Creating a better future through education
AGAMI
Agami is a US-registered non-profit charity, dedicated to promoting basic education for the underprivileged children in Bangladesh. Our aim is to provide educational materials, access to education and support, with an end goal of making our project villages self-sufficient.
Our Mission
Agami's mission is to create lasting socio-economic change in Bangladesh with education. Through our programs and partners, we create a holistic solution of basic education for underprivileged children, skills training for adults, and public health and economic initiatives for families. With our Silicon Valley roots, we aim to implement best practices by leveraging eco-friendly cutting-edge technology.
How Agami is
Helping
Although Bangladesh provides free education to children in primary schools, there is an administrative charge to buy books and uniforms, and lunch boxes. Rural managed schools are also short-staffed and quality of education is compensated due to low or no admission fees. Every year, we at Agami receive an outpour of applicants from different schools that require funding and help in different areas of the school. Agami’s team visits the school, helps with focusing on key areas of school development and allocates funding accordingly. Agami believes that supporting the growth of a school will have a sustainable impact on the quality of education in the long-term.
12K
StudentS
15 districts have benefited from the Agami school program. Agami has implemented the program in conjunction with the Teachers’ Training Program to ensure that the science lessons were delivered effectively.
70+
Engaged in Khan Acadamy Bangla
Khan Academy has delivered one billion lessons worldwide, and receives an overwhelming exposure of 40 million students and two million teachers every month. Khan Academy’s educational content has been translated to 36 foreign languages by volunteers and international organizations to educate the masses.
30+
SCHOOLS
School Programs and Monitoring are the very first country-wide Agami initiative. Agami, in association with AEF's collaborative efforts, supports different schools across the country. The program operates on the basis of the school's needs focusing on primary to higher secondary schools.
Agami's Core Values
We have established a list of core values that guide our activities in order to fulfill our mission:
- Action group: We measure our success by the positive impact of the activities we undertake.
- Education: The focus of our group is empowering children through education.
- We define 'basic' education in terms of fundamental education necessary to become an effective citizen, not in terms of means. We will utilize any effective means and techniques necessary to provide pre-college education as defined by the government of Bangladesh
- We firmly believe that education is the best vehicle for breaking the cycle of poverty in developing countries. We will partner with other organizations, when and where possible, to provide a holistic solution addressing other critical needs such as health care, nutrition and economic opportunities.
- We may also choose to engage in local partnerships that align with Agami's vision, mission and core values.
- Secular: We aim to help any underprivileged child, regardless of religion.
- Non-political: We do not partner with any political group and/or party of national or international origin.
- Volunteer based: All of our members are volunteers, not paid employees. We may hire non-member staff to help execute our projects and programs.
- Donations: 100% of project donations received are invested in projects and programs benefiting the underprivileged.
Get Involved
Agami’s impact on education would not be so powerful if not for the volunteers and interns that advance our mission on a daily basis. If you are interested in having a more active role as an advocate for education reform and lasting socio-economic change in Bangladesh, please consider becoming a volunteer or pursuing an internship with Agami.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or intern, please fill out this form to indicate your interest. A member of the volunteer and internship team will then contact you with further information.
If you have any questions, please contact volunteer@agami.org.
Please read on for further information about our internship and volunteering opportunities.
Become a Volunteer
Volunteers are the backbone of Agami’s daily operations. These are but some of the tasks taken on by our volunteers: delivering supplies or teaching classes in schools, monitoring project impacts, writing about Agami’s operations and impact, and assisting our fundraising efforts. Every day, our volunteers help to address the challenges faced in Agami’s ambitious mission.
A volunteer has a ongoing, long-term role in Agami’s operations. Volunteers will work with Agami members to define the scope and time commitment that best suits all parties. A contribution of any size goes a long way towards helping students in Bangladesh achieve better outcomes.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please fill out this form to indicate your interest.
Join our Internship Program
Agami’s interns channel their passion for enacting change in education outcomes through the opportunity internships provide to work directly with children and in schools. Many positions involve working with students, teachers, and Agami members to meet pre-determined goals.
Some of the tasks previous interns have taken on are visiting schools across the country, monitoring project impact, providing mentoring and tutoring support, conducting computer classes and developing teaching aids to improve Science education.
Since the start of the program in 2009, Agami has welcomed interns from a number of schools and universities from USA and Bangladesh. These include:
Harker School, San Jose, California
Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, California
Oakland Technical High School, Oakland, California
Leland High School, San Jose, California
Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
IBA, University of Dhaka
North South University, Dhaka
BRAC University, Dhaka
IER, University of Dhaka
East West University, Dhaka
Daffodil International University, Dhaka
IUBAT, Dhaka
If you are interested in becoming an intern, please fill out this form to indicate your interest.
Become a Member
Become a voting member of Agami. Change the future.
Donate
Send Your Donation checks directly to Agami
Agami Incorporated
PO Box 3178
Fremont, CA 94539
USA
Pay through PayPal
ALOK School
239/8, West Agargaon, Dhaka-1207
Alok Shikhalay school has come a long way with the help of Agami.
The targeted students are from the adjacent areas of West Agargaon. Majority students are underprivileged. They reside in the nearby slum area. Their socio-economic condition of the families are extremely poor. Parents of the students are day laborer, rickshaw puller etc. Woman work as domestic help in middle class households. More than 80% of the students are Muslim. The other 20% of the students are from other religions like Hinduism and Buddhism.
Agami Contact:
Rasheda Nasreen--rashedanasreen@gmail.com
Mizanur Rahman--mizan.alok@gmail.com
Student body:
Boys : 197 Girls : 262
Teachers:.
Morning section : 5 teachers
Evening section: 6 teachers.
After school program: 6 teachers
Qualifications of teachers:
6 teachers have a masters degree
8 teachers are studying honors (bachelors)
2 teachers have a HSC certificate
1 teacher passed the VIII grade
Results:
Before Agami:
Before Alok’s involvement with Agami, they were unable to take large number of students. They were unable to provide some basic needs of their students like give them tiffin, uniform. They could not provide a building, desks, chairs and other essential for their students Alok was unable to employ quality teachers.
Once Agami was involved, Alok moved to a brick and mortar building, After providing students with the their basic educational needs, Alok was able to supplement their academics with the Life is Fun program (a science program) Khan academy program and was able to take the students to many field trips.
The most important impact Agami has helped established for Alok is to establish a post graduation program. Alok is able to support students after they graduate from the 5th grade. They help the students get admission to local high schools and tutor the students to be able to be able to reach benchmark standards in science, math and English.
Funding:
Agami approved $7,500 for the fiscal year 2018 with the following funding breakdown:
Students’ snacks
Students’ uniform
Excursion
Success Stories:
Suman Ahmed (Ex Alok student working on his BBA)
I am doing my Bachelors in Business Administration. I am in my first year and trying to get used to the fact that I now study in a university.
I grew up in Sherpur, far away from Dhaka. We are a family of 5. My sister is in 4th grade and and my brother in 9th grade. They study in a government school in Sherpur. My father is a farmer there, where he tends to his land. My mother is very loving and she takes care of the family at home. I moved to Dhaka city to study when I was in my 9th grade and stay with my grandparents. They are old, but they were willing to help me to continue my studies. My result was good in SSC and HSC and I secured GPA 4.5 in my last exam.
I used to study in a different school when I moved to Dhaka, but there the tuition fee was high, so I moved to Alok school. Since Alok School was free it was a great choice for me. But once I moved to Alok School, I started loving it much more. I used to get Tiffin, books and was able to do many different activities other than just studies, which my previous school did not have. My favorite subject in school was Math, but I used wait eagerly for the many fun classes in Science and Music. I remember fondly of our many study tours at museums and our early cultural program for which we used to practice a lot. It was fun doing stuff with my friends and the teachers,
I love to play. My favorite sport is Cricket and Soccer. But nowadays, I dont have much time to play. Now, after my class at the university, I provide some private tuition to earn some cash as I need to support my studies and my family. It's a long day, but I am happy as I can help my family.
After my studies are completed in Business, I want to be a banker. I also want to be connected to Alok, and I will try my best to help them going forward as they have helped me.
Sanjida Sheikh
Class 5, Alok Shishu Shikhaloy
I come from a village in Chandpur. One year, there was severe shortage of work and food in our village and my father decided to come to Dhaka city searching for a job. He was not able to find any other work other than being a day laborer, as he does not have any skill. He also does not know how to read or write. It was not enough to support our family with his earning alone, so my Mother also started working. She now works as a cleaner in the local hospital.
I always wanted to study, but given our situation, it was not possible for me to think about education. Luckily we were staying in the area that is served by Alok School. I started coming to this school when I was in Kindergarten. Now I am in class 5 in the same school. I feel like the school and my friends and teacher are my family. Both my parents spent long time outside of home as both of them are working. I spent most of my time here in school, even after my classes are done, as I have no other safe place to go.
My brother is studying in a local college and he comes to Alok school to get help with his studies after his classes are done. He also studied in the same school what he was my age. Maybe because of this, or maybe because my results are very good, all my teachers love me very much. So when I am at school I don't feel like I am away from family.
I like to study but I like the drawing class and the music class even more. But the best time I have in school when we get to use laptop or tablet to do Math classes using Khan Academy.
When I grow up, I want to join the police force. I like to think that I can punish all the bad people around me so that my family, friends and country can live in peace.
Kakoli Akter Lima
First Year, Diploma Engineering
Dhaka Mohila Polytechnic Institute
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon,Dhaka-1208
I studied in Alok School till 5th Grade. Then when I had to leave Alok school for 6th grade, Alok came forward with stipend for me to continue my studies. They also help me with their “Night School Program” and every day I come back to get help with my homework and other preparation work. I am now studying Diploma Engineering.
My village home is in Gopalganj. We did not have anything left after the last flood, so my father moved our family to Dhaka. He was not in full health to take a job as a day labor. So he took some load and opened a small tea shop. But then he became very ill and my mother started running the shop. So now I have to help on all household work to prepare food, take care of my small brothers and father. I have to also help them with their homework, but they do not listen to me all the time.
I like to sew in my free time. I picked up this hobby at school as they teach us a few trades. I have learned many things from the teachers and other well wishers who come and take classes. They gave me my love for education and showed my how I can help my family in the long term by not giving up on school. When I finish my Diploma Engineering course and start my job and get a paycheck, that would be the happiest day of my life.
It starts with a dream….
Alok students fulfilling a dream.
Pearabagh School
Pearabagh is in a densely populated slum area in Dhaka city. It has a total population of over 15,000, it has a population growth of about 3.5% annually. Most of the people are rickshaw pullers, fruit and veg sellers, day laborers, an/or garments workers by profession. The socio-economic condition of the targeted slum area is below poverty level. The daily average income is below $4.
Pearabagh school has come a long way with the help of Agami. Since 2001, Pearabagh has been established to help disadvantaged students from lower socioeconomic areas. The school has been flourishing under the care of the dedicated administration. The school has also extended its support to its current students to further their education in the secondary level.
Agami Contact:
Shibnath Sarker(AEF) Chief Executive
Programme for Sustainable Development
017-11-642-622
Student body:
217 students (Boy-86, Girl-131) have been enrolled in PSD-Pearabag school and studying from Pre-primary to Grade 5.
Number of teachers: 7 teachers including 2 TFB Fellows (Male-2, Female-5)
Results:
Perabagh’s academic progress speaks for itself. More than 95% of the students got promoted to the next level of classes. In 2017, a total of 30 students took the PEC exam. All the examinees passed successfully with flying colors. Six of the students got GPA-5 (A+), the highest grade possible while the rest of the students got an ‘A’ grade (GPA-4.00)
As Agami came into the picture the overall scenario has improved in terms of academic result, quality of education and classroom performance.
Before Agami:
Agami has been supporting Pearabagh school since 2005. Before Agami’s support, PSD-Pearabag was suffering because it could not support the expenses needed to run a school. The school was not able to retain its teachers because of its financial incapability. The dropout rate was close to 90% because of all the hardships the school faced. Agami came into the picture and helped bring the dropout rate to less than 10%. Only 6 students dropped out because they migrated out to their village as the parents could not afford to living cost in Dhaka.
Funding:
Agami has approved an amount of $8,000 for the fiscal year 2018 paying for:
Teachers’ salary
Students’ snacks
School house rent
Stationery
Exam cost
Dreams do come true…
Pearabagh’s students achieving to their highest potential.
