The school of hope in Gabtoli bus terminal

At 2:oopm everyday, hundreds of people – bus helpers, beggars, children without homes – congregate outside Saba Fast Food and Hotel in the capital's Gabtoli.

They sit a few feet apart from each other and pass along steaming plates of rice, pulse and vegetables. It's like a game of pillow-passing, except there's no music and once everyone has a plate the game ends.

This way, the people gathered are served two meals a day, an initiative undertaken by Jatir Janak Bangabandhu Oshohai Chhinnomul School, a school adjacent to Gabtoli Bus Terminal.

The school catered to the educational needs of homeless children, but now it offers hope to a lot more people.

Habibur Rahman, a day labourer, had come to Dhaka in search of a better life. The pandemic had hit him hard and Habibur soon found himself sleeping on the roads.

Then, he got mugged and lost everything he had. After not having eaten anything in two days and just when he had lost all hope, someone told him about the place where food was being given for free.

It was as if an angel had descended to save him from the most desperate of times and Habibur began his journey to Gabtoli Bus Terminal.

That is where he found the school and in turn the last vestige of hope.

Two daily meals of rice, pulse and vegetables - a modest but welcome sustenance was provided to him. A small helping hand, which would go a long way for Habibur in these desperate and trying times.

Habibur hasn't been the only one to benefit from this noble initiative. The feeding programme, started by the school's committee, has been serving two meals to over 200 people every day since the pandemic broke out in March last year.

Aminul Islam, chief advisor of the school's managing committee, said, "We started the initiative in March 2020 when Covid-19 first surfaced."

The meals are cooked in the house of Mohammad Ibrahim, owner of Saba Fast Food and Hotel, in front of which the meals are served, and also the secretary of the school.

A worker for Rozina transport Aminul Islam has been with the school since its inception in 2016.

Initially, the committee comprised of five people, but the number has grown to 21.

Aminul told TBS that at the start, the school children were given three meals a day, apart from being given school lessons.

The school's pupils mostly work at bus terminals or made a living on the roads.

Before Covid-19, 40 to 50 children used to study in the school regularly.

They were taught next to the terminal from 9am till 11pm.

After the outbreak of Covid-19, these children scattered to different places. Many could not come to the school.

Against this backdrop, the school committee started a free food distribution program from March 26, 2020.

Aminul Islam said, vegetables, pulses and rice are fed at noon and the night time meal is egg kichuri.

The endeavour was first undertaken to feed the economically-disadvantaged students of the school, many of whom are hopeless. Soon, it grew in size and began benefitting many others.

"When the wheels of the buses stopped spinning, my income stopped as well. Nowadays, I sleep on the bus and eat here twice a day," Md Saiful, a bus helper, said.

But food isn't the only thing being served here; the meals come with a portion of hope.

Mohammad Noyon, another bus helper, was seen standing on the sidelines, without partaking in the meals. Asked why he wasn't eating, Noyon opened up. "I am not here to eat. I want some money. If I sit here and if someone takes a video of me, my parents back in my village may see it. They will be very hurt seeing my circumstances."

Noyon, instead, approached the organisers for some cash, and this boon  was also granted. 

Today, the initiative has grown owing to a sizable donation by Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association General Secretary Abu Raihan.

Abu Raihan could not be reached for comments, but his intervention has come at a time when many have forgotten what a pandemic and a lockdown may mean for others.

Some of the recipients mentioned that when the virus broke out last year, general people would come out of their homes and distribute food. This doesn't happen anymore and with government support either limited or information on it less readily available. Community initiatives like this one are the few strands of hope for many in need.

Mohammad Al-Amin Howlader, head teacher of the school, said, "We are maintaining social distance during distribution of food. People are made to sit apart from each other and then plates of food are given to them," he said.

He also called upon the well-off of the society to come forward with donations. "Right now, we feed two meals a day, but if we get more funding then we can add chicken and fish to the meals," he said.