Amarok Society
The Amarok Society's mission is "teach a woman, change the world" and they are effectively carrying out this mission in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh and elsewhere. We raised over $25,000 in 2016 to use as seed money to support school programs operated by Amarok. In partnership with other Rotary Clubs in the district, we annually support multiple schools that teach mothers basic literacy, numeracy, and public health and personal hygiene. In turn, each of these mothers returns to their homes to teach several children what they have learned. The programs are amazingly cost-effective. Each year, it costs only $85 CAD to educate a child, not to mention the education received by the mothers. The effects are truly transformative: the mothers attain an education and stature in their community, throwing off chains of misogyny and abuse. The children's prospects for a healthy life and secure economic future are improved immensely, and they are inoculated against the lies of extremists who would turn them into terrorists instead of caring citizens of the world.