What we do

Project Bangladesh, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was the brainchild of 16 Bangladeshi-American physicians looking for a way to give back to their home country and relieve their compatriots’ suffering.

For most of the 159 million people living in Bangladesh, a southeast Asian nation the size of Iowa, health care is a luxury. Although infant mortality is declining and life expectancy is increasing, over 85% of the population lives on $2 a day or less, according to the World Bank. In addition, a dearth of qualified health workers and a cash-strapped government mean the current health system is overburdened. Thus non-profit and non-governmental organizations such as Project Bangladesh play a vital role in providing health services around the country.

Since the organization’s inception in 1989, the volunteers of Project Bangladesh have aimed to:

- Alleviate suffering caused by disease and malnutrition.
- Reduce the health burden in Bangladesh, one of the most densely-populated countries in the world.
- Encourage medical and non-medical professionals to selfless service for Bangladeshis.
- Train Bangladeshi doctors and medical students with new medical technologies and procedures.

Project Bangladesh supports two main programs: Shushasthya, a primary health care center on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital, and a yearly mission trip by volunteers to perform free surgeries around the country. Both enterprises focus on helping the indigent, especially women and children.

The organization completed its sixth surgical mission to Bangladesh in March 2009. An 11-member volunteer team consisting of a general surgeon, an OB/GYN surgeon, an anestheseologist, a sterilization technician, surgical technicians and nurses performed 115 surgeries over two weeks. The medical professionals also trained Bangladeshi doctors, nurses and students in surgical and instrument sterilization techniques.

Interested in joining a mission trip? Want to donate supplies or money to Project Bangladesh? Have a general comment? Write to us at info@projectbangladeshonline.org. We’d love to hear from you.