Dear Friend, All of us at DCI hope you have had a wonderful year and wish you great success in your endeavors in 2010. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting DCI’s programs to help the underprivileged. The work that DCI is doing today on behalf of impoverished children would not be possible without your support and collaboration. As a donor or supporter you have given the priceless gift of hope to desperately poor children who would have become just another statistic without the help of generous people like you. Because of your generosity, DCI is currently supporting over 1,000 children through the Sun

Child Sponsorship Program and 300 children through the Orphan Support Program. To help sustain these programs that directly help individual children, we also undertake projects that strengthen the community. This year, we faced Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh and continued to help those families whose lives were destroyed by the previous Cyclone Sidr in 2007. Those events, combined with the ongoing recession, brought vulnerable communities to the brink of despair. Fortunately, against mounting odds, people like you refused to give up. Thanks to your support, we were able to continue providing crucial benefits to poor children and their families. Because of the tremendous dedication and effort of our volunteer team and with your support, we were able to provide the basis for a stable and transpar-ent aid system for the benefit of both donors and the children we serve. If you would like to see how our programs operate first-hand, consider visiting our projects in Bangladesh and India, where you will have the opportunity to meet your sponsored children and see how you are changing their lives with your support. I encourage you to re-view our website at www.distressedchildren.org to see our current achievements and learn more. During this holiday season, while you enjoy peace and prosperity with your families and friends, please don’t forget the millions of disadvantaged children that are forced to work to support their families. For many children throughout the world, access to adequate food, shelter, or a decent education is an impossible dream. Due to the global economic downturn this year, we lost many sponsors and donors. As 2009 comes to a close we are worried that we might have to drop many children from our programs. Now more than ever, we need to depend on your support to keep these children in school and healthy. Kindly open your hearts and take part in one of DCI’s many activities or programs or donate any amount, however small, to ensure that we can continue supporting these deserving children. Please introduce DCI to your friends and family so they can join our combined effort. Let's continue our fight against poverty, child labor and childhood blindness. By working together, we can bring these underprivileged children a life full of hope, joy, and prosperity. While our mission is not easy, we know that it can be achieved by working together with compassionate people like you. From all of us at DCI, we thank you in advance for giving these children hope for a brighter future.

With best wishes for 2010,

A. Ehsan Hoque, MBBS, Ph.D. Executive Director, DCI

Year End Message from the Executive Director

D I S T R E S S E D

C H I L D R E N &

I N F A N T S

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

DCI’s accomplishments in 2009: (1) 1000 underprivileged village children were able to continue their education. (2) 2350 underprivileged village children received free health care. (3) 330 Orphans received health care & education support. (4) 2900 disadvantaged children received free eye care. (5) 4000 Dhaka City slum residents received free health care & medicine. (6) 500 villagers of Patuakhali district whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by Cyclone Aila received relief & rehabilitation support.

Beginning of a life long friendship!

INS IDE

TH IS ISSUE:

2009 in pictures: Sun

Child Sponsorship

(Education & Healthcare)

2

2009 in pictures: Eye

Care 3

2009 in pictures: Income Generating Activity

4

2009 in pictures: Visitors

in Bangladesh 5

2009 in pictures: Child

Rights Campaign 6

NEWSLETTER TEAM: Nina Hoque, Sara Maki, Molly Preudhomme, Asahi Hoque, Michele Larocque, Bonnie Mayer, Elizabeth Williams, Ursula Vinke, Daniel Nova, Alyssa Bowen, Anisha Reza, Sara Noel, Sonia Khan, Donna Cherry, and Bea Dovin.

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9

DCI Newsletter

P A G E 2

East Shoula primary school was

formally opened this January.

Reconstruction of the school was

completed with funds received from

AGAMI, a California based

organization. The teacher for this

school is sponsored by St. Peters

Church of Cheshire, CT. The school

reconstruction is a part of DCI’s reha-

bilitation efforts.

Children receiving supply of basic needs, Nilphamari

Sunchild Sponsorship program

prevents children from dropping

out of school by providing basic

necessities, educational support,

two yearly health check-ups and

stipend.

To improve the quality of learning,

DCI hired a total of 65 tutors in its

different project areas this year.

The tutors work with groups of

students after school to provide help

with homework and exams. The

teachers are hired from within the

area, so that DCI can also create

jobs within the local community.

Children of the orphanage with their new jackets

Children receiving Eid Gifts from Texas Chapter donation

Children receiving scheduled immunization

Children receiving health check-up

2009 in Pictures: Providing Education & Health care

After school tutor, Potuakhali After school tutor, Habiganj

FREE EYE SCREENING CAMP in Patuakhali A free eye screening camp was arranged at Shoula, Patuakhali. Three doctors from the Ispahani EYE institute volunteered to per-form screening and treatment for the villagers. Hundreds of peo-ple of all ages from the area and nearby villages received treat-ment in this camp.

Location: Shaula, Patuakhali, Bangladesh Date: January 16-17, 2009 Total people examined: 978 Problems Found in: 422 Attending doctors: 3 Covered Area: South & North Shaula, Karpur Kathi, Baje Sondip, Bashbaria.

People lined up for eye screening

FREE EYE SCREENING CAMP in DHAKA DCI arranged a second free Eye camp in Jhuri Moholla Mohammadpur, Dhaka with the help of the Ispahani Eye Hos-pital and Aparajeyo Bangla. This camp was arranged for the slum children. DCI provided glasses and further treatments free of cost to the patients.

Location: Jhuri Moholla Mohammadpur, Dhaka Date: July 20, 2009 Total people examined: 230 Problems Found: 5 children were referred for further treatment. 7 boys and 6 girls were prescribed glasses. Attending doctors: 2 Covered Area: Mohammadpur slums

FREE EYE SURGERY IN INDIA This year we were able to extend our Childhood Blindness Prevention Program (CBPP) to India through Kalinga Eye Hos-pital & Research Centre and (NYSASDRI) we have arranged surgery for some children who could not afford treatment. We have committed to support many more children in 2010.

2009 in Pictures: Free Eye Screening & Treatments P A G E 3

Each year, in addition to arranging several free eye

screening camps, DCI provides eye care as part of

the Sun Child Sponsorship Program (health care

support) to children of all sponsored schools. The change you are helping to make!

Child ID

Members Name

Husbands Name Child Name

Member No

Program Amount (Taka)

Type

FN-005 Joshna Delwar Aklima 159 Weaving 5000/- Lease

FN-006 Hazera Ibrahim Kefayet 186 Weaving 5000/- Lease

FN-055 Monowara Abdul Karim Shirina 200 Weaving 5000/- Lease

FN-017 Monowara Sahabuddin Sharmin 208 Weaving 5000/- Lease

FN-045 Aleya Mohammadulla Ismile 297 Weaving 5000/- Lease

FS-007 Hasina Lokman Amzad 231 Grocery Shop

15,000/- Lease

FS-048 Basiron Gius Uddin Maksuda 232 Black Smith 15,000/- Lease

FS-022 Rokeya Rasul Mir Hossain 223 Grocery Shop

15,000/- Lease

FN-019 Sajeda Abdul Wahab Bibi Kho-deja

176 Optical Shop 10,000/- Lease

FN-031 Noorjahan Begum

Nasiruddin Aklima 206 Rickshaw 12,000/- Lease

Total= 92,000/-

DCI believes in helping others by cultivating

their ability to support themselves. A strong focus

of DCI has been to create Income-Generating

Activities (IGA) for the parents of children we

support. By joining families of sponsored chil-

dren into small groups and working with them,

the parents have a greater potential to become

financially independent. DCI seeks to identify

and improve skills, provide training, and grant

them the opportunity to succeed either in groups

or independently.

A sample table for the IGA program of a village in Feni:

In Patuakhali

In Feni

In Potuakhali

In Nilphamari

IGA group session

In Patuakhali

2009 in Pictures: Income Generating Activity P A G E 4

In Patuakahli

Dr. Shahan Chowdhury , TX

Tazin Shadid, WA

Javed Rahman, GA

Anika Reza & Mrs. Rehan Reza , KS

Dinu Ahmed, NY

Dr Afia Zaman, NY Sabbir Ahmed, NY

2009 in Pictures: Visitors in Bangladesh P A G E 5

Masud Chowdhury, TX

Angela & Dr. Mabel

Gomez, NY

Sponsors and Volunteers visited Bangladesh in 2009: Dr. Shahan Chowdhury, Dr. Nina Hoque, Shahera Karim, Misu Tasnim, Subhi Zaman, Dr. Afia Zaman, Jon Cole-man, Matt Nelson, Kristel Varrties, Glenn Dodge, Masud Chowdhury, Ishita Ahmed, Manzurul Islam, Angelina Gomes, Galley Saleh, Arefin Babul, Dinu Ahmed, Dr. Sa-

bina Ahmed, Rabita Aziz, Tupa Chowdhury, Dr. Komol Koli, Jovita Rahman, Marci Riley, Dr. Lutfa Khanam, Jillur Rahman, Juliette Riley, Tazin Shadid, Adil Faisal, Dr. Maksud Chowdhury, Dr. Shamim Begum, Ryan Chowdhury, Tulip Chowdhury, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed

Over 40 sponsors visited their child in 2009. Many of them also donated their time at the health clinic, the sponsored schools in the villages, or in DCI's Dhaka office. Some of them helped DCI with moni-toring and follow-up for a variety of projects in Bangladesh. Here are just a few pictures.

Ryan Chowdhury, NY

Jon Coleman, CT

Saleh Kibria & family, CA

Dr. Rubi Hossain, CA

Andrew Rozario, VA

Dr Md. Hamiduz

Zaman, NY

Adil Faisal, MD

Mat Nelson & family, CA Deluwara Ahmed, NY

2009 in Pictures : Child Rights Campaign

Please JOIN our efforts as a donor or a volunteer

Here are a few examples of needs :

• $12 per month ($144/child per year) will support one child through our

Sun Child Program or orphan support program. Sponsorship can be for one or

more children through individual or group contributions.

• $100 per month ($1,200 per year) will provide the salary and costs for

one teacher for the sponsored schools.

• $150 can provide a visually impaired child eye surgery through our

Childhood Blindness Prevention Program.

• $250-$100 will enable a family to buy farm animals such as a cow ($250)

or a goat ($100). Either will improve the family’s health and their livelihood.

• $500 can build a home for a family

• $1000 will provide safe drinking water in rural areas.

• $1000 will rebuild rural homes destroyed by natural disasters.

• $2000 will buy academic and school supplies such as blackboards, books,

tables, chairs as well as student meals.

• $2000 will provide an eye surgery camp through our Blindness Preven-

tion Program.

• $5000 will rebuild a school.

• $10,000 will run a health care center for slum area residents for a year.

Please send your contribution to:

Please send a Money Order or Check

payable to "DCI". You may also donate by credit card through

PayPal at our website:

www.distressedchildren.org

All contributions to DCI are tax deductible. IRS 501(c)(3)Tax Exempt ID #810671495

DCI International 5 Shipton Court Cheshire, CT 06410