Children arrive at BS Orphanage Foundation in the physical condition that poverty and neglect leave behind. Many are underweight. Many have untreated skin conditions, worm infestations, dental decay, anaemia or persistent infections. Many have never been vaccinated. Almost none have ever seen a doctor for anything other than an emergency.
Restoring a child’s health is the first thing we do, and maintaining it is something we do continuously. A malnourished child cannot concentrate in class. A child with untreated illness misses school. A child who is never taught basic hygiene will keep getting sick regardless of how much treatment they receive. Health underpins everything else in a child’s development, which is why this program runs alongside every other one we operate.
Medical assessment on arrival
Every child receives a full health assessment when they join us. This covers height, weight and nutritional status, general physical examination, vision and hearing, dental condition, skin condition, and screening for common conditions including anaemia, worm infestation, tuberculosis and untreated infection.
Vaccination status is reviewed and any missing immunisations are completed according to Bangladesh’s national immunisation schedule. Where a child arrives with a chronic or existing condition, a treatment plan is established immediately and followed through.
This initial assessment gives us a baseline. Every subsequent checkup is measured against it, which means deterioration is noticed early rather than after it has become serious.
Routine medical care
Children receive scheduled health checkups on an ongoing basis. A doctor visits the facility regularly to examine children, review those under treatment, and address anything caregivers have flagged.
Routine care includes growth monitoring, periodic deworming, dental checkups and treatment, vision testing, and treatment of the everyday illnesses that circulate among children living in close quarters — fever, respiratory infection, stomach illness, skin conditions.
Basic medicines are kept on site and administered by trained staff. A record is maintained for each child covering illnesses, treatments, medications and outcomes, so that patterns are visible and nothing is lost between one caregiver and the next.
Emergency and specialist treatment
Any child requiring care beyond what can be provided at the facility is taken to hospital. We maintain arrangements with local clinics and hospitals so that a child needing urgent attention receives it without delay or negotiation.
Specialist treatment — surgery, orthopaedic care, treatment for chronic conditions, corrective procedures — is arranged where required. These costs are unpredictable and can be substantial, and they are funded from our medical reserve, which is supported by donors who give specifically toward healthcare.
A caregiver accompanies any child receiving hospital treatment and stays with them throughout. No child in our care goes through medical treatment alone.
Daily nutrition
Nutrition is treated as a medical matter, not simply a matter of feeding children.
Meals are planned to provide the calories, protein, iron and vitamins that growing children require. A typical day provides rice, lentils and seasonal vegetables at each main meal, with fish, meat or eggs supplying protein through the week, milk for younger children, and fruit when in season. Iodised salt and fortified oil are used in cooking.
Portions are adjusted by age and need. Growth is monitored so that children falling behind on weight or height are identified quickly rather than at annual review.
Nutritional recovery
Children who arrive malnourished are placed on a recovery regime: additional meals, higher-calorie and higher-protein foods, iron and vitamin supplementation, deworming, and close weight monitoring until they reach a healthy range.
Severe malnutrition is treated under medical supervision, since recovery has to be managed carefully. Children recovering from illness or hospital treatment receive the same supplementary support until their strength returns.
The change in a child over the first few months is often dramatic — in weight and physical appearance, but also in energy, alertness and willingness to engage. Teachers frequently notice the difference in the classroom before anyone has looked at a weight chart.
Clean water and sanitation
Safe drinking water is available to children throughout the day. Water sources are maintained and tested, and drinking water is purified.
Toilets and washing facilities are cleaned on a daily schedule. Soap is available at every washing point. Kitchen hygiene is maintained under supervision, food is stored properly, and cooking areas are cleaned after every meal.
Waterborne and sanitation-related illness is among the most common cause of childhood sickness in Bangladesh and among the most preventable. Getting this right prevents far more illness than treating it afterwards ever could.
Teaching health habits
Children are taught the practices that will keep them healthy for the rest of their lives, not just while they are with us: handwashing with soap before meals and after using the toilet, daily bathing, brushing teeth twice a day, keeping nails and hair clean, wearing footwear outdoors, and drinking only safe water.
Older girls receive age-appropriate education on personal hygiene and health, delivered privately by female caregivers, along with the supplies they need.
Health education is reinforced through routine rather than lectures. Handwashing before meals is supervised until it becomes automatic. Tooth brushing is part of the morning and evening routine. Habits established at this age tend to hold for life.
Mental wellbeing
Every child in our care has experienced significant loss. Some carry more than that — neglect, displacement, or the memory of a household that fell apart around them.
Caregivers are trained to recognise signs of distress: withdrawal, sleeplessness, sudden changes in behaviour, aggression, loss of appetite, or a drop in school performance that has no academic explanation. Children showing these signs receive individual attention, and where needed, professional support is arranged.
Much of what helps is not clinical. Stability, routine, adults who remain present year after year, friendships with other children who understand the same experience, and being treated with warmth rather than pity — these do more for a grieving child than anything else available to us.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a doctor at the facility? A doctor visits regularly for scheduled checkups and to review children under treatment. Emergencies are taken directly to hospital.
What happens if a child needs surgery or specialist care? It is arranged at an appropriate hospital and funded from our medical reserve. A caregiver stays with the child throughout.
Are children vaccinated? Yes. Vaccination status is reviewed on arrival and any missing immunisations are completed according to the national schedule.
What do the children eat? Rice, lentils, seasonal vegetables and a protein source at main meals, with fish, meat and eggs through the week, milk for younger children and fruit in season.
Can I donate specifically toward medical costs? Yes. Donations can be directed to the medical fund, which covers treatment, medicines and emergency care.
How do you support children emotionally? Through stability, consistent long-term caregivers, trained staff who recognise signs of distress, and professional support arranged where it is needed.