AAJO, AAMRA AMADER JONNO
AAJO is a Covid19 voluntary initiative by alumni of the Department of Architecture. It has setup telemedicine helpline for alumni, students, faculty members and staffs of the department. Moreover, with contributions from alumni it is running an emergency fund for alumni and students in financial distress. Currently, AAJO is working to build-up an alumni professional database to address professional crises triggered by the pandemic situation.
Less Is More
"Less is more" is a Covid19 humanitarian initiative to help out the underprivileged people of the society with their basic needs of food, treatment and money. It is run by Ar. Shariful Haque Topu, an alumnus of Department of Architecture, and his friends and family.
Noble Initiative In Jessore
During the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus, Shazedul Islam Shuvro, an alumnus of Department of Architecture), took the initiative of distributing relief in his hometown Jessore, Bangladesh. With the help of his Facebook friends, he gathered BDT 2,70,052.00. Sharif and his family members distributed 10 days of grocery to 490 family in Jessore’s jobless community during Ramadan. His friends from America, Australia, England, Germany, Poland, Sri Lanka helped in this cause The gifts help was not only distributed in Jessore, but also sent to 14 nearby cities at needy people’s doorsteps. People were also given financial aid of BDT 6,700.00. It is noteworthy that this initiative has made it possible for almost 2000 people in and around Jessore.
Helping Through Art
When the virus finally hit Bangladesh, there were people outside the window, for whom staying home was an impossible act. This whole scenario led Sumaita Tahseen (an alumni of Department of Architecture) to come up with ideas of helping these people through her art. Because of the lack of physical interaction, through social media she accepted any amount of donation to raise fund for the help of the underprivileged community. The outstanding response from friends and family living in various parts of the world made it possible to raise more than BDT 50,000.00 in two months. The first batch of donation has been received by the organization PDF (Physically-challenged development foundation). Along with sending donation to the organizations, this initiative helped few former BRACU staff as well. The second batch of donation is being sent to Amphan affected areas.
Support For Our Financially Weaker Neighbors During The Lockdown
Raihan Rafiq, a student of the Department of Architecture carried out a food distribution program, with the help of his friends, family and peers, from April to June 2020 for the poor working-class people in Kamrangirchar, Dhaka. Their first step was to make a list of the people living in three selected housings with their contact numbers. In three days’, they had a table of sixty families who needed immediate attention and help.
He used Facebook friend list to systematically call friends, family members, classmates, juniors, seniors and alumni, asking for help. In the earlier stages, they did the packaging of relief goods were done at home and distributed on site. Later on, the sent people cash over Bkash. Rauhan started with helping only 60 families up for half a month, but was eventually able to collect a 1.7 lakh BDT in a span of 4 weeks, and helped people across 7 weeks.