As part of the public awareness campaign on Covid-19, BritBanglaCovid has hosted a public meeting on 23 Aug 2020. The subject matter: Health & Social Care Crisis. Members of the panels were medical professionals, researchers and social care workers and carers. The purpose of the meeting was to share ideas from professionals, members of the public in ways to minimise deaths and to prevent spread of the virus in the Bangladeshi community in Britain today. Guest speakers: Farhana Rahman (GP) Julie Begum ( Adult Care Researcher and Social Care Workers) Shebul Khan (Carer and Disability Rights Campaigner) Shah Alam (Mental Health Researcher). The event was hosted by the founder of BritBanglaCovid - Ripon Ray

Due to the severity of Covid-19 amongst Bangladeshi communities in Britain, BritBanglaCovid has organised Health & Social Care Crisis Public Meeting on 23 August 2020 at 3pm.  You can hear from doctors,  care worker, carer and domestic violence sufferer and many more! Have your say on the subject matter in order for our government, councils and community activists to take action.  If you want to take part in the event, you must register on EventBrite and have your say. This is urgent! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/health-social-care-crisis-for-britbangla-tickets-115043678740

BRITISH BANGLADESHIS ARE TWICE LIKELY TO DIE FROM COVID THAN THE WHITE POPULATION.  WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

As a boy Mahbub ULLAH felt the spirit of change for Bengalis from the Pakistani Army.  When he came to the UK he was attacked racially.  His mother died of Covid-19.  Currently he is shielding.  EARLY LIFE Mahbub   was born in Bogra, one of the districts in Bangladesh. His father’s engineering job, brought him to Dhaka, the capital city. He was brought up with five brothers and four sisters. He was part of a typical middle class Bengali family at the time. Thebvalue of education was central to this household.  He emphasises that: ‘some might have two degrees, some might have three degrees, some might have four degrees.   Once you have finished education, you then think about earnings. Not before.’ FREEDOM FOR BENGALIS Mahbub was 7 years old when he was exposed the reality of the liberation movement for Bangladesh in 1971. He has seen people being shot dead and stabbed in front of him. He personally ran away from the Pakistani Army when they came to his...

R ubina Begum was a young bride who did not know the reality of life. The only thing she understood at the time was to maintain her home. Once her husband rejected her, she had to pick herself up, build her life and gain confidence as a NHS worker.  EARLY LIFE Rubina was born and brought up in Islington, London. She was married at the age of 19 and brought up with six siblings.    She grew up with the idea that she was to have a husband and live with her in-laws.   'I was not able to study. It was one of my dreams to be a   nurse. I was doing well at my education. It would have to come to an end and   sacrifice my ambition in order to become a wife and daughter-in-law.’ Before she was married her mother was terminally ill.     She had to give up her relationship with her only love. ‘It was like a Romeo & Juliet situation - a bit of Bollywood,' she said.  When Rubina introduced him to her mother, she felt that he seemed like a nice bo...

Rujina Begum is a nurse at North Middlesex Hospital, London. She cared for the first Covid positive baby in Britain. Here is her story on  Brit-Bangla COVID. RUJINA ’S EARLY LIFE: Rujina lives with her husband and 15 year old son in a housing association accommodation in Tower Hamlets. Rujina is 40 years old. She describes her background as being very traditional. When she was growing up in the borough, she mostly spoke Bengali/Sylhetti at home. She went to Mulberry Girls School where she spoke English with her friends and class mates. She says: ‘My parents never really encouraged me to study and get a career. They weren't really clued up with all these things. I drifted throughout my teenage years. It was only when I had my son, who was born premature and he was in the Neo-Natal Unit, that I first realised that something existed where pre-mature babies were born and looked after... This is something I didn't mind doing.’ After giving birth, she was a full time mother and house...

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis,  I wanted to find out how Bangladeshis in Britain have been coping with the lockdown. Although it's necessary for everyone to comply with self-isolation and remain two meters distance from others in public, many Bangladeshis are also worried about  their family members I'm such a troubling time. I am worried about my father who has been in hospital several times this year. His health problems are linked with breathing. He is in his early 80s. Just like my siblings and cousins, a number of Bangladeshis work as frontline key workers such as nurses,  care workers, social workers and other public sector workers; many of these individuals have put their lives at risk by working in dangerous and unprotected conditions. Current government statistics show that a high proportion of ethnic minority British citizens, such as Bangladeshis, compared to their white colleagues, are more likely to be vulnerable to catching the virus a...