By Tuhin Asad
“My name is Tuhin Asad, I am the Program Administrator of the Mirpur Music Program in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We have nearly 900 students attending these music classes. We operate the music program with our partner in Bangladesh SpandaanB at five different locations. Kallyanpur slum, Mirpur, Dhaka is one of them. All students live under the poverty line. In this slum, 90 students live with their parents.
We know all the situations in the world are very scary because of the COVID 19 pandemic. So here in Bangladesh, we all are on lockdown since the 25th of March. So it’s very hard for those who live under the poverty line to survive. In these circumstances Playing For Change Foundation stands by the students’ families who live in the Kallyanpur slum. PFCF provided them with (a minimum of) five days of food support. I and my two teachers worked very hard to distribute the food for all students in the slum. The parents of the students were very happy when they received the food supplies and they wish us the best and offered prayers for PFCF. We also maintained social distance during food distribution and we tried to make the students and their parents aware of the COVID 19 virus. Most of the students know about the virus and they also know they need to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, and I taught them during handwash time to sing the “Happy Birthday” song, and it’s really helpful for the 20-second handwashing with soap or hand sanitizer. It was an amazing experience for me and my teachers to serve our students’ families and stand by them.“
