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Najma Begum's pandemic: stuck in Dubai, long Covid and loss of close relations

This is the final story of the pandemic by BritBanglaCovid. This time Najma Begum shared her experience of being stuck in Dubai, United Emirate, during the pandemic. She stayed in Dubai for nearly five months whilst being away from her family, yet felt guilty about being in the sun. Since the pandemic, she has been suffering from long covid. When the pain is extreme she takes medication to cope. Ethnic minority communities in Britain had seen more deaths than our white counterparts due to Covid. Najma also heard about her close relations passed away.

British Bangladeshi women: past, present and Covid - a public meeting (Recorded)

It was such a joy to hear from a diverse range of women's experience of British Bangladeshi origin as part of the International Women's History Month in Britain. Ripon Ray, founder of BritBanglaCovid would especially like to thank her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara for stewarding the public meeting in such a delicate manner as Julie Begum, Jusna Begum, Ummul Chowdhury, Rukeya Miah, Rezna Khatun, Hasina Momtaz and Meghna Uddin and Tanzila Zaman shared their sensitive life experiences to the wider communities in Britain and beyond. It was no doubt a privilege and an honour to have listened to such experiences as BritBanglaCovid comes to the end of its campaign against Covid-19 in order to support the Bangladeshi community in Britain from the pandemic. I hope British Bangladeshi women feel proud of what they have achieved so far in Britain in order for the future generation of Bangladeshi women to gain confidence recognising the solidarity in their struggles.

During pandemic mother spreads message of hope & paradise after life through jewellery design in memory of dead son

In memory of her dead son, Hasina Momtaz  spreads the message of  hope and paradise  after life through jewellery design to connect with Muslim community during pandemic. Early life in London Hasina came to the UK in the mid 1970s. She settled in Croydon, south London, from Bangladesh. She could not speak a word of English and was being bullied at school. ‘I remember nobody wanted to be my friend and the teacher assigned somebody to be my friend to look after me and make sure I was okay.’ Although she made south London her home, there was something unsettling for Hasina as a teenanger. ‘So   from the age of that 16, 17, I almost felt like I was on borrowed time because the school that I was at there were three or four Bangladeshi girls who all got taken out of school at the age of 16 and ...actually shipped back home… and married off there against their will.’ She confessed that she also felt the pressure from her father to get married. ‘I was determined that at least I was going to go

Future of Covid from the perspective of Bangladeshi and other minority communities - 9th January 2022 at 3pm (Zoom Public Meeting)

BritBanglaCovid has organised its first online Zoom meeting since discovery of a new variant of Covid, Omicron.    Please register on EventBrite: here However, regardless of a number of challenges due to beyond the control of minority communities:   ‘'Bangladeshi group was the only ethnic group...the highest vaccine uptake at 91.7%.'’ This is according to the British government's Covid Disparities Report published on 3 December 2021. We have leaders from health, local and central governments, academic and grassroots members to encourage vaccination and to encourage positive discussion. SPEAKERS : Prof Patrick Vernon OBE - Health Campaigner Rokhsana Fiaz OBE - Mayor of Newham Rachel Blake - Deputy Mayor of Tower Hamlet Cabinet Member of Adult Health & Well-being. Chris Tang - Linguistic Education- Kings College London Shirina Ali - Community Advocacy Manager at Limehouse Project. Abdi Hassan - Founder of Cafe Afrik CIC We know there is vaccine hesitation in our commu

Get a booster jab to protect yourself and others from Omicron in Britain

We need to protect our community against a new wave. We've come a long way in Britain regardless of what mainstream media say about us Bangladeshis in Britain! Many of us live in overcrowded housing conditions  just like many Pakistanis.  We also work in public facing jobs just like many Afro- Caribbean communities.  Regardless of our challenges, according to the government's  Covid Disparities Report 2021 published on 3 December 2021: 'Bangladeshi group was the only ethnic group...the highest vaccine uptake at 91.7%.' We must not forget how far we, as a community, have come. We just need to push a bit more to protect ourselves from Omicron by getting a booster. -------------

Observer of the fall of British colonial rule in India raises funds to save lives in Britain during pandemic

Dabirul Islam Choudhury OBE was born in 1920 during period of British imperial rule in India. He is now 101 year old. He observed the collapse of the empire and saw the emergence of a new nation for Bengalis in front of his eyes. Whilst Bangladesh was forming in 1971, he remembers the loss of lives of so many Bangladeshis. The global pandemic brought back memories of the lives lost. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2020 he fundraised over £500,000 to save lives of British citizens. He donated the funds to help protect the NHS. He was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for his campaign work.

CEO of Bangla Housing reflects on early life & Covid-19 misinformation

CEO of Bangla Housing  reflects on his struggle in Britain, career in community development and Covid campaign to challenge Covid misinformation. EARLY LIFE Bashir Uddin was born in Bangladesh. He came to the United Kingdom in 1966 as an 11 year old boy.  He observed, at the time, he was one of few young boys from Bangladesh among young adults.  He stated that:  ‘And they are keen to work in the factories, as labourers and, and people started to bring their sons and nephews to the country… People didn't bring their families because they didn't think the point of bringing the family… you have to look after them, you have to have feed them’ Those who came from Bangladesh were economically beneficial to the family who they have left behind.  These men would   work for six months, a year or a couple of years, and then go back to Bangladesh and stay there for another six months, and then come back to the UK. This would be their routine pattern. He stated that:  ‘I don't think, a

Burial funds manager need funds for Muslims in Britain for dignified burial

In times of the pandemic raising funds for burial is essential to help minority Muslim communities. Just we have seen the numbers of deaths of Bangladeshis in Britain had risen, so was the demand to raise funds for burial for those who passed away. For those who are less fortunate such as households in   low income and with no recourse to public funds, they rely on donations from organisations that Yousuf Khan works for. Yousuf works as a funeral funds manager at 13 Rivers Trust, a charity that helps fund Muslim burial.    Covid has made raising funds for Muslim Bangladeshi  communities crucial because if you have no savings, it's impossible to pay for burial costs.  ‘So since last April, till now, we carried out around 125 burials for region... Most of them  don't have a family, or they have partial family relatives or it would be with two young children,  wife  and the husband passed away. So the wife is not earning, they don't have money to bury. So this is why Muslim bu

Brick Lane chef reveals fragility of Indian restaurant trade during lockdown and beyond

A chef from the East End fears for the future of the predominantly Bengali run 'Indian curry' trade. Covid-19 just made things worse for the industry.  A chef from the East End of London fears for the future of predominantly Bangladeshi run 'Indian curry'. Covid-19 just made things worse for the industry.  Atikur Rahman is a chef in Graam Bangla restaurant, Brick Lane. He reveals to BritBanglaCovid some of the challenges the curry sector is facing. The pandemic has just made things worse. 'Covid is killing us' he states. Tourists are not visiting Brick Lane and mostly Bengali owned restaurants are feeling the stress of lockdown and it's financial cost. He emphasises that there is also a confusion with the Indian variant of Covid-19 with Bangladeshi owned restaurants because these restaurants are 'Indian restaurants'. Younger Bangladeshi generations are also not interested in working hard to keep the sector moving forward due to late nights a