verification to content generation
and bringing the campaign to the
masses. Give is designed to be
entirely self-sustaining by charging
a small operational fee from the
total funding goal of every case
to make this service possible. The
more sustainable Give becomes,
the more patients we can help and
the further our reach goes.
Right now we are focusing on
healthcare, but Give was started
with the intention of helping any
individual in crisis or grave financial
distress, that is depriving them
from basic needs like Healthcare,
Education, Sustenance, etc. As we
grow bigger, hopefully we will be
able to reach out to everyone who
needs our help.
Can you share one success story?
Every time a patient’s campaign
is completed, we regard it as a
measure for success. For our first
case of Tahmina who was stuck at
the last stage of her brain tumour
surgery for 6 months, we got a
good response of people pledging
to donate. When the required
amount was gathered, Tahmina
and her mom were ecstatic and
could not believe it. They came
all the way from Khulna, and were
stuck in Dhaka for 6 months prior
to our involvement.
Our greatest moment was
during their exit interview where
Tahmina’s 70-year-old mother said
she is thankful and prays for all
the generous people who helped
them without ever meeting them
in person. We made that video clip
available to her benefactors. Give
isn’t just about directing love from
the side that can afford, to the side
that cannot. The underprivileged
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have plenty of ways to reciprocate
that love, and Give managed to
carry that across too. That was a
big moment for us.
What challenges did you have to
come across?
There are so many challenges we
continue to face. Getting people
to give, is not at all easy even if
they are micro-amounts. Handling
and collecting payments is another
problematic area. We really need
some assistance from bKash
being the largest mobile payment
solution in the country. Hopefully,
they can accommodate us in the
future. Up until recently, our team
was also very small, and it has
been very challenging doing all the
work with just 3 people. But things
are taking shape nicely, especially
since we’re getting more people
involved!
How did you overcome them?
We are still overcoming them!
Our fortes are our creative work,
our capacity to think outside the
box when strategizing, and our
unyielding attitude. It usually took
a combination of those traits to
overcome the challenges we
faced thus far. We know that
trying to cultivate a new attitude
of giving in people was never
going to be easy. But every case
we successfully complete bolsters
our motivation to keep pushing
forward!
What is your long term goal and
mission?
Our long term goal is to help as
many people as we can. There’s an
ever increasing gap between the
rich and the poor in the world. It is
Change Magazine January 2018 www.changemag-diinsider.com
especially striking in countries like
Bangladesh. We want to bridge
this gap. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to
have a seamless, friendly, wealth
redistribution system like Give
that came out of the era of Digital
Bangladesh? How wonderful would
it be if that wealth redistribution
directly leads to many women or
children’s healthcare becoming
affordable?
The world will become such a
better place. That is our goal.
About the Author
F