn't want it to be an innate memorial, I wanted it to be a living useful memorial. Then I decided it should be more than just a memorial, it should be a tribute to the village of Bhatra from the relatives in America. It should be useful. Perhaps a playground/equipment, or three park benches and a garden, or a bus park - all items that can be bought there for around $500. This evolved into a plan to provide gifts or tributes to the villages of our parents. I also want to get donations for these gifts from all the relatives, to make them interested in their ancestral villages. Presently, our family members from the US with a total contribution of about $200 per month for the last ten years give monthly scholarships of Tk.15.00 to Tk.25.00 to 4,000 students in our primary school, pay monthly Tk.1,500 to an Imam of our village mosque, and pay monthly Tk.100.00 to the oldest/needy people in our village.
I decided the best way to get their interest, involvement, and money would be to do a documentary on the village. To get the highest contribution from my relatives, I would need to have their contributions tax deductible. I even anticipate some of my relatives going to Bangladesh to be present at the presentation of these gifts.
That's where you come into the picture. I would like to have a fiscal sponsorship arrangement with the American Friends of Bangladesh (an NGO to be set up in Bangladesh). This would enable me to get a grant to fund the making of the documentaries and provide a way for my relatives to make tax-deductible donations to these ancestral village gifts.
A fiscal sponsorship is a legal and accounting arrangement whereby I could apply to a large foundation for a grant to make the documentaries and pay for the fund-raising costs. It is also a way for the American Friends of Bangladesh to participate in this pilot project. I hope that after I will have completed the project, I will be invited to share my experiences, techniques, and processes with other genealogy groups, and, hopefully others will use this idea to do something similar for their ancestral villages.
I would like the American Friends of Bangladesh to be my partner in implementing this idea that would infuse the Bangladesh economy with money and give the villages a chance to use western practices.
For any further information you may contact me at 3015150244 or [email protected].