£1,800. 10 families. Kids staying in school.
Income support tied to one condition: keep the adolescents in education.
The problem.
Satkhira sits on Bangladesh's southwestern coast. Cyclones, floods, and saltwater intrusion every year. When a family loses a harvest or a wage, school fees are the first thing to go.
Female workers are underpaid and abused in what little work exists. Early marriage, early pregnancy, trafficking. Adolescents — especially girls — pulled out of education not from lack of ambition, but from lack of options. A little economic stability changes the calculation entirely.
the money.
Project GROW · Where every pound went
£170 per family in direct economic support. Businesses chosen by each family based on their skills and circumstances. View the full ledger →
What we did
Six months. Three things.
Need assessment
15 families came to a workshop at the Adolescent Resource Centre in Kaliganj. They shared their situations, their income sources, what they could realistically manage. From those 15, the 10 most vulnerable were selected — based on poverty level, adolescent school attendance, and overall risk. Each family had to have at least one adolescent currently in education. Transparent criteria. Community input throughout.
Family development plans
A two-day workshop. Each of the 10 families built a written development plan — income sources, expenditure, savings targets, and a formal commitment to keeping their adolescent children in school. Not a form to fill in. A plan they shaped themselves. The Upazila Nirbahi Officer attended day two and endorsed the initiative publicly.
Economic support
£170 to each of the 10 families — in assets, not cash. Livestock, shop stock, sewing machines for women who'd already received skills training from Agrogoti Sangstha. Each family's support matched to their plan. Progress tracked monthly through the Adolescent Resource Center. The deal: support continues as long as the adolescents stay in school.
Projected return on funding
What we said.
Midterm check.
Our returns are in impact, not pounds, dollars, or taka. Final outcomes at project close.
The people
4 business types.
10 families.
First time a project linked our livelihood to our children's education. Not separate things.
— Salma, Satkhira, 2025
our partner
500 could do.
imagine what
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