[Update: 16 November 2025]: K's situation has become more urgent, and his house is now uninhabitable. The housing structure itself now has to be propped up by two planks, and could easily collapse in the next storm. He and his family have had to seek out alternative sleeping arrangements, his siblings going to a neighbor's house for the night, while his wife, children and himself make a longer trek to his in-laws' house. This apart from creating tensions from inconveniencing his in-laws and neighbors, is also dangerous, particularly for his teenage sisters, who have to walk in a low-visibility, rural setting at night and in the early mornings between their and their neighbors' house. Rebuilding his house is a pressing need in this time, and the majority of contributions will go to this in addition to supporting his families nutrition, health, and education needs.

Hi! My name is Subadevan (Suba for short) and I am helping my friend K (initial of first name for privacy) who has fallen on extremely hard times back in his hometown in Bangladesh, threatening his family's immediate and long-term survival.

I am a PhD candidate in sociology at Brown University and met K when doing my dissertation research in Singapore between 2023 and 2024. K was an injured migrant worker who I met while volunteering at a Migrant Rights NGO. K and I became friends after several months of getting to know each other on a daily basis. K and I would often set up the equipment for the NGO's evening activities, stay back to put things away after these activities, and have dinner together after.

Unfortunately, a few months after we had met and become steady friends, K had to return back home to Bangladesh while awaiting the outcome of his work injury compensation assessment for injuries to his back and jaw sustained during work. While being back in Bangladesh allows him to be with his family, it does not allow him to support his seven-member family. This includes himself, his wife, his three year-old son, and his three-month old daughter, as well as three teenage siblings, a 17-year old brother, and two sisters aged 14 and 12) who he has supported as guardian following his mother's passing 8 years ago.

If things were not already hard enough, K has experienced tremendous hardship since having had to return to Bangladesh while awaiting the outcome of his work injury compensation assessment. The money he got was modest, and only enough to pay for his family's food, medical, and education needs for several months. He could not have anticipated however, his 14-year old sister getting dangerous oral cysts requiring urgent surgery and regular follow-up checkups in the capital Dhaka until the doctors are confident that the surgery and follow-up treatments have worked. K has to bring his sister for regular check-ups in the capital Dhaka, some two hours distance away from his home district of Faridpur, which lacks the medical facilities needed for such complex surgeries and treatments. His infant daughter also came into his life during this period, resulting in more medical costs owing to postnatal followups for his wife and infant daughter.

To add insult to injury, Bangladesh's infamous cyclones have not spared his house. The pictures you see below is that of his house, no longer inhabitable. The housing structure is damaged to such an extent that patchwork repairs are not an option. Instead, K has to rebuild the house, already sorely needed for years. You can see a video capturing the full extent of the damage to his house at this Link

All of this has culminated in a situation where K needs urgent help, for his family's survival is on the line. This is a bitter pill to swallow for K, who has always sought to work hard and prided himself on having to be able to support his family for the last 16 years, having left Bangladesh to work in Singapore when he was barely 18.

K is one of the most trustworthy people I know and I regularly consulted him when doing my research when I needed to ascertain whether someone I was interacting with might have concealed intentions. From a research subject, he has become a trusted friend. K hopes to be back in Singapore at the earliest opportunity so that he can earn the money needed to support his young family, something he cannot do due to the low wages and stagnant economy in Bangladesh. Having to ask for money pains him deeply, but it is unfortunately necessary.

You can help him by donating what you can so he can sustain his family while he gets back on his feet. Should all go to plan, K hopes to be able to get back to working in Singapore in a year. While receipts in rural Bangladesh are not ubiquitous, K has been fastidious in providing all available receipts he is able to gather. All available receipts are available to view at this Link.

Those who are in the USA can contribute via this GoFundMe page. I will then transfer these funds to my Singapore bank account before sending these onward to K's Bangladeshi bank account using the zero-fee same working-day fund remittance services available through DBS bank. Those in Singapore or elsewhere where GoFundMe is not supported, you can transfer funds directly to my Singapore bank account via Paynow (+65 9007 9610). Please send me a Whatsapp text at the same number if you prefer to use bank transfer to send your donations instead.

All contributions and fund-transfer updates will be posted at this Link You can help make this tracking easier by putting 'For K' in the description of your transfer. Thank you for taking the time to consider helping K and his family get back on their feet. While their faces are not visible in the uploaded photo to protect his family's privacy, I promise you that you will help put some long-awaited and much-needed smiles back on their face.