Supporting Efforts in the Slums

A woman scans the remains of her makeshift home in the slums of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. No luck.

Her daughter’s doll was destroyed along with the rest of her belongings. In desperation, the woman grabs a brick for her daughter. She needs to hold something to sleep at night.

Fires in Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh, are common. With densely populated living spaces and high temperatures, this recent fire took homes from more than 900 people.

“One woman was grateful that she somehow managed to save her T.V.,” says Melissa Bos, Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) missionary. “But otherwise the furniture, clothing, pots, and pans all went up in flames.”

Jeff and Melissa Bos’s work with CRWM and World includes training leaders from SATHI (Sustainable Association for Taking Human Development Initiatives). The SATHI leaders then partner with World Renew to work directly in the slums.

After receiving training from Jeff Bos, the SATHI leaders have improved skills that they use to reach people living in Daka city’s slums.

In training these SATHI leaders along with other partner staff, Jeff Bos strengthens their ability to bring knowledge of health issues, business development, and literacy to people of Bangladesh.

“Our goals,” he explains, “are to strengthen partner staff in integrating word and deed ministry in Bangladesh contexts, equip staff to minister to their ministry partners, and offer them pastoral support.”

Melissa Bos says that “people living in these makeshift homes have limited access to clean water, few proper toilets, and often suffer from health issues and flooding.”

After the recent fire, she helped sort clothing donated to those who had lost almost everything in the blaze.

“Six of us worked together for five hours that day, sometimes joking and sometimes in quiet concentration, thinking of the men and women and children for whom we packed the clothing.”