Meider Jonno Asha means ‘Hope for Girls’

We are a small charity working in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, amongst the poorest people of the slums and busties, bringing hope into desperate lives.

Asha began by providing basic literacy training to street girls, offering them a first step on the ladder of self-respect and hope. Over the years more than 300 illiterate teenagers have received basic education that they would otherwise have been denied.

Many of these girls have now gone on to receive work-training and experience in one of our Next Steps Asha training centres. Here they learn practical skills and produce a variety of craft goods and hand-embroidered fashion accessories.

We are completely dependent on the kind donations of our supporters and funds raised through the sale of Next Steps Asha products. All the money we receive goes towards the cost of maintaining the education centres, paying wages to girls and staff and to the provision of medical help and support in cases of need.