We have erected a simple school building, with walls made out of palm leaves, and furnished the class rooms with tables and chairs. You can see that the photos of the school interior show only very basic equipment. The school has 5 teachers.

We started off in 2002 with only 75 pupils but now teach 300 girls and boys. In the beginning we were only able to take primary school pupils but have now extended to more advanced classes. In some individual cases adult education is being offered, which we plan to expand on.

One larger project we have undertaken is the school garden, playground and the pond. This allows practical lessons to be carried out and the water supply is secured. Our projects are often only small steps: in 2011 we acquired a blackboard which we didn’t have at first.

One of our somewhat larger actions was to introduce a school uniform, which is traditionally of utmost importance in Bangladesh. School uniform allows a sense of equality and ensures the children’s financial differences aren’t so visible. Even pupils of elite schools wear uniforms. The children were really exited months beforehand!

Doris Kabir: "Some of the very small children you will see in the photos are often pupils’ younger brothers and sisters who cannot wait to go to school themselves...“