About Bhola Garden (the home and school)
"Bhola Garden is situated on a main road a mile from the town of Bhola in the north of the island.
It comprises of three buildings in a compound - two original classroom buildings, the new children's accommodation building completed in 2009 plus two shacks providing temporary workshop and staff accommodation which we plan to replace with a permanent building in 2010-11. Currently there is accommodation for 30 children and another 20 attend on a daily basis. The buildings and compound wall were in very poor condition when acquired but a substantial programme of external and internal renovation funded by Bhola’s Children was completed in 2007. [see Future Plans]
The school facilities include a workshop, a sewing room and a vegetable garden. These are used for teaching the children skills they can use to make a living outside the home. The recent purchases of a minibus and a rowing boat have expanded the activities which can be organised.
Ali has an arrangement with a surgeon at the Hospital in Dhaka, who is expert at operations on clefts. As and when the surgeon can fit them into his schedule children are taken over on the ferryboat with their parents for their operations.