About Our Activities
Ekmattra adopts action-based activities that are based on field-oriented research and participatory in nature. On that account, Open Sky School (OSS) is aimed to teach the local disadvantageous children on the street basic living skills through a very fundamental level of pre-primary informal education, civic and cultural learning. Through this program, Ekmattra aims to support the most vulnerable children (MVC) who are mainly parentless (or whose parents are in dangerous occupations), homeless, shelter less, ill-fed, ill-clothed and devoid of parental care. Having no shelter, food, education, healthcare, social security and parental care they are compelled to be involved in unsafe works for their mere survival.
Children Home ANANDA
The journey of Ekmattra’s Ananda Children’s home at Mirpur started in 2004 with12 children from the Open Sky School. Our realization after running the OSS for a certain period had led us to the idea of establishing a Children’s Home in Dhaka. We observed that it was quite impossible to improve the lives of the children on the streets of Dhaka with some partial supports of a certain project or aid. These children require a safe home that prevents them from hazardous conditions and a shelter where all the services are available. In addition, they all needed a little love or touch of care to step towards a safe childhood. That required long-term support where they can get intense care with all the basic needs. Ekmattra Children home is dedicated by all means to ensuring a purposeful life for these children within a space of care and a homely environment.
The EKMATTRA-Dutch-Bangla Bank Academy in Haluaghat, Mymensingh, commenced its journey in 2018. It has the capacity to host 128 children and offers basic rights and amenities to the children. EKMATTRA-Dutch-Bangla Bank Academy is providing a wide-ranging space for both physical and mental development of a child.
Our dedication to create awareness for the children and to uphold their rights has led us to use the most powerful instrument of the contemporary time—i.e. media. We know that the media and mass communication are significant in shaping culture by the choice and portrayal of beliefs, values and traditions. That’s why we want to use it more vividly. Ekmattra Society established its media and mass-communication department, titled BATIGHAR to instigate all sources of popular media and communication tools to make people aware of the social problems, around us. From the beginning till now, BATIGHAR has worked hard to attain the core objectives of the department. It has produced a flagship feature film production Je Shahar Chorabali. Shubhashish Roy directed the film and it had featured critical aspects of lives that the underprivileged children on the streets are living in the cosmopolitan city of Dhaka. The success of the film show was enormous; hundreds of volunteers raised their hands to work for the children who are trapped in many kinds of odd trades. More than 20,000 viewers watched the movie all through the year.
Ekmattra Society is applying the method of being self-dependent for the organization to serve the disadvantaged people of the society. The responsibility that Ekmattra wants to reach will never transpire except the innovative new ideas of small and medium-range entrepreneurship. This understanding is the ground that forced the courage of Ekmattra to a continuous exploration of new ideas for a better future.
Ekmattra considers the Research and Evaluation as its brain to conduct all the developmental ventures under the auspices of the organization. We research to explore new ideas that contribute to planning and implementation of our programmatic interventions throughout other organs of the organization.
The findings are partly published in our regular venue, a monthly newsletter ‘Bartapatra’ in Bengali, English and Japanese languages. The newsletter also contains significant information regarding the organization and related works on underprivileged children.
