Khan’s abiding friendship with Bangladesh
RUNA Khan is the founder of Friendship, an organisation aimed at providing the poor with quality health, education and other services in her home country of Bangladesh.
Her work is rooted in the development sector, resulting in an organisation which approaches development innovatively for the most climate-vulnerable and remote population.
She has spearheaded the building of a successful healthcare system for the hard to reach and most disaster-prone communities, comprised of hospital ships and mobile landbased operations, training of community medics at field level, and using them as microsocial entrepreneurs servicing their own communities.
Her work to preserve the rich boat-building tradition of Bengal has been particularly commended both nationally and internationally.
Khan told POST: “We have developed a model for poor, remote communities whom the government is not able to help.
“Bangladesh is a poor country and the government just does not have enough money to provide for everyone. So we fill that gap.
“We help 20 000 people a month with land and ship hospitals, satellite hospitals and mobile clinics.”
Asked why she decided to help, she said “I am from Bangladesh. I am French Bangladesh and I see the poverty for myself. It’s unacceptable to me that these people live in the same country as I do. It’s an injustice and I am angry about it. So I do whatever I can.”
Friendship is able to bring in more than 120 doctors from Europe and the US, as well as local doctors to provide firstrate, free treatment.
“In the space of one year, we went from a rate of 15 inoculations in children to 94.8%,” she said, “so we can actually see the impact we have had.
“What we do is create a three-tier health model in terms of service, delivery and quality.
“But we work with the government and get them on board, so that we start it for them, and give them a five-year plan that they can eventually take over. We don’t do anything long term that government cannot do.”
Khan, who used to be an author of children’s books, said it was her divorce from her husband that spurred her into action. “I was already doing whatever I could before that, but after we separated, I felt this tremendous urge to do something. Success is having 1 800 people working with me who believe in what I do. Success is seeing the change happening.”
Asked if she would consider an African branch, she said, “Africa belongs to Africa. I’d be happy if my work is used to help in developing models that could address the needs you have here, but it should be by people who love Africa the way I love Bangladesh.”