The parent organization, Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB), improves the lives of children in rural Bangladesh through education. Key strategies for VAB’s Five Year Project:”
- Cluster approach: 5 schools (a cluster) are chosen in selected localities. In each cluster, a magnet school is selected. This approach will consolidate the outcome over a larger community and permeate into adjacent communities
- Computer skill propagation: All VAB schools aim to have at least five computers. Computer training is provided for school teachers and principals.
- Teacher Training: Training is offered in Computer, English and Mathematics. In due course, training in Sciences, Social Studies and Bengali will also be offered.
- Ancillary Programs: Several other additional programs include Bridging Community and School Program, Inter-School Competitions, Participation in Olympiads and Fairs.
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VAB was registered in New York as a charitable agency in late 1998. The IRS tax-exempt status for contribution to VAB was received in February 1999. Initial volunteer Directors and Advisers were identified by March 1999 and fundraising efforts were initiated, primarily through direct mail to Bangladeshis and others sympathetic to our cause. VAB started its high school scholarship and skill training programs in collaboration with Prakritajan, a local NGO, from 2000. In 2005, VAB started to implement its own programs with an office in Dhaka and received registration from the NGO Bureau in 2006. VAB has increased its funding support from individual donors and expanded the scope and extent of its programs significantly over time
In 2003, VAB opened a New Jersey Office where VAB supported a group of volunteer professionals to promote digital education by organizing computer literacy centers in Bangladesh with the help of D-Net, a local NGO in Bangladesh. Following work as VAB’s New Jersey’s chapter for 10 years, the Group was registered with IRS as an independent charity under the name of Computer Literacy Program Volunteers for the Underprivileged in 2014.
In 2012, the Canadian Chapter of Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB-C) was founded and registered with the Canadian government. This Chapter will focus on five areas: Student Empowerment in education; Student Empowerment in Health; Teacher Empowerment; School Empowerment and Community Linkage Empowerment. Details about VAB-C can be seen at: www.vabcanada.org
VAB-USA follows a corporate non-profit management model with a Board of Directors, a Management Group, an Advisors Group, a few Associates, and Regional Representatives working under VAB by laws and the rules of registration by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the State of New York. Details of individuals currently involved are on the Contact section.
VAB- Bangladesh is managed by a Country Director, responsible to VAB –USA Board of Directors through the President. He is assisted by an Advisory Group as required under the rules of registration by the Non- Governmental Organization (NGO) Bureau, Government of Bangladesh. Details of individuals currently involved are on the Contact section.
VAB-Bangladesh has recently established a Board of Trustees to invest and manage endowment fund raised in USA and in Bangladesh through secure investments in order to ensure financial stability for VAB. Details of individuals currently involved are on the Contact section.
VAB published its ten-year history in a booklet titled: A Decade of Supporting Education to Reduce Poverty: A Better Life for the Poor in Bangladesh through Quality Education and Skill Training, 2010. An internet copy can be e-mailed on request.
VAB was registered in New York as a charitable agency in late 1998. The IRS tax-exempt status for contribution to VAB was received in February 1999. Initial volunteer Directors and Advisers were identified by March 1999 and fundraising efforts were initiated, primarily through direct mail to Bangladeshis and others sympathetic to our cause.
In 2003, VAB opened a New Jersey chapter which has been supporting computer literacy centers in Bangladesh with the help of D-Net, a local NGO in Bangladesh. In 2005, VAB started to implement its own programs with the office in Dhaka and received registration from the NGO Bureau. VAB has increased its funding support from individual donors significantly over time.
VAB works with existing high schools with funds annually from individual philanthropists, mostly expats and their friends. It works with rural non-government high schools because it wished to concentrate on the most disadvantaged.
In 2012, the Canadian chapter,VABC was registered with Corporations Canada. VABC supports projects designed and implemented by VAB and has been contributing financially and supporting a few VAB projects since its inception in 2012.
1998: Registered in USA
2000: Registered in Bangladesh
2012: Registered in Canada
“Board Of Directors”
Pamelia Khaled
Mahmudul Islam
Khaled Shahrier
Mahabubur Rahman
Maruf Khaled
Abhar Husain
Special Advisors
To be added VAB was registered in New York as a charitable agency in late 1998. The IRS tax-exempt status for contribution to VAB was received in February 1999. Initial volunteer Directors and Advisers were identified by March 1999 and fundraising efforts were initiated, primarily through direct mail to Bangladeshis and others sympathetic to our cause. VAB started its high school scholarship and skill training programs in collaboration with Prakritajan, a local NGO, from 2000. In 2005, VAB started to implement its own programs with an office in Dhaka and received registration from the NGO Bureau in 2006. VAB has increased its funding support from individual donors and expanded the scope and extent of its programs significantly over time
In 2003, VAB opened a New Jersey Office where VAB supported a group of volunteer professionals to promote digital education by organizing computer literacy centers in Bangladesh with the help of D-Net, a local NGO in Bangladesh. Following work as VAB’s New Jersey’s chapter for 10 years, the Group was registered with IRS as an independent charity under the name of Computer Literacy Program Volunteers for the Underprivileged in 2014.
In 2012, the Canadian Chapter of Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB-C) was founded and registered with the Canadian government. This Chapter will focus on five areas: Student Empowerment in education; Student Empowerment in Health; Teacher Empowerment; School Empowerment and Community Linkage Empowerment. Details about VAB-C can be seen at: www.vabcanada.org
VAB-USA follows a corporate non-profit management model with a Board of Directors, a Management Group, an Advisors Group, a few Associates, and Regional Representatives working under VAB by laws and the rules of registration by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the State of New York. Details of individuals currently involved are on the Contact section.
VAB- Bangladesh is managed by a Country Director, responsible to VAB –USA Board of Directors through the President. He is assisted by an Advisory Group as required under the rules of registration by the Non- Governmental Organization (NGO) Bureau, Government of Bangladesh. Details of individuals currently involved are on the Contact section.
VAB-Bangladesh has recently established a Board of Trustees to invest and manage endowment fund raised in USA and in Bangladesh through secure investments in order to ensure financial stability for VAB. Details of individuals currently involved are on the Contact section.
VAB published its ten-year history in a booklet titled: A Decade of Supporting Education to Reduce Poverty: A Better Life for the Poor in Bangladesh through Quality Education and Skill Training, 2010. An internet copy can be e-mailed on request.
VAB was registered in New York as a charitable agency in late 1998. The IRS tax-exempt status for contribution to VAB was received in February 1999. Initial volunteer Directors and Advisers were identified by March 1999 and fundraising efforts were initiated, primarily through direct mail to Bangladeshis and others sympathetic to our cause.
In 2003, VAB opened a New Jersey chapter which has been supporting computer literacy centers in Bangladesh with the help of D-Net, a local NGO in Bangladesh. In 2005, VAB started to implement its own programs with the office in Dhaka and received registration from the NGO Bureau. VAB has increased its funding support from individual donors significantly over time.
VAB works with existing high schools with funds annually from individual philanthropists, mostly expats and their friends. It works with rural non-government high schools because it wished to concentrate on the most disadvantaged.
In 2012, the Canadian chapter,VABC was registered with Corporations Canada. VABC supports projects designed and implemented by VAB and has been contributing financially and supporting a few VAB projects since its inception in 2012.
1998: Registered in USA
2000: Registered in Bangladesh
2012: Registered in Canada
“Mission” VAB embarked on its journey with the following mission: VAB is firmly committed to contribute to improving the economic and social well-being of the rural people of Bangladesh, and recognizes that providing access and support to sustain high school education by students from poorer families is the most appropriate way to alleviate poverty and bring about meaningful changes at the family level and eventually at the societal level.
VAB’s two pronged approach in support of the mission is to:
• Provide necessary support to deserving students from poor families (thereby, among other things, reducing dropout rate) in obtaining high school education and skill training so that they may shape their future in a better and productive way.
• Provide a modest need-based integrated package of support to selected partner high schools for nurturing an enabling environment and capacity at the institutional level. The expected benefits of this support will be more broad-based and potential leverage for larger reforms for quality education.
Through volunteering, you can be a positive influence on young lives, help VAB kids remain independent on their own. Clean up the environment, provide health and quality education, offer your professional skills to this charity organization, and lend your talents to strengthening our Bangladeshi and Canadian communities in countless ways.
The volunteer opportunity at VAB-C, your availability, and expectations can make all the difference.
THERE ARE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
- Volunteer for VABC
- Sponsor VABC Projects
- Promote VABC on your social networking media and by word of mouth
- Partner with us for a good cause
- Donate towards our fundraising initiatives
- Donating for the VAB-C purposes
- Leading VAB-C youths
- Supporting with the resources
- Fundraising for the VAB kids
Volunteers Association for Bangladesh, the Canadian chapter (VABC) awards scholarships, provides tutoring, equips classrooms and trains teachers. Programs begin in pre-school and continue through college. These programs lead to improved test scores, lower drop-out rates and ultimately a better standard of living for the students. VABC supports and promotes secular education for nation building.
VABC also supports Canadian charity causes such as the Youth Sarcoma Initiative (YSI) of SickKids Hospital Toronto.
LEND US YOUR TALENT
Volunteer your professional knowledge, skills and services to promote quality education, improved health system to support an improved lifestyle for rural Bangladesh children and their families.
VABC is a brainchild of a Bangladeshi Canadian anthropologist and educationist, Pamelia Khaled. This is a chapter organization of the Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB), which was founded in 1988 by a philanthropist and expatriate Bangladeshi in the U.S.A., Dr. Abu Tayeb Rafiqur Rahman and registered in Bangladesh in 2000. This Canadian chapter, VABC was registered on May 9, 2012 in Toronto, Canada, under the leadership of Pamelia Khaled in association with like-minded individuals concerned for the education needs of children in Bangladesh.
A brief background of inception of Volunteers Association for Bangladesh Canada
My interest in human development in Bangladesh attracted me to VAB. My fieldwork with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) Education Programme in 2009 exposed me to the diverse challenges of both quality and equity in the education system of Bangladesh. During my internship with BRAC Education department, I gathered a wealth of information on issues relating to quality and access to education in both the government primary education and BRAC education systems there. Upon learning about its various programs in rural Bangladesh, especially the promotion of quality education and teacher development, my interest in VAB activities began to grow.
Motivated by VAB’s accomplishments in educational development in Bangladesh, I initiated the Canadian chapter of VAB with the same objectives. The Canadian Chapter of Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB-C) was founded on May 9, 2012 in Toronto, Canada, under my leadership in collaboration with like-minded Bangladeshi Canadian professionals who are concerned about Bangladesh’s educational progress. VAB-C is also committed to supporting the primary and secondary education of disadvantaged students, facilitating the professional development of teachers and reducing social and economic disparities. It is my hope that the success of the “high quality” brand in VAB schools will benefit generations of students and will create a self-propelling force for schools to continue with the brand on their own. Though VABC is my brain child, however, to foster this young organization requires collaboration: solidarity and assistance from individual, groups, different communities and institutions.
As a Chapter, VAB-C is working hard with the parent organization. It fully complies with all the guidelines and directives of the parent organization which has been working for twelve years with the rural schools in Bangladesh. VAB- USA has also undertaken extensive discussions with headmasters, teachers and management committee members of the schools to arrive at strategies for the most effective utilization of the VAB resources.
VABC is particularly interested in five central aspects that should form a part of such a systemic overhaul:
- Student’s Empowerment in education
- Student Empowerment in Health
- Teacher Empowerment
- School Empowerment
- Community Linkage Empowerment
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The Financial Express