After many years of walking alongside some of Bangladesh’s poorest and most inspiring people, our team is preparing to start working in new areas. They are looking forward to inviting new people to begin the journey to learn, save and grow their way out of poverty by working together.
The process of starting new work began last year when we hired an external, local consultant, Dr Hore Krishna, to evaluate our work and from his research and in discussion with the local staff, our program team have been revising our model for the current context.
While the basic approach remains the same, there are tweaks to help the groups become independent faster. And we are looking to review the functional education materials in the hope of updating them for current needs.
Meanwhile, our field staff have been surveying households within potential new working areas. From these results, they are now entering the most needy villages, developing relationships with the community leaders, and if invited, begin social mapping and focus group discussions about the community needs.
The early results have been very encouraging.
Symbiosis staff with the help of local residents of Islampur village are conducting a social mapping exercise. This involves identifying the geographical locations, settlements, roads, natural resources and socio-economic conditions of the village.
This social mapping exercise is the next step after discussions with Union officials, collection of secondary data and visits to the village that all suggested this community would benefit from the work of Symbiosis.
Dhobaura-Haluaghat Project Manager, Abul Aziz, shares that the team have been aware and interested in establishing a new work in Islampur since 2020, the last time they started new groups in surrounding areas. Now, with the 2026/27 budget and plans approved to be able to start new work, we are finally able to take the next steps.
The village has poor roads, no highschool and low levels of education. Only one other NGO is currently working in the area, providing mobile health services.
Kalam Bhai, field organiser, said “The people of this village are very happy for Symbiosis’ help” and they plan to conduct a focus group discussion to help determine the key challenges and socio-economic situation of the village to create future development plans and select the right beneficiaries.
He estimates that up to 140 people from this village might be interested to begin the journey of learning, saving and growing together by working together for good.