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19 Before And After Photos Showing How The Lives Of Bangladeshi Working Kids Changed After This Photographer Funded Their Education
Interview With ArtistGoing to school is a normal way of life for so many children around the world, but not in Bangladesh. Over four million children have had to grow up too fast and are forced to work to support their families from an early age. They are often put at risk of health issues and exploitation, but most importantly, they are missing out on their bright future and the right to be kids.
An award-winning photojournalist, GMB Akash, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, uses his voice to highlight the lives and stories of marginalized people of his homeland. He has been working on the child labor situation in Bangladesh for over 15 years and has been making small steps that bring huge change in the lives of kids who have had to give up their childhood. GMB Akash uses his own money to free children from grueling routines at work and send them to school. The photographer is on a mission to improve the lives of people he captures and takes full financial responsibility for it, so he contributes almost all his income, leaving out only his own minimal living expenses.
Here are some of his heartwarming pictures to illustrate how the lives of these children have transformed for the better.
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Is that dust from working? Wow, I'm so happy that these children can look forward to a bright future now!
Akash quotes Paul Shane Spear when talking about his humanitarian work: "As one person, you can't change the world, but you can change the world of one person.” So far, GMB Akash has admitted 30 children to school and doesn't plan to stop.
"By the grace of God, I have admitted a total of 30 working children to school and I am monitoring them very closely. I am regularly visiting their homes and schools to assess their situation. Hopefully, in a few months, I will be able to admit another 10 child laborers to school. Therefore, in just a few months, there will be a total of 40 working children going to school instead of to grueling jobs. I have taken the responsibility for their complete education for my entire life," GMB Akash told Bored Panda.
"Like these 30 children, more than four million children are struggling in our country. Maybe it is difficult, but it is not impossible, to give hope to these 4 million children. If only every capable person would give a hand for one child, miracles would happen which could transform our society into a better-educated population who could better contribute to the development of our country, a benefit for all of us."
Aww, beautiful baby, what a wonderful person to make such a change in these little one's lives.
Child labor in Bangladesh has been the accent of the photographer's work for more than 15 years. Although the country is moving towards positive change to fight child labor and ensure a better future for children, the change is too slow. Therefore, Akash decided to give up his own comfort to support children and their families in poverty.
"From the beginning of my photography career, I wanted to change the situation and raise awareness of this suffering. However, I was not at all happy seeing these changes happening so very slowly in our society! Therefore, I decided to change people’s lives directly and I started with those people who I had photographed and those with whom I was already working. I started giving training and gifted businesses to people in need; especially the parents of child laborers. With these businesses, I arranged for each of the families so that they could earn more money and send their children to school instead of to factories. So far, I have given 150 different businesses to 150 families."
GMB Akash uses his own money to help people in need while living on minimal personal expenses. He shares the income from paid photojournalism assignments from organizations and publications, fees from One to One photography and other workshops, sales of his book, and other remunerative activities.
"I am not sponsored nor paid by any organization of any kind. I am a freelance independent photojournalist and have no hired staff to help me with the multiple campaigns and projects that I organize all year round at my own initiative. I do everything myself and take full responsibility for it. This includes collecting stories, taking photos, filming videos, interviewing people, writing stories, organizing charity campaigns, managing and distributing donated goods to unprivileged people, and maintaining my own social media accounts, which I use only to find ways to help the people I encounter and to try to improve something in their lives."
in school, where she belongs. This man is a hero, thank you for being an inspiration and while educating, he is also walking the walk.
On the left with the eyes of an adult, and on the right with the eyes of a child.
"Helping unprivileged people make positive changes in their lives is the mission of my life’s work," says GMB Akash. "I try to focus on getting as many children as possible out of the factories and fields where they must work to survive and into the schools. I personally sponsor hundreds of children’s education with my own income because educated children are our only future."
It might sound crazy to people who are privileged enough to have easy access to education, but convincing parents to let their children go to school was not an easy task for GMB Akash. Children bear the burden of supporting families on their shoulders by doing underpaid and often hazardous work.
"In order to get working children to school, I had to go door to door many times requesting that their parents send them to school. Finally, I have been able to convince some of the parents about the importance of education. I motivated them to send their children to school. It was not at all easy. For that, I had to take full financial responsibility for these kids with expenses such as their admission fees, tuition fees, daily food, books, clothes, and also to financially compensate their parents for the entire amount of money they would have earned each month if they had worked instead of going to school. I will also have to bear all the children's expenses to ensure that they will continue to go to school!"
The dust is so sad. What these poor people have to go through. Thank you so much for giving them an education!
GMB Akash also personally gives out hundreds of scholarships to students every year.
"Up to 200 students have received my scholarships so far. Without this funding, it would have been almost impossible for them to take part in their SSC and HSC Exams and to continue with their education. Many of them are studying in recognized institutions like Notre Dame College and Dhaka University!"
don't get me wrong, it's wonderful these kids are getting an education and a shot at a better life. It's wonderful. But this looks like they just gave the kid a new shirt to put on over his dirty one (you can see the old one sticking up around the collar) to take an "after" photo. I mean I hope I'm wrong?
GMB Akash has received more than 100 international photography awards and his work has been featured in over 100 international publications including National Geographic, Times, The Guardian, and The Economist, to name a few. In 2007, he became the first Bangladeshi to be selected for the 30 Emerging Photographers, and in 2011, he was the first Bangladeshi to speak in a TED talk in Portugal.
Good for this photographer! I don't know if everyone read the article, but he had to even pay the parents for the wages the kids would have made in each month, along with all tuition, books and food and more.
Sadly, I fear this is a hoax. If you look closely at some of the pictures (especially the boys), you will see patterns in the hair have not changed, smudges of dirt are in the same spots, and clothing from the “before” pictures can be seen underneath the new clothes in the “after” pictures. I truly hope this individual has indeed made a positive impact on these children’s lives and is not just looking for 15 minutes of viral fame.
Impressive. I love that he pays the families directly instead of paying an organisation in which many of the funds get sucked up by admin and CEOs, etc. I would love to do this but hard to know where to start.
You can helps these kids and their peers by not buying clothing you don't actually need just for fun.
The fact that education isn't free is a legacy from the colonial hangover. Thank you for doing this, but education should be free to all children. Fees are unconscionable.
i don't know... this seems kind of staged... I hope this is true and if it is, good stuff.
I realized all of the girls are shirtless which is much not appreciated by most people except perverts!
Why do some of the kids have the exactly same outfits and backpacks? How do we know some of these children aren't given just a new sweatshirt?
I hope change is quick enough that they have jobs to go into once they leave school - because many places won't pay adults (Especially school-educated ones) to do the jobs they can get children to do for much less. This man making a big brave step in such a big world
Heartwarming and awe-inspiring. I really hope these kids can continue to go to school and get a job that enables them to lift them out of this kind of poverty.
Many are breaking brick and stone to sell the gravel to construction sites, I believe. (Shiver 🥶🤢)
These kids seem to be smashing rocks for work, is that an industry in Bangladesh?
GMB Akash is amazing. His Patreon site has a TED talk which is very interesting. Check it out. He also supports 25 fishermen by giving them nets which they can use for up to 10 years. There are so many other people that he sponsors. His website is fascinating - I love this quote from 4 August, 2020: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”. We should all support him, so that he can help more people. https://www.patreon.com/gmbakash
Good for this photographer! I don't know if everyone read the article, but he had to even pay the parents for the wages the kids would have made in each month, along with all tuition, books and food and more.
Sadly, I fear this is a hoax. If you look closely at some of the pictures (especially the boys), you will see patterns in the hair have not changed, smudges of dirt are in the same spots, and clothing from the “before” pictures can be seen underneath the new clothes in the “after” pictures. I truly hope this individual has indeed made a positive impact on these children’s lives and is not just looking for 15 minutes of viral fame.
Impressive. I love that he pays the families directly instead of paying an organisation in which many of the funds get sucked up by admin and CEOs, etc. I would love to do this but hard to know where to start.
You can helps these kids and their peers by not buying clothing you don't actually need just for fun.
The fact that education isn't free is a legacy from the colonial hangover. Thank you for doing this, but education should be free to all children. Fees are unconscionable.
i don't know... this seems kind of staged... I hope this is true and if it is, good stuff.
I realized all of the girls are shirtless which is much not appreciated by most people except perverts!
Why do some of the kids have the exactly same outfits and backpacks? How do we know some of these children aren't given just a new sweatshirt?
I hope change is quick enough that they have jobs to go into once they leave school - because many places won't pay adults (Especially school-educated ones) to do the jobs they can get children to do for much less. This man making a big brave step in such a big world
Heartwarming and awe-inspiring. I really hope these kids can continue to go to school and get a job that enables them to lift them out of this kind of poverty.
Many are breaking brick and stone to sell the gravel to construction sites, I believe. (Shiver 🥶🤢)
These kids seem to be smashing rocks for work, is that an industry in Bangladesh?
GMB Akash is amazing. His Patreon site has a TED talk which is very interesting. Check it out. He also supports 25 fishermen by giving them nets which they can use for up to 10 years. There are so many other people that he sponsors. His website is fascinating - I love this quote from 4 August, 2020: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”. We should all support him, so that he can help more people. https://www.patreon.com/gmbakash