IVLP Alumni Voices: Md Tajdin Hassan
by Lynare Robbins
Global Ties Miami had the pleasure of facilitating meetings for an International Visitor Leadership (IVLP) group in March 2019 for Youth and Civic Engagement sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Among the alumni for the IVLP group was Md Tajdin Hassan, Head of Marketing for the Daily Star Newspaper of Bangladesh, and one of the founders of Mission Save Bangladesh, a Bangladeshi initiative with the mission of fighting the economic repercussions in Bangladesh caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to Hassan, COVID-19 spread to Bangladesh in March 2020 with the first three known cases reported on March 7th by the country’s epidemiology institute, IEDCR. He explained that the number of Coronavirus cases stayed low until the end of March but saw a steep rise in April. While the Bangladeshi government initially enforced country-wide social distancing through a lockdown, Hassan said that in a densely populated country with 160 million people minimizing infections is more of a challenge. Bangladesh also hosts the world’s biggest refugee camp, Kutupalong Refugee Camp, at its southern border where the challenge was more pronounced.
While the disruption of the virus threatened economic security of many Bangladeshis, Hassan reported that in light of the economic challenges, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared a stimulus package for the sectors impacted by the Coronavirus. “In addition to the government’s initiatives, the private sector and the development sector of the country are working to mitigate the challenges of this pandemic and serve marginalized communities.” In the midst of the crisis, Hassan said that people from all walks of life are trying their best to cope up with changes. “Bangladesh has a motto to establish itself as ‘Digital Bangladesh,’ and it has recently emerged significantly in technological and digital advancement.” He adds that Bangaldeshis have embraced digital platforms from different sectors. “Because of this advancement in the digital arena, ‘The New Normal’ has not been very difficult for the people to get adapted with. Home-office, online classes, and digital crowdsourcing are being executed in a very efficient manner during this time of lockdown.”
As a personal response to COVID-19, Hassan launched an initiative with two partners called “Mission Save Bangladesh.” He explained how the idea and project came to fruition, “I was thinking of donating to underprivileged communities, as their survival is a major concern. With the situation turning worse, I approached my friend, who is the CEO of a company named Sheba.xyz, and asked whether he could help. We decided to create a platform to serve a large number of marginalized families.” Hassan added that The Daily Samakal, a Bangla newspaper, also came on board with the project. “A month of relentless efforts has turned out to be efficacious, as Mission Save Bangladesh has completed a milestone of collecting funds amounting to more than Tk 1 crore, with more than a hundred brands that have come on board to support the initiative so far.”
Hassan described the how the efforts of the young team of Mission Save Bangladesh has achieved success. “By maintaining social distance and hygiene, more than 5,000 families are served with food for 10 days. For Ramadan, more than 200 families received items necessary for Iftar and Sehri. Hundreds of public places were disinfected and hand-washing basins were set up in several places.” Hassan said that through managing social media, the team ensured that the support reached people in need. “Passionate people who silently reached out to Mission Save Bangladesh and informed us about those who are suffering in these tough times deserve a shout-out.” He added that partners made the initiative even stronger. “The accumulation of empathy, hard work and passion is what has led the Mission Save Bangladesh initiative this far.” Despite the many successes of Mission Save Bangladesh, Hassan explained, “the responsibilities are not over, instead, it’s now a bigger challenge to bring smiles to more faces.”
To learn more about Mission Save Bangladesh, visit: https://www.sheba.xyz/missionsavebangladesh/
