While COVID-19 has affected all of us in one way or another, it has devastated families and communities who were already suffering from the effects of poverty.

Millions of people in Bangladesh live a hand-to-mouth existence: they work one day and eat the next. But the global pandemic has meant that almost all such jobs have disappeared, leaving millions more people to suffer from malnutrition and even starvation.

Our Livelihoods project enables families living in these conditions to support themselves. We are particularly keen to support families led by females due to widowhood or where the husband is ill and unable to work.

This project provides families with Chinese ducks, along with training on how to take care of them to minimise disease or falling prey to predators. Sale of the eggs from these ducks enables the families to maintain themselves.

Where necessary, we also provide social business training. After a period of two years, we recoup 70% of the investment from the beneficiaries, which is then used to support other families.