Manush Manusher Jonno Foundation
WHO WE ARE
oUR STORY
Moshood Boksh Nazmul was inspired to set up MMJ Foundation after a trip to Bangladesh in 2014.
During the trip, he was approached by an elderly grandmother who sought his help in finding an institution that would take care of her 30 year old disabled grandson, Ismail Miah, after she passed away. She was his only guardian, and was worried about how he would survive in the world without her.
Unfortunately, Moshood was unable to find one. Determined to help in some way, he decided to use his filmmaking skills to create a short documentary highlighting Ismail’s struggles in order to raise funds for him. By doing this, Moshood saw first-hand just how difficult Ismail’s life was. Ismail could not take care of himself, move or even afford treatment for illnesses.
The response to the documentary was overwhelming. It encouraged people to donate enough to transform his life. This whole experience made Moshood realise that there were millions of people in Bangladesh facing similar hardships. He felt compelled to help others like Ismail, and thus decided to set up the charity to provide life-long support for as many vulnerable people with disabilities as he can. The name itself ‘Manush Manusher Jonno’ translates to ‘Humans for Humanity’ in Bengali.
oUR work in Bangladesh
MMJ Foundation is based in Moulvibazaar, Bangladesh. We predominantly cater to the needs of people with disabilities and their families who live in absolute poverty. But what sets us apart from other charities is that we aim to provide life-long support to our service users.
With the donations we have received from all over the world, we have been able to transform the lives of 20 people and their families so far. We provide a wide range of services for them from supporting their living costs and covering their medical expenses to building homes for them and enrolling them into schools and madrasas. You can find out more about the people we support here.
Over the last three years, we have expanded our services. We have been providing families living in poverty with Ramadan food packages to help them get through the month. And during a devastating flood in Moulvibazaar in 2018 which destroyed thousands of homes, we were able to provide emergency relief packages to over 1000 families.
Other work
We provide relief during emergencies and natural disasters both in Bangladesh and the UK.
As the charity grows, we wish to offer services to other vulnerable groups in Bangladesh. In the UK, we will look to offer support to vulnerable groups as well as promote fitness in the community.