Amarok Society Sends Thanks

Posted by Ken Germain

on Feb 12, 2016

An option to gift giving at Christmas, our family has supported a charity or group each year. This year we promoted and put efforts towards the Amarok Society, a Canadian charity offering education to women (and in turn, their children) in Bangladesh slum areas. Some Rotary Club members graciously helped bring the total personal donations to $4,129. The letter below tells a story of how these funds can help them beyond the first education steps to knowing more and wanting more and achieving more.

Thanks to the members who contributed.

The Rotary Club of Edmonton Strathcona has also helped Amarok over the past 4 years, including a $2,500. donation this year.

Cheers; Ken Germain

We are so grateful to you and so appreciative of your recent very generous donation to Amarok Society. Our appreciation is really more than words can convey! Therefore I will include some pictures. Over the next few weeks I will also introduce you to some mothers who you are directly impacting with your support. As you may know we do not charge women a fee to attend our School however we do have them make a commitment to teach children in return. This has been fabulously successful and creates win/win situations many times over for all involved.

Recently one of our donors who supports a woman named Hamida noticed in her letter that she had learned tailoring from a course provided by Amarok Society to women in her school. He also noted that she was doing a lot of hand sewing and realized she didn’t have an option - no sewing machine. So he contacted us and asked for our help in getting Hamida a sewing machine from him. We were able to find a store in Dhaka that sold used sewing machines and he provided the funds and now Hamida has her sewing machine.

Last year women started to ask about getting a library - now I doubt if any had ever been to a library but as they became educated they knew that would be great. So we have started to open libraries as the funds are available. While they may not look like a library in our minds they are indeed doing the job! The books are just one part - they are kept in a new, dedicated locked cabinet and women can read them at school, borrow them and in addition there are story hours for women and for children and anyone in the community are invited! The school thus has extended hours and is really being a greater part of developing the neighbourhood.

Thank you; The Amarok Society