From suffering to succeeding

Three years ago more fish swam through Kasem’s net than were caught. Kasem’s life was as tattered as his fishing net and as bleak as the slate gray water he plied every day in an effort to catch fish he could provide to his family for their one meal a day or sell at the market. Unable to venture too far from shore in the tiny boat, the fish Kasem did manage to catch were small and of little value as a meal or at the market.

Khadija, Kasem’s wife and mother of their five children, spent her days worrying about how she would feed and care for the children, all of whom were constantly sick due to malnutrition and a lack of proper shelter and clean water. The thatched shack her family called home, precariously perched on the wrong side of an earthen dike that held back the ocean, was always on the verge of collapsing, just as their lives were.

Today, because of the generosity of HOPE International Development Agency donors, Kasem and Khadija are happy and healthy. They now own a small plot of land on the safe side of the dike, away from the shoreline. The home they built on their land is sturdy and safe. It is a big change from the thatched shack they once lived in which is now used as a chicken coop. The new well, just fifty metres from their home, provides an ample supply of safe water. As a result, the children no longer suffer from the waterborne diseases that were a constant threat to their health. The two youngest boys, Shoumon and Shoujon, are now in school and excelling.

The equally big news is that Kasem was able to buy a bigger motorized boat and two good fishing nets. He now ventures further offshore and regularly catches larger, more profitable fish. The very first season Kasem had the new boat and nets, he experienced huge success as a large school of highly profitable Halisha fish passed by which he landed with his new nets. For Kasem, Khadija, and their children, life is vastly different than it was three years ago when friends of HOPE International Development Agency first entered their lives.

Help a family like Kasem's today.