Programs in the U.S.
Youth leadership & intellectual development
DCI believes that the world is becoming a small place. Our children of today need to be trained as ethical global citizens in order to relate to the world around them in a realistic and compassionate way. Through education of our youth about world issues, through volunteerism and sponsorship; we are preparing them for this challenging future. We can show them that nothing is impossible when you have people with passion, willing to reach out to others, especially those who so desperately need help. We want to positively change this generation for generations to come.
Many children and teens in America take everything in their lives for granted. DCI feels that in order for these individuals to become important leaders of tomorrow, we need to teach them to understand people, ask questions and question answers, think outside the box; take responsibility for their world. Our objective is to stir them to new and higher levels of compassion and understanding. DCI strives to create an open dialogue among all cultures, income levels, educational levels, by moving our youth to reach out to others through sponsorship and volunteerism. Educating American children and young adults about world issues is imperative to opening the doors to communication and tolerance. We will teach them, by example, to celebrate each other's differences, and to realize that we all have the same basic needs.
DCI has the following activities especially for youth:
- Volunteering: DCI encourages American youths to be involved with humanitarian work. DCI believes that working as a volunteer will help American children to be more appreciative of their good fortune and become empathetic leaders in the future. DCI has already created large youth volunteer groups in different states which are always increasing. These volunteers are helping with office work, campaigns, events, booths and local charities. Also many of our graduate level/high school volunteers are working in the actual project areas of Bangladesh to gain real life experience.
Here are some experiences from our young patrons and volunteers.
Testimonies from our young patrons
- Nashra, Tasfia and Sharmin sends a gift of hope
- Kid sponsors Reanna and Gulen send Eid gift to Shanta and family
- Kid sponsors Reanna and Gulen send gift to Shanta
- Kid sponsors celebrate their birthdays with DCI
Testimonies from our young volunteers
- Saika Belal Nitol
- Nashrah Ahmed
- Danita Topcagic
- Lira Chowdhury
- Mushfiqa Jamaluddin
- Shantalle Alam
- Shashank Vodapally
ESSAY & ART COMPETITION: Among school going children to make them aware about the world surrounding them & help them develop as conscious citizen of the world.
^
Local Charities
Community Dining: DCI strives to help communities in need, both abroad and within our localities. Collaborating with local businesses, DCI has helped serve the community by volunteering at the Community Dining Room (CDR) in Branford, Connecticut since 2006. Founded in 1985, the Community Dining Room is a private, not-for-profit organization that provides food, support and other basic human needs.
DCI team preparing hot lunch in community dining room.
Since 2007, DCI has volunteered in the preparation of hot lunch for the shoreline’s clients on Sundays in every other month. A Tuesday evening family dinner is also being planned to introduce Asian culture to the community. Other local community outreach programs planned for this year includes serving hot lunches at the Columbus House, a homeless shelter in New Haven, Connecticut as well as conducting nonperishable food drives and clothing drives to benefit local soup kitchens and local welfare offices.
Free Eye Screening camps: The number of Americans without health insurance has increased steadily since the beginning of the century, now totaling about 47 million. Nearly 9 million of these are children, and more than 8 out of 10 are from working families. Children with health coverage are better prepared to learn in school and succeed in life. (Institute of Medicine. From Neurons to Neighborhood: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington DC, 2000.). A recent study has shown that Americans without health insurance had the lowest rate of eye care service use (42 percent), while 67 percent of American with private health insurance, 55 percent with public health insurance had visited an eye care professional in the previous year (Science Centric, 2008). In order to help people without insurance DCI is working to arrange eye screening camps& free treatments in the local communities.
^
Child Rights Awareness Campaign
DCI strongly believes that the state of children world wide cannot be improved without the public awareness of the rights of all children as citizen of the world. DCI constantly strives to make people aware of the children of the world and make them realize how much we can give with little compassion/little work. So through out the year DCI arranges presentations at the schools, business institutes, events and gatherings. DCi also arranges child rights concerts with the children of different schools, variety show with youth volunteers. These shows are interspersed with short presentations on state of children around the world and what can be done to improve their life. We believe thus we make a very strong impact on the audience specially the children and motivate them to appreciate their life, their country and be a citizen of the world in a true sense.
^
DCI's US Programs In Pictures