Last week, Anne Main MP joined St Albans resident Mike Sherriff, Chairman of Friends of Street Children Bangladesh, to visit the LEEDO Peace Home for rescued street children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Mrs Main met some of the children from the Peace Home who came to Parliament in May to play cricket against MPs. The children were in the UK to take part in the Street Child Cricket World Cup.
LEEDO was established by social and human rights activists and educators endeavouring to care for and improve the life chances of children forced to live on the streets in Bangladesh.
Anne’s visit was part of a parliamentary delegation, together with representatives from the Conservative Friends of Bangladesh (CFoB) and the Conservative Friends of International Development (CFID). Three members of the CFoB delegation were St Albans residents; Rafat Khan, Jom Jom Rashid and Alaur Rahman.
The LEEDO Peace Home has full facilities where parentless and destitute street children can begin to lead more normal lives. It is the first permanent home specifically built for street kids and there is no discrimination between boys and girls, able or disabled. LEEDO has provided a home to over 2,000 children in the last 4 years.
During her visit, Anne met with some of the children LEEDO has supported and spent the afternoon painting a classroom and learning about the various activities LEEDO provides for the children housed there. The delegation also donated cricket equipment and stationery for the children during the visit.
Following the visit, Mrs Main said:
“It was uplifting to see first-hand the vital work LEEDO is doing to help some of the most defenceless children in Bangladesh. LEEDO provides these children with a lifeline so that they can get on in life and receive the education they need to study and work. It was particularly special to be invited by a constituent, Mike Sherriff, to this project.
“Some of the children have had truly harrowing experiences and have ended up at the Peace Home after finding themselves in dire circumstances, whether that be as a consequence of sexual or physical violence, forced-labour, disability or family break down.
“I would like to encourage St Albans constituents, who are always supportive of charitable projects in their own community, to visit LEEDO’s website to find out about the wonderful work they are doing and give anything they can to enable this organisation to continue helping the most vulnerable.”
