Since 2005, we have mentored vulnerable children and youth to run EDS, create a friendly, inspiring learning environment where children/youth develop belief in own ability to learn and take roles as change agents who advocate for child rights and sustainable development. Here is the impact of our work.

Empowered change agents

We have mentored vulnerable children and youth, many of them school dropouts, to become change agents who transform their own life, their family and their community to the better. Most of the EDS children and youth have experienced child labor, extreme social control, domestic violence, avoided child marriage (with the help of EDS) or been involved in youth gangs, and some are orphans. The EDS change agents develop life skills like competence to take initiative, analytical capacity, creativity, problem solving, colleague guidance, teamwork and integrity (say no to corruption, drugs, illegal activities, child labor, child marriage and child abuse). They possess commitment, endurance, compassion and the capacity to motivate and create hope.

Youth gang leaders become teachers

Youth gang leaders and members, who had dropped out of school, have gone back to school and some have completed diploma in engineering and will study at the university. When these youth joined EDS, they got responsibilities to teach and lead EDS groups. Prior to EDS, these youth were afraid of their fathers, who used physical punishment. These youth were frequently in conflict with own family and people in the community. Now the youth have a good relation to their family, and their parents ask them for advice because they learned problem solving skills in EDS. People in the community used to fear these youth, now they are friends and respect them. The police, who used to behave harshly with these youth, now greet them with respect due to their work in EDS and for the community.

Stopped child marriage

EDS has stopped child marriages and helped girls to go back to school and continue their education. Girls who marry underage (before the legal age of 18 years) have higher risk of dropping out of school, get health complications due to too young pregnancies, experience domestic violence and abuse.

Girl empowerment and equality

In EDS, we have taken initiatives for gender equality and secure girls’ access to education, health and safety. We have invited the youth disturbing girls in the streets to become friends with and join EDS. EDS boys have escorted girls home in the evenings so they could attend EDS evening classes and meetings. The women empowerment group has created awareness among girls and parents about negative effects of child marriage and the positive effects of education, health care and safety for girls.

Good parent-child relations

EDS has created good parent-child relations through mentoring the children and youth to become responsible, accountable persons who create dialogues with their parents where both parties can express their needs. Due to their critical thinking and problem-solving skills learned in EDS, many parents ask the EDS youth for help to solve family problems.

Stopped child labor

EDS youth have helped many former child laborers to go back to school and become EDS teachers who help other children get education.

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Friendly learning environment

Prior to joining EDS many of the EDS students were unable to write and read properly, were told by schoolteachers they were unable to learn because they had poor grades and did not go to school regularly. The children like to learn in EDS as the EDS student Juboraj told Taslima Miji who visited EDS on request from NORAD (the Norwegian agency for development cooperation) and wrote “The dream of a change maker” (link to pdf):

“We like it here because here the adults behave friendly and don’t beat us.
Here we learn through playing, it’s fun. Here I can ask the teacher any question without fear. I never felt free to ask the teacher a question in the primary school as the teachers beat us in response to questions. I want to study in higher classes and I will help people like Hafizur Mama (uncle)“. Juboraj, who is an orphan, so his grandmother Fatema Begum looks after him. Photo: Taslima Miji

Children believe they can learn

The parents of the EDS children/youth are mostly illiterate, unemployed, beg in the streets, drive rikshaw/van, work in factories under challenging health conditions or as daily labors. Prior to EDS, many children and youth risked or had dropped out of school due to child labor, economic challenges, low grades and struggle to understand the lectures, motivation from youth groups to join illegal activities, child marriage, child abuse and excessive control causing heavy mental pressure.

Due to negative pressure from family, school and society many EDS children/youth had low self-esteem, felt they had no value, believed they were not able to learn, and many had poor grades in school. Many EDS students are the only breadwinners of their family and faced pressure to choose work over education.

In EDS, we find the students’ knowledge level and start to teach and mentor from there so they feel they are able learners. Now, over 1000 children have gotten education due to EDS and 100 study at universities in Bangladesh. Many students who failed exams or had low grades prior to EDS now get top grades as the 13 years old girl below. She had never passed a school exam before, so her parents and teacher said she was lazy and beat her regularly. Her parents thought she was unable to learn and wanted to marry her off. In EDS, we discovered that the girl had not learned to read and write although she studied in grade 6. When she learned to read and write in EDS, she passed all school exams and her surprised and happy father said: “Now I see that she is able to study. I will not marry her off, but rather pay all her educational expenses as long as she will need it“.

EDS grade 8 students enjoying their good exam results with their teacher Bellal

Parents gain hope

Many parents of EDS children/youth are not aware of the importance of education and pedagogic ways to mentor their children for learning, grow self-confidence and how to motivate them to help others. Many parents are grown up with physical punishment, criticism and negative talk to control children’s thinking and behavior, so they use these methods on their own children. EDS has increased parents’ awareness about education and how to give children/youth emotional support.
EDS parents have gained hope and confidence that they can influence their children’s education and future positively. Now they motivate their children to get education and do not marry off their daughters at early ages, as expressed by EDS parents:

“Earlier I was thinking that my children didn’t need education as they were going to get married or work as labor in the jute mill industry like me. When my daughter started in EDS, I realized the importance of education and now I want that all my children get good education so they can get better jobs and a better life than I have” (father in EDS).

“We have three daughters. Through EDS we have learned about the importance of education and we have decided to not marry off our daughters young, but to support them to get good education so they can get good husbands” (father in EDS)

“Prior to EDS we were thinking as we are illiterate there is nothing we can do for our children’s education. Now we have gained self-confidence and know that although we are illiterate there is a lot we can do to support our children’s education” (a mother telling on behalf of the EDS mothers)

“A poor woman like me can think of sending her son to school because of Hafizur. God bless him, may his dreams come true” (Rahele, mother of an EDS student. Read the entire report of Taslima Miji visiting EDS on request from NORAD here.

Global friendships

We cooperate internationally to create a more humane world together and have contributed to mutual learning across countries, culture and language. This has increased understanding, respect and the ability to view diversity as a strength.

The students visiting EDS learned about
1) the Bangladeshi school system by visiting local schools, universities and a teacher training institute
2) the EDS action-oriented learning system through observation and participation when EDS students teach in EDS and the fish farm
3) the EDS students’ livelihood by home visits and visits to the jute mills where EDS parents work

NMBU (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

The NMBU teacher students Signe and Hilde had three weeks teacher training in EDS in 2013 and conducted a pedagogical development project.

Signe and Hilde shared their pedagogy, organizational and leadership skills with the EDS students and taught inquiry-based learning in environmental sciences, role play, problem solving and colleague guidance. The EDS students, Signe and Hilde made a movie on challenges the EDS students face in their strive to get education. This was shown to over 300 EDS children/youth and parents.

EDS children/youth enjoying the movie

Blindern high school, Norway

Since 2020, Internat

ional Baccalaureate (IB) students from Blindern high school and EDS students have interacted digitally. They share experienced of being youth today. EDS students have shared how they volunteer as change agents and the IB students have arranged digital English games.

IB students created an English word game which they played together with EDS students. Everyone enjoyed to learn English this way.

The EDS Youth board and the Blindern high school planning their collaboration. EC member Sabiha facilitated.

Sund folk high school

The UN class from the Sund folk high school have visited EDS to learn how young change agents can create development in their community. The teacher Jakob Steenberg-Thompson said: “Before going to Bangladesh Hafiz told us about EDS. It sounded too good to be true, and from my experience with UN internationally, when something sounds too good to be true it often is. But when visiting EDS we saw that what Hafiz had told us was true”

Sund folk high school students observing a class in EDS

Alamin telling the Sund folk high school students how we mentor children and youth to become change agents in EDS.

Norwegian students

Enya (teacher student at NTNU) and Ann-Synnøve (sociology student) volunteered in EDS for a month in 2013 with focus on English and ICT.

Supportive local community

EDS change agents advocate for the child rights to education, free time and play, pedagogic ways to mentor children, safety and health towards local authorities, police, schools and parents. This has made the local community more aware and supportive of the needs and rights of the children. For example, the Shonali jute mills school headmaster gave EDS access to their classrooms after school time. Boys who used to disturb girls in the streets are now students and teachers in EDS and the police cooperates with EDS for increased safety. EDS is a non-religious organization, and we welcome students of none or all faiths. Local Hindu leaders invite EDS leaders to their social gatherings.