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Documentary shows hope for millions

Imagine you're a young woman in one the biggest, poorest and most dangerous slums in the world, you were married just after you turned 11, you have never been to school, and now you are a mother whose children face the same grim future.

Imagine you're a young woman in one the biggest, poorest and most dangerous slums in the world, you were married just after you turned 11, you have never been to school, and now you are a mother whose children face the same grim future.

For millions of children in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that's a reality that one Canadian family has worked for eight years to overcome.

Dr. Tanyss Munro was hired by a European NGO to improve the school system in Bangladesh. She, along with her husband Gem, quickly discovered that the school system was appalling. But even worse was the realization that there would never be sufficient resources to build enough schools to reach the children of the slums.

"My parents' background is in Aboriginal education, and their success in that area came through their method of seeing what potential was going unused in the communities - in the slums of Dhaka, the unused potential was the mothers," their son Gabriel relayed in an email interview.

Soon the Munros decided to go into the slums and teach the mothers to become teachers in their own neighbourhoods. Each mother, in return for her own learning, had to promise to teach another five people.

Immediately the program met with resistance from the Western world, where all the learned folks said it couldn't be done, from the women's families, particularly their Muslim husbands, and from the slum community.

"The slum lords began evicting the women who attended [the school], but more problematic still were the infuriated husbands of the women. It became evident to us that many of the mothers were being beaten daily by their husbands and threatened by the neighbouring men -but they still attended anyway, for the sake of their children. For me, that was one of the clearest demonstrations of those women's heroism," Gabriel said.

The younger Munro went to Dhaka when he was 16; at 17 he was walking through "the labyrinth of its worst slums every day". However, he said, the project gave him hope.

"Nobody living in Dhaka is oblivious to its suffering and poverty - those things are ubiquitous -but I was one of the few people in a city of over 15-million people to be witnessing a really positive change in the slums. The mothers and children with whom I quickly became friends could see that a better life was within reach. I consider myself lucky to have been part of that transformation," Gabriel said.

About three years ago, the Munros connected with the Rotary Club in Belleville, Ontario. A local librarian had heard Gem speak about the family's work in Bangladesh and had read the man's book, South Asian Adventures with the Active Poor. She was so impressed with the work she took the information to the Rotary Club's literacy director.

"Things took off right away. The Rotary Club saw the mission of our project to be closely aligned with the mission of Rotary International, and it was a perfect fit," Gabriel said.

That initial partnership has morphed into the support of many Rotary Clubs across Canada.

"Rotary's motto of 'peace through service' couldn't be more fitting to the nature of our work," he said.

Now folks on the Sunshine Coast will have an opportunity to see first-hand just what the Amarok Society (the vehicle created by the Munros to fund the schools) does in Bangladesh. Plan to attend a documentary of Amarok's story and meet members of the Munro family on Nov. 27 at Chatelech Secondary School theatre. Doors open at 6:30; the movie begins at 7.

"Of course, shooting a documentary in one of the most hectic, noisy, overpopulated and dangerous cities on Earth presents a few challenges, but it has made for an incredible movie. I think people who wish to step into an otherwise hidden part of the world and meet the incredible mothers who are transforming the slums around them should not let this film slip by. What's going on in Dhaka is amazing, and it really means something to the world as a whole," Gabriel related.

The documentary has touched the hearts of people wherever it's been shown.

The net proceeds from the suggested $5 admission donation will be split between the Amarok Society and the Chatelech Interact Club (a junior Rotary club for high school students). Gem's books will also be sold, with all proceeds going to the work in Dhaka.

The family has been asked to take their unique program to other countries. Gabriel sees this as a way to change the world. The requirements they originally brought to their work were need and neglect. Recently they've added a third.

"The danger of the situation if things should not improve. Bangladesh, at present a moderate Muslim country, teeters on the edge of extremism. Education can save it fortunately, extremism can't spread into slums that have been filled with education and hope," Gabriel said.

For more information, go to www.amaroksociety.org.