Shasana Rakkhit Bikkhu was determined
to help his community help itself.

Pradip Barua is a brilliant student
who had no hope for his future.

Now, they can put their determination and dreams together at the Buddhist Cooperative Credit Union's new

Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Student Loan Fund

The credit union was established with
four members and about $6 in assets


The Venerable Shasana Rakkhit Bhikkhu is a young monk known affectionately as "Choto Bhante", or "Little Monk", to the many children who depend on him for support and guidance. He may be small in physical stature, but he has the strength to shoulder some heavy responsibilities as head of four local institutions at Kadalpur Buddhist Village, Bangladesh. He is the abbot of the temple as well as the President/Secretary of Bangladesh Bhikkhu Training Center, Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Orphanage and Destitute Home, and The Buddhist Cooperative Credit Union.

Four residents of Kadalpur stepped forward to become the first members of the cooperative when it was founded under the inspired leadership of Shasana Rakkhit Bhikkhu in 1997. The total assets of the credit union at that time were equivalent to about $6 US. Five years later, the membership had grown to more than 250 with assets in excess $160,000, a respectable sum for a small agricultural village that cannot as yet be reached by motor vehicle.

Members may apply for small, low-interest loans to improve their homes, businesses and farms. Many families have opened educational savings accounts for their children. Now, an attempt is being made to endow a student loan fund for the children of Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Orphanage and Destitute Home.

"My dream is to be an engineer, but it is impossible."


"This is our most brilliant student," the boys at the children's home declare when they introduce their classmate Pradip. Pradip is not an orphan. His parents live on a remote forest hillside where his father ekes out a living cutting bamboo. Neither of his parents have had an opportunity to attend school. They own no arable land. Despairing at the future they could offer their son, they sent Pradip at the age of six to live at Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Orphanage and Destitute Children's Home.

Now, ten years later, Pradip is sitting for the Higher Secondary Education Exams, which will determine his eligibility to continue his studies beyond class ten. His teachers recognize in him the potential to continue his studies to the universtiy level. Pradip says, "My dream is to be an engineer, but it is impossible."

"Why impossible?", a visitor from the land of opportunity asks. "There is no money", is the simple reply.

In the wealthy countries of the west, nothing is impossible for a brilliant and determined student, but in Bangladesh there are very few scholarships and no subsidized student loans available.

In 2002, Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Student Loan Fund was established so that Pradip and others like him would be able to study to the level of their highest potential. Repayment of the low-interest loans will be defered until studies are completed.

"Now my classmates and I believe that we will be able to continue to higher studies," Pradip recites in his practiced English.

This is Anik. He's six years old, the same age Pradip was when he first came to the children's home. Perhaps he'll also be a brilliant student.

Prediction: Pradip will become an engineer. The money he returns to repay his loan will help Anik achieve his dreams

The "endowment" of the Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Student Loan Fund is only a few hundred dollars. If you have any ideas about how we can make it grow, please Contact me

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