Aastha Trust is a Non-profit organisation, founded by Ms Shoma Zahid with the aim to eliminate poverty and create a sustainable community in the rural parts of Bangladesh. From educating children to empowering families is with skills, creating job, providing health facilities and what not. Over 100,000 People have been received support from Aastha Trust in over 17 years since its founded. The motto of the organisation is just to help people but also letting empower Financially and socially.
“Aastha’s aim is to supporting the government in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). We believe that selfless love should lead to kind actions, and it is this sort of 'doing good deeds' that we want people to associate with Aastha”, said by Ms Shoma Zahid, Founder and Chairperson of AASTHA in an interview with Bangladesh Post.
She believes that empowering people to earn their own means of living provides them an opportunity to evolve as a better citizen. It increases their awareness on a range of issues - from healthcare and appropriate social behaviour tounderstanding one's basic rights as a citizen.
Aastha Trust is focusing mainly on Education for Children and working to create an inclusive education pattern in the communities. Besides, it focusing on empowering women with skills and knowledge and helping to be independent socially, emotionally and financially. There are other projects is running by Aastha trust such as building Old age home, Orphanage and also providing food relief in the vulnerable communities.
Considering that the education is a critical aspect for bringing social, economic changes, AASTHA has taken move to contribute in this field as well. Aastha has taken responsibility of 650 children who are deprived of elementary means. And these kids are not random picked but Aastha Trust build schools around Bangladesh, not a normal child to with Children with learning disabilities are getting free education under these projects.
Aastha Trust build 8 schools around in Bangladesh only for the children from marginalised community. And these schools situated in Saidpur, Gongachora, Sylhet, Tongi and Gazipur. Keeping the primary school and high school open, Aastha didn’t limit itself with basic education but also ensuring these kids have proper life skills through a project called ‘Hatey Khori’ a joint project between Aastha Trust and TTTI by Bangladesh Army. Where students are getting vocational skills in 4 different areas which is helping them to shape their future and career by socially and financially. Also, these skills are life skills which will help them to get a good job here and abroad. This project works with the children who graduate their high school and above age 16, that they get the opportunity to get admitted in the Hatey Khori project.Our goal with this program is to provide these young girls and boys an opportunity to pave their own paths.We aim to train at least a 100 young men and women yearly with a wide range of mechanical, vocational, and other necessary life skills which help them to develop their personal and professional skills.
Besides, Astha focusing on Steer children, Children with special needs and Orphan children from orphanage, Aastha Trust has collaborated with It’s Humanity Foundation (IHF) a Bangladeshi non-profit organisation who is completely focusing on education, helping these children to get a proper education and life skills. Aastha Trust sponsoring 30 orphan children in the northern part of Bangladesh by enrolling them in different schools. There about 15 children with socially needs (Physically and mentally). And many street-based children getting basic education facilities with IHF.
Besides education program, Aastha Trust focusing on Empowering women around in Bangladesh. To till date Aastha Trust provide free crafting training to over 500 woman and around 300 women have been provided financially support to start their business and help them to commercialize their project and in the local market and tap into with many small businesses. Currently Aastha Trust have 4 training centres around in Bangladesh where over 200 women are getting batch training in the different crafts skills and knowledge.
There is other wonderful project of Astha Trust, the organisation has adopted around 100 Elderly people in Rupganj area and giving them monthly food support, health benefits and also different support over the years. This elderlyhas been identifying by the personal visit of Ms Shoma Zahid and they are getting support from over 17 years. This is a very special project of Ms Shoma Zahid and she feels to give to the senior citizen as she believes that the Bangladesh, we are living now is given by them and as senior citizen it is their rights to get all the support.
Aastha’s one of the most promising project is developing a model Char area in Kolokondo, which is a small village in Gangachora area. The projects aim to create a sustainable model in the char area by educating children, providing skills to the women, Creating awareness to the young people about the life, career and world. Also,providing them. Aastha trust also working on the providing clean drinking water, building toilets, Providing sanitation.
There are about 1200 people living in these char areas, in the past years the char had no mosque, or proper toilet and sanitation. Aastha trust started working there in 2017 and have been able to build mosque, proper graveyard, over 100 tube wells, over 160 shared toilets for families. Beside this, Aastha Trust has planted fruit trees and helped the communities to understand the importance of tree plantation. Planting trees could reduce downstream flooding in this particular area.
Women’s empowerment can be defined to promotingwomen’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determinetheir own choices, and their right to influence socialchange for themselves and others.
We have addressed COVID-19 pandemic by providingvictims food, medicine, hygiene kits and other essentials.During the crisis of Covid 19 Aastha Trust have been able to provide to support over 50,000 Families which is total around 200,000 individual people have been benefitted in the year of 2020 and 2021. The targeted people were mostly losing their job, low income families, Orphans and vulnerable communities who are mostly day labourer and students from the marginalised communities.
We have also given food bags to rickshaw pullers, dailywage earner, roadside shop owners, maids, physicallychallenged people, single mothers, carpenters, tailorsetc. who were loses their work or even home due to the crisis moment of Covid 19.
Aastha is always in need of funds to expand its programs andsustain our existing projects and activities. Keeping this in mind, Aastha Trust have started farming and also build the Duck farm and fisheries to support its projects through the revenue generated within the projects. This farming also helping local people to get job and making sure to the sustainable earning opportunities. Not only does this create funding for the programs but it alsoteaches the community to be self-sufficient and develop theirown programs as well.