Vission, Mission, Values and Our Service

is to provide services to needy, underpriviledge and destitute children of Bangladesh, especially, children admitted in Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) schools, but not limited to, by assisting them financially for their education in the schools operated by SDA Church both in the boarding (Including Orphanages) and village setups by soliciting funds from outside the country through child sponsorship agencies abroad.

Believing that all children are precious to Jesus:

BCSS gives hope by fostering permanent positive change in the lives of disadvantaged children and their communities.”

In Bangladesh we will assist:

• Sponsor over 3,800 poor children in over 90 Adventist schools and institutions
• Over 350 orphans
• Women’s health, Community awarness program and sustanable change in life.
• Poor children in community schools
• Nurses and university students from very poor adventist families
• Special projects for destitute children.

In total, we assist over 3,800 children or young people through school sponsorship. We also operate a health clinic, educate women about the, build classrooms, repair existing buildings, clothe for orphan children, and work hard to keep our sponsors and donors informed. Central to our mission is building the infrastructure of the local school, empowering it to meet the needs of its own community.

I. What department is the ministry working under with?

BCSS is a unique unit of Bangladesh Union Mission (BAUM) serving under as service ministry of Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bangladesh to enhance Adventist education ministry through sponsorship program for underprivileged children of Bangladesh to facilitate them to go to primarily in Adventist schools but not limited to. Further, BCSS is operated by a separate board and BAUM chairman also serves as the chairman of BCSS board, BCSS Director serves as the secretary, and BAUM other officers along with BAUM Education director are the members of the board by virtue.

II. The nature of the ministry:

BCSS works for underprivileged students to continue their education till Bachelor Degree with the sponsorship program primarily with Adventist schools. However, BCSS is not limited to sponsorship programs but does projects to develop new sustainable school programs, school building construction, income generating projects etc., and child focused community development programs, child protection awareness programs. Further, the following actives will also describe more about the nature of BCSS ministry.

Activities of BCSS in Brief: (write the next section in paragraph form)

1. Monthly Financial support to sponsored children for receiving education to School (boarding and village) through different funding agencies.

2. Provide books, notebooks, uniforms, and other instructional materials to sponsored children to the village and boarding schools including orphanages.

3. Provide medical health care support to all sponsored students including dental care.

4. Provide three warm meals a day for boarding schools children and orphans; and one meal a day for village school children during school days through feeding program. In addition, children receive extra nutrition in the meals like bananas, eggs, and fruits weekly.

5. Provide emergency support to the boarding schools through rice project.

6. Provide financial supports for the infrastructure development of the boarding schools.

7. Provide salaries to teachers of total School Sponsorship Project (unit schools) under Asian Aid projects. In this program teachers' salaries are paid according to the availability of the fund from donor, books and uniforms are provided for all children.

8. Collect "Thank You" letters from children and mailed to respective sponsors, written in response to their individual sponsor's letter or other seasonal gifts.

9. Check the presence of children in the respective schools by field managers and for few donors reporting directly to their database. Even checking the welfare of the students with sponsorship agencies when they come to visit Bangladesh school for head count.

10. Purchasing and disbursing Gifts in the beginning of the school year as well as Christmas gifts for sponsored children and distribute in the first and second weeks of December.

11. Provide Monthly, Mid-year and Year-end supplies for orphan students subject to the availability of the fund.

Christmas Gifts for Sponsored Children

Christmas gift for sponsored children is an annual event practiced by BCSS from the beginning of its inception. Different gift items are purchased and distribution takes place ahead of Christmas.

Outreach Program

As part of the outreach program of BCSS, a number of small scale projects are being implemented by BCSS and the fund is being provided from its own resources.

Teachers’ Training Program

Teachers’ Training Program is carried out jointly by Bangladesh Children’s Sponsorship Services and Education Department of Bangladesh Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventist Church for both boarding school and village school teachers based on need and availability of soliciting funds from sponsoring agencies.

Visitors

BCSS hosts a number of sponsoring agencies and developing partners who come to Bangladesh for monitoring visit, preparing fund raising documentaries, trainings and various purposes every year. School visitation program by sponsoring agencies is a routine work and BCSS considers this as healthy and effective program.

List of Donor/Sponsorship Agencies of BCSS (Continuing)

Currently, following sponsoring Agencies/Donor Agencies are supporting BCSS to fulfill her aims and objectives. These agencies are: BanglaKids of ADRA Czech Republic, Asian Aid Organization-Australia, Child Impact International (previously known as Asian Aid Organization-USA), Danish Children’s Fund (DCF), CHER Canada, Samari from Czech Republic, Bangla Help–Gerardo Toledo, Bangladesh Fund, BASA USA, Bogenhoffen, Silke Tudor from Germany, Asian Aid AIMS Ibrahimpur School and BAUM Campus Employees-Bangladesh.

Child Rights and Protection (CRP)

Child Rights and Protection (CRP) office is a newly created wing of BCSS in the month of October 2014 funded by Asian Aid Organization, Australia (AAO). As a partner agency of AAO, BCSS is expected to be child-focused and child-friendly in the way it works, committed to strongly upholding the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC) 1989.

Child Protection Policy

Child Protection Policy has been drafted and implemented by Bangladesh Children's Sponsorship Services (BCSS) of Seventh-day Adventist Church of Bangladesh to all its boarding schools in response to current best practices in protecting the rights of children. The Policy was drafted in 2007; however, it was not implemented fully due to lack of manpower. The policy was modified and updated and printed in book form in the beginning of the year 2015 which includes the Code of Conduct.

The policy is intended to inform all who are involved in providing services to, taking care of, and having close interaction with children, about their child protection responsibilities. The policy outlines the principles of child protection and provides advices about what to do if child abuse or neglect is suspected or how to prevent child abuse in the future. CRP staff extensively travel to all boarding schools and day schools to have orientation seminars to disseminate the information about child protection policy and behavioral management strategies. The students are also given the training on how to keep themselves safe within the campus and when they are out of campus environment. Refresher’s training will continue every year to remind the existing personnel and train newcomers which will include AIMS (Adventist International Mission School), city day schools also.

Self-Reliance Projects and Programs

BCSS empowered and is trying to empower to have self-reliance to the schools through the following projects. These are: 1. Infrastructure developed such as 8 storied AIMS Ibrahimpur school building was built with the support of Asian Aid Australia and other English Medium Schools- hoping that the privileged schools will support underprivileged schools. 2. Cow project to get gain out of it and students get the nutrition. 3. Fish projects for income generation. 4. Water Supply for schools- drinking water, irrigation and other household’s purposes to get the best use of it. 5. Water Project at MAS and Community for the purposes of 10% self-supporting. 6. Banana & tree plantation Project for nutrition of students and gain income. 7. Computer Project to make the digital lab and make students equip with the technology to be competent. 8. Community Focused School Development (CFSD) project- to empower community so that not only students get direct help but also whole community get help through many activities.

We believe in Jesus! We acknowledge His command to take His love into all parts of the world. Following Jesus’ example we also seek to give.
We believe Jesus has a heart for the poor. He was born to a humble family and became a refugee soon after. From a developing country, he dressed like a common man, lived simply and made time for the unlovely. He ate with unbelievers, taught in the fields, healed untouchables and sought out sinners. He was compassionate!

We believe in people. Encouraging the spiritual development of our own staff, we recognize that all humans are created equal in the eyes of God. Religion, ethnicity, culture and gender play no role in whom we assist. In our work we seek to empower the poor and build their capability.

We believe in good stewardship. Acknowledging that all funds donated to us belong to God, we will endeavor to be transparent, accountable and honest in all our dealings. We will be cost-effective in all that we do. We also recognize that a professional, well-resourced and well-informed staff is vital to good stewardship.

We believe in accountability and professionalism. We are also responsible to those we help, our many donors, the Church and the U.S. Government. In all communications we commit to honestly representing our work. Our programs, annual reports and policies are available on request. We seek to network professionally, recognizing that we can achieve more together.

We believe in service. All BCSS and partners staff are ‘fishers of men’. We are opposed to grinding poverty and social injustice. We condemn all that impoverishes children and denies their potential. Called to serve needy children and their families, we commit to sharing our resources with the poor.

We believe in the potential of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As an independent, accredited ministry we seek to work with the church in developing countries to meet the needs of its communities.

1. BCSS is committed to the open and transparent disclosure of all relevant information concerning our agency finances, programs, and governance.

2. BCSS is committed to being an effective steward of the resources provided to us. We will do this by minimizing our overhead costs in an effort to maximize the resources available for use overseas.

3. BCSS is committed to utilizing donated funds only for the purposes for which they were given. Up to 10% may be used for administration purposes and a small amount of sponsorship money may be held in a 6 months emergency buffer fund

4. BCSS will protect the privacy and confidentiality of our donors and sponsors at all times. Our mailing lists will never be lent, sold or otherwise made available to any other organization.

5. BCSS is committed to ongoing improvement and the achievement of excellence in our services.

6. BCSS is committed to high standards of financial accountability and commits to compliance with all accounting pilicy and government rules. We will publish and disclose on request, our complete and independently audited financial statements.

7. BCSS commits to honesty and truthfulness in all organizational statements including; presentations, reports, advertising and media releases. We commit to the use of current material including photographs, case histories and project data. We will accurately reflect the needs of those we seek to assist and accurately report the outcomes achieved by our programs.