About LHC - Lidia Hope Centre (LHC)

Lidia Hope Centre Trust (LHC)​

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Lidia Hope Centre Trust (LHC)​

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LIDIA HOPE CENTRE TRUST
It all began in 2010 when a Bangladeshi couple, Mala and Martin, began tutoring children who were not attending any schools. From this, the Lidia Hope Center emerged: a center focused on providing early age education to children living in the slums. LHC is working to break the poverty cycle of living hand-to-mouth by helping families in the poorest areas of Dhaka value education and take a vested interest in their children's future. To this end, LHC provides vocational and life skills training to mother's of the students and other women in the slums, so they can change the future of their family!

The Lidia Hope Centre Trust is a registered social trust in Bangladesh.
About the Slums
Home to approximately 1 million people who came to Dhaka looking for better opportunities or displaced by environmental disasters. The slums are the least expensive housing option in the city.
Crowded Tin Shed Row Homes
Poor families settle in this maze of temporary tin shed structures where 10 to 15 families share a bathroom and a kitchen.
Many slums are plagued by domestic violence, theft, mugging, extortion, drugs, and political mobs.

Limited Work Options
Many men find work as day laborers or rickshaw drivers, while the more successful ones are small shop keepers and private car drivers.

For women, most are homemakers, house cleaners, or garment factory workers. Jobs for young women are very limited.

Some of the children supplement the income by picking up plastic bottles to resell, they earn around 20-25 taka (around USD 0.25) for each kilogram.
Average Household Income
Our student's family’s income is around BDT 8,000-10,000 (USD 100-125) a month, but it is not fixed since work is temporary and sometimes not available.
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Lift up our children and their families with your giving. No amount is too small!
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PERSONAL STORIES FROM LHC
Student Name: Marufa
Age: 13

Marufa was born and raised in the Nutun Bazar slums. She never went to school because her father, a rickshaw driver, was paralyzed about 6 years ago. Marufa’s mother has been a day laborer since. Marufa's parents did not enroll her in any school and she stayed at home to take care of her father and do all the house work. Marufa was a bright girl who always wanted to get an education.

Her neighbor’s daughter Srabonti was attending the LHC. Srabonti was younger than Marufa and would do homework in Marufa’s home. She encouraged Marufa to go to school, but Marufa was embarrassed because she was so much older and thought it was too late to start school. Srabonti told her LHC teacher Mina about Marufa, so Mina went to Marufa’s house and spent time with Marufa to encourage her to start school. Mina also spoke to Marufa’s parents, who were hesitant for her to go to school because they worried that the daily chores and cooking wouldn’t be done. Her parents eventually agreed to give it a try, on the condition that Marufa must continue her house work.

In January 2015, Marufa enrolled in the Lidia Hope Center. Initially, Marufa’s mother was unwilling to pay the small school fee (50 taka) and she was not sure why Marufa needed an education. With the help of Mina and the extra homework sessions, Marufa quickly caught up and became the first student in her class. Marufa wakes up every day around 5am to do all the housework and cooking for the day before she goes to school. Her mother is now very happy about her daughter’s achievement in school and started to pay the monthly school fee. However her mother is worried they won’t have enough money after the next few years to afford Marufa’s education. The LHC team is actively counseling her family about the value of education and helping the family plan for Marufa’s future.