A Trustee's visit: Building homes and improving lives

Jakhya Rahman-Corey, Director of the Swarovski Foundation, joined AzuKo’s Board of Trustees, bringing a wealth of experience in global philanthropy, strategy development, and sustainability. Read about her recent trip to Bangladesh, where she visited our work across Dinajpur district.

AzuKo's unwavering commitment to innovative architectural solutions for underserved communities has left a lasting impression on me. I wanted to share my personal insights and reflect on the significant impact AzuKo is making in Bangladesh, supported by compelling statistics that underscore the urgency of their mission.

Understanding the housing challenge in Bangladesh

To grasp the scale of the housing challenge faced by communities in Bangladesh, it is important to consider the following statistics:

• Housing shortage – By 2030, UN-Habitat estimates that three billion people, about 40% of the world’s population, will need access to adequate housing. Within Bangladesh, millions are heading to cities to tap into economic opportunities, causing booming urban growth, which poses numerous challenges for families and individuals.

• Informal settlements – Many people find themselves living in informal settlements with inadequate infrastructure and limited access to essential services. These settlements often lack basic amenities and fail to provide a secure and dignified living environment.

AzuKo's transformative architectural solutions

During my visit to Dinajpur, I had the privilege of witnessing AzuKo's transformative work first-hand, specifically their efforts to build houses and toilets for underserved communities.

1. Building safe and sustainable homes – AzuKo's architectural solutions prioritise safety and sustainability. Their focus on constructing structurally sound and environmentally friendly homes ensures that families have a secure place to live. It was inspiring to see how AzuKo's designs blend functionality with cultural sensitivity, creating spaces that resonate with the community's needs.

2. Addressing sanitation needs – Approximately 46% of the population in Bangladesh don’t have access to a clean, safe toilet of their own. AzuKo's efforts to build safe and hygienic toilets for marginalised communities not only improves health outcomes but also enables a cleaner environment for the communities they serve.

3. Collaborative approach – AzuKo's success lies in their collaborative approach. They actively engage community members throughout the entire process, ensuring that their voices are heard and their specific needs are met. By involving the community, AzuKo fosters a sense of ownership and empowers individuals to take charge of their own living conditions.

Personal reflections

This visit has been an eye-opening experience that has reaffirmed the importance of AzuKo’s mission. The statistics on the housing shortage and inadequate sanitation facilities emphasise the pressing need for organisations like AzuKo.

As a Trustee, I am more dedicated than ever to supporting AzuKo's transformative initiatives. By providing resources and spreading awareness, we can contribute to their efforts in building safe and sustainable homes, improving sanitation, and ultimately uplifting communities in need.

Huge thanks to the team, and fellow Trustees, for all the efforts made to drive forward the charity’s aims. Together, let us support AzuKo’s work towards sustainable change, ensuring that every individual has access to safe housing and amenities for a better future.

I urge you to donate and support AzuKo’ efforts.

Author: J. Rahman-Corey

Inspired to give back

When you meet Aretha, it’s clear she’s on track to make a difference. Her energy and enthusiasm for whatever she’s involved with – studies, tutoring, volunteer work – is infectious.

She’s currently studying a Masters in Engineering and Architectural Design in London, and contributes to important dialogues to increase diversity in the profession, such as the Black Females in Architecture network.

“I began to seek architectural experience during my final years of sixth form, it quickly became apparent that I could not see myself reflected within the industry.”

— Aretha

An early mentoring experience at the age of 17, which helped pave her way into architecture school, has motivated Aretha to give back. She joined AzuKo’s Designing with dignity course in Bangladesh to learn about humanitarian architecture, and the tools to design more ethically and collaboratively.

“Designing with dignity is a hands-on, life-enriching course that pushes you to the edge of your comfort zone. It challenges you to question every pre-conceived notion you have of architecture and encourages a truly collaborative design process, where every voice can be heard.”

Throughout the course, Aretha worked hard to listen, learn and lead with empathy. She helped conduct a needs assessment, map a community and their assets, and held interviews to understand more about the challenges people face, their hopes and dreams.

Almost half the population of Bangladesh don’t have access to a clean, safe toilet of their own. It’s simply unacceptable. Aretha was not afraid to get her hands dirty. Working alongside a family, and supported by our local construction team, she built a new twin-pit, pour-flush toilet. An incredible achievement, that will bring safety and dignity.

“I learned that it is really important not to centre yourself within humanitarian work, especially when building for others or creating things that need to benefit other people. It can be so easy to impose your own way of doing things (even if you have the best of intentions) but this is not how you achieve the best result. I think it really strengthened my ability to listen and help.”

Inspired by her time on the course, Aretha is now looking to take a new module ‘Engineering for International Development’ during her final year at university. She has recently been accepted on a summer course to improve water, sanitation and hygiene in schools in Uganda, and will be mentoring 16-18 year olds in the UK sharing her experience and helping to break down barriers to architecture.

Want to know more? Register your interest to join Designing with dignity, Bangladesh in 2024.

Looking back at 2022

AzuKo has achieved some amazing things in 2022. Here are a few memorable moments and milestones, over the last 12 months:

JANUARY

We created a new network for small charities operating in Bangladesh, to share learning.

FEBRUARY

Tower Hamlets CVS hired us to reimagine a disused building in central London, and how voluntary organisations can work together to run it.

“We have momentum now, thank you. We’re starting to think as a partnership.”

— Marjia

MARCH

We welcomed two new Trustees, Deljana and Shamira, and Project Officer, Bhoirobi to our team.

APRIL

Our COVID-19 support came to an end after two years. We delivered 8,783 hygiene packs to families in need, and supported 3,848 people to register for the vaccine.

MAY

Three fundraisers cycled 100 miles at RideLondon, raising £4,126 for our work to build safe, clean, dignified homes. Why not set yourself a challenge in aid of AzuKo in 2023!?

JUNE

Milestone: 500 women have attended our construction training to learn how to build stronger, safer homes.

JULY

15 students joined our humanitarian architecture course, Designing with dignity, in Bangladesh. 87% achieved an HPass – a digital badge for the humanitarian sector.

AUGUST

We kicked off a Design Code in the UK, supporting the community of South Woodford to create a vision for development.

“The course challenges you to question every pre-conceived notion you have of architecture and encourages a truly collaborative design process, where every voice can be heard.”

— Aretha

SEPTEMBER

AzuKo was offered a three-year RSA Fellowship. Let the networking begin!

OCTOBER

Milestone: 4,000 people have attended AzuKo events since we began in 2013. We believe in sharing our expertise to inspire people to ‘do good, better’.

NOVEMBER

We launched our biggest fundraising campaign yet, raising £15,666 to build decent toilets. Construction materials are already on their way to sites across Dinajpur.

DECEMBER

Our work with Jogen Babu Maath was featured in ‘Bengal Stream’ exhibition in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Just as we are learning to live with COVID-19, the rising cost of living brings a new set of challenges. Working alongside our partners, we will continue to do all we can to support people living in housing poverty.

If you’d like to make a difference in 2023, get in touch.