Bangladesh's pandemic street kitchens

Charities such as Mehmankhana have been attempting to feed the hungry in Bangladesh.

Covid-19 sent Bangladesh into a sudden two month lockdown in 2020. Hundreds of volunteers, charity organisations and political parties took action to help the poor. They gave out food, cash, masks and sanitiser to those who had lost their jobs. But after a year of lockdown, charities are struggling and most have closed. However, many people are still going hungry.

Actress Asma Akhter Liza started up Mehmankhana, a street kitchen, after seeing children breaking into a food store, as they had nothing to eat.

Asma Akhter Liza: "You can tell the adults that there is no food, but how can you say the same to little children? In the past one and a half years, these children who come here have become our family."

Mehmankhana now serves over 2,500 meals daily.

A research organization named SANEM published a report. It stated that poverty has increased to 40 percent in the country due to the lockdown. The government has spent billions of dollars on the economy and reopened some factories; however, thousands of people are still unemployed.

The head chef of Mehmakhana lost his job before he started working for the charity.

Eraz Mahmudi: "I lost my job as a maintenance engineer at a garment factory during the first wave of the pandemic. I was idly sitting at home when my sister Liza called me to join this humanitarian work. I rushed here to join the programme. And started working as soon as I arrived."

Such is the need amongst all levels of society, even the middle class go to the kitchen for help.

Mohammed Arif is an unemployed city bus driver.

Mohammad Arif: "This Mehmankhana is a blessing for people like us. At least we can eat without worrying for the next day. Before knowing about this place, I spent two days lying inside a parked bus, literally starving."

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