In the evening, some guests are seen to wait for their meal in front of a house in D block of Lalmatia, Dhaka. The number of guests on the first day was about 100 people. Day by day the number is increasing and now it’s almost a thousand people who take the invitation to become a guest for a meal in this House, Which is now known as “Mehomankhana”
Millions of people live in Dhaka. Many of them are facing a dilemma due to a lack of work and money during this time of COVID-19 pandemic. This hospitality has started to put food in the mouths of such people. Some more young people in the area are volunteering to do this good initiative which was started by Eliza. Now a team of 11 people is working hard to make sure that the people in need around them should not sleep in an empty stomach.
Liza Asma Akhter started handing out hand sanitizers and masks among Disadvantaged people around her. Then he started distributing dry food. Some volunteers from the neighborhood joined her to do something more effective in the time of the holy Ramadan. The 11 of them started preparing Iftar for the people in need. The menu sometimes includes khichuri-chicken, someday chhola-chira-muri.
Starting from scratch, this initiative has now gradually turned into a big event. Most of the fund is coming from friends and family and other Conscious citizens around us. In a city affected by Corona Eleven of them are busy trying to ensure that no starving father/mother goes back hungry with his/her children. Even In the midst of Cyclone Amphan’s ordeal, they have prepared food for their guests.
The arrangement for the guests is not always enough, sometimes organizers have to say in hand mic to share the food with the person next to the guest. They share and eat without complaint.
It is unknown at this time when the city will give back its citizens their usual life. But Liza and her comrades are convinced that they will not give up so easily. In the days to come, the help of a conscious and capable person may help them to continue their work in the days to come. It’s not just only support for the people in need, it’s your courtesy for your guests.
