Ruby Akhtar, age 33 years, father’s name Rashid Ahmed and mother’s name Rabeya Begum. She lives in the Village of Lombripara, ward # 2, Union-Jaliapalong, Upazila-Ukhia, District-Cox’s Bazar. In 2006, she got married to Belal Uddin, the son of Bodiul Alam of Jaliya Palang Union, who lived in Jummapara, ward#1 in the same union. Their first year of marriage was blissful, in 2007 Ruby Akhtar became pregnant for the first time and the child died during delivery. Since then the inhuman torture on Ravi Akhtar started. In various ways, her husband kept pressuring Ruby Aktar to bring money from his father’s house. He was always physically tortured because she could not bring money due to the poor financial condition of his father’s house. And Bodiul Alam used to say Ruby Akhter, if you can’t pay, then I will get married again. In this way, a few years passed. Suddenly, in 2010, her husband Belal Uddin brought her home with the help of her parents for a second marriage. When Ruby Akhtar said something, she was beaten and her mother-in-law asks her to accept. Ruby Akhter also tries to accept. But her husband does not want to give her HH maintenance expenses. He humiliated her in various ways in front of her younger wife. In 2014, Rubi Akhter got pregnant again and gave birth to a cute baby girl. But her husband Belal Uddin does not want to bear any expenses of Ruby Akhtar. When she asked for something, she was beaten. So Ruby Akhtar could not bear it anymore and decided to leave her husband’s house. Then Ruby Akhtar with her daughter Mushfika Nazneen Bizli goes to her father Rashid Ahmed and says I don’t want to live with my husband Belal Uddin’s house anymore and determined that she doesn’t want to return from her father’s house so Ruby Akhtar wants a small place with her father where she can live with her daughter somehow. .Ruby Akhtar’s father gives him a plot and on that plot his father builds a small house for Ruby Akhtar. In that hut, Ruby Akhtar’s livelihood started with her daughter Bizli. Ruby Akhter works as a day laborer and lives with her daughter Bizli. Sometimes when Belal Uddin wants to see his daughter Mushfika Nazneen Bizli, Ruby Akhtar takes her daughter to meet her father and Belal Uddin hands her daughter Mushfika Nazneen Bizli 100 or 200 taka, and does not bear any other expenses. Currently, Ruby Akhter is not separated from her husband Belal Uddin. Now, Ruby Akhtar lives in a hut with eight-year-old daughter Mushfika Nazneen Bizli. Ruby Akhter works as a day laborer to support herself and her only daughter. Her daughter is reading in class four. In such a situation, the humanitarian aid project for Rohingya and local communities implemented by PHALS funded by Australian Aid, with the support of BRAC, in June 2022, conducted a survey on the poor, widows, abandoned by husbands, disabled, elderly families, child-headed families. In the survey Ruby Akhtar’s name was enlisted and was included in a livelihood training organized by PHALS. She was experienced & trained on sewing work and accordingly planned for buying a new model sewing machine. After receiving the training Ruby Akhter was given financial assistance an amount of Taka 20,000. With the help money, Ruby Akhtar bought an electric sewing machine with 18,000 Taka and with the remaining 2,000 Taka she bought yarn, thread, scissors, etc. At present, her daily income 200-300 Tk/day. She and her daughter are living well by eating two handfuls of rice twice a day. Ruby Akhtar wants to continue her daughter’s study with the money from her sewing work and wants to spend her whole life with her daughter. Ruby Akhtar has no intention of getting married again, she wants to spend the rest of her life in sewing. She is very glad to get the opportunity and express her joy with “My Family Maintaining Machine is Sewing Machine”. She thanked PHALS and Brac for standing for the needy people, also informed and humbly request PHALS to stand beside helpless people like them in future.

Taniya Akter (15) is the eldest child of a farmer, Mr. Nurul Kabir. Her mother is a housewife. Taniya has a brother and 4 sisters. With a poor income, her father cannot maintain the family properly. When Taniya was in class two, her study was about to end due to financial crisis. The condition of all her siblings was the same. So, Taniya started to go to sea-beach everyday to sell oyster ornaments. She used to return home at 10 pm which is unsafe for a girl. In this way, she got a very little time for study. After three years, her father left his family and married another woman. Then he stopped spending money for Taniya’s family. Taniya’s life became even more uncertain. She continued to sell oyster ornaments on the sandy beach under hot sun all day long. Despite facing adverse situations, Taniya is not a girl to give up. Somehow BANI Academy representative knew about Taniya and visited her home. BANI Academy offered Taniya’s mother the responsibility of Taniya’s education. Taniya became very happy. She was brought to BANI Academy and admitted to class four in Cox’s Bazar International School in 2018. She became very attentive to her studies and also excelled in co-curricular activities. She has made a good result in every exam. She has also got a gold and a silver medal in National Taekwondo Competition held in Dhaka recently. She can speak & write English well. She Says- “I’m grateful to Allah for getting a chance to continue my study by the help of BANI Academy. I want to be a pilot in future. I want to travel more and more countries. I pray for the donor Moussa Ibn Yacoub, PHALS-BANI Academy and PHALS team.”

Riya Moni, Tanya Akhtar and Sadia Akhtar, three underprivileged students of PHALS-Bani Academy, who won gold medals in the Victory Day Kwon Do Competition-2022 held in Dhaka on Friday. Riya Moni, Tanya Akhtar and Sadia Akhtar, three underprivileged students of PHALS -Bani Academy who won gold medals at the Victory Day Kwon Do Competition-2022 held in Dhaka on Friday Photo PHALS -Bani Academy next to bypass road of Cox’s Bazar city. For almost two years, 32 underprivileged children have been taught Taekwondo as a self-defense technique along with free education. Players of this academy won five gold, three silver and four copper medals in the National Victory Day Taekwondo Competition 2022 held in Dhaka on Friday afternoon. Earlier, the academy girls won 1 gold and 7 copper medals in the 2022 National Taekwondo Competition on 26 December. Abu Morshed Chowdhury, executive director of Cox’s Bazar Pulse-Bani Academy, said, “This outstanding achievement of the underprivileged children in the month of victory has brightened the faces of the people of Cox’s Bazar. A gold and a silver medal were won by Ria Moni, a student of class 12 of the Academy, of Dakkhin Adarshagram, Cox’s Bazar, in the Victory Day Taekwondo competition. Tanya Akhtar of the same village got two copper medals. He is studying in class 9. A gold medal was bagged by Sadia Akhtar, a student of Class IX and from South Mithachari village in Ramur. A gold medal was won by Razia Akhtar, a student of class 10 and from Dakshin Adarsha village, while Rekha Moni, a class 10 student from the same village, got a gold and a silver medal. Apart from this, fifth grade student Adiba, third grade student Riyad Hossain and student Reshmi Aktar got a silver medal each and seventh grader Shahed Hossain got a copper medal. Underprivileged children of Cox’s Bazar’s PHALS -Bani Academy won gold, silver and copper medals in the Victory Day Taekwondo competition held in Dhaka. Underprivileged children of Cox’s Bazar’s PHALS -Bani Academy won gold, silver and copper medals in the Victory Day Taekwondo competition held in Dhaka. Apart from this, Riya Moni, a student of the academy, won a gold and a copper medal in the National Taekwondo Competition 2022. Tania Akhtar three, Sadia Akhtar one, Razia Akhtar one and Rekha Moni one copper medal from the same academy. Taekwondo instructor. Abdullah said, if there is a will, there is a way, the children of the academy are proof of that. To eliminate the shortage, the children are also eager to take Taekwondo training in addition to education. Tanya Akhtar (15), a teenager, used to sell snail and oyster products on Cox’s Bazar beach. Business came to a standstill when tourist traffic stopped due to the Corona epidemic. Tanya’s father is also sick. So there is no income in the family. He used to collect firewood from the forest and sell it to find an alternative source of income. On March 1, 2021, he was admitted to Pulse-Bunny Academy. Along with studying for free, he also trained in the self-defense technique of Taekwondo. Now his reputation is everywhere. Tanya wants to become a taekwondo instructor in addition to pursuing a higher degree. Riya Moni also once took up the responsibility of running the household by selling snail and oyster necklaces to the hawkers on the beach. He joined the academy in March last year and is learning self-defense techniques along with his studies. Riya Moni, who is very happy after getting gold, silver and copper medals at the national level, says, ‘I will study and become an engineer. Then there is a desire to open a training center to teach self-defense techniques to girls. French private organization Bunny Street Academy and Cox’s Bazar local non-governmental organization Pulse jointly launched the Pulse-Bunny Academy. Abu Morshed Chowdhury, executive director of the academy, said humanitarian activities are going on with 32 orphans and underprivileged children. Here they are learning cultural activities and self defense techniques along with study and residential facilities. In a few days, 16 more children will be admitted here.

As part of the final evaluation of the 2025 HOIFA emergency flood relief project in Cox’s Bazar, three Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted on 11–13 October 2026 in Shikhali Union pekua Upazila, Dhemushia Union, Chakaria upazila And Jhilongja Union, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Cox's Bazar. The discussions engaged 30 participants (16 female and 14 male), including five older people, five persons with disabilities, and three youth. The sessions were facilitated by Safia Sharmin, MEAL Coordinator of Malteser International, with Sharmila Akter Shifa, Deputy MEAL Manager of PHALS, serving as note-taker. Findings highlighted that independent door-to-door household verification and community consultations helped identify highly vulnerable families and reduce the risk of favoritism and political interference. Participants appreciated the BDT 10,000 cash assistance and non-food items, particularly tarpaulins, buckets, candles, and matchsticks, which helped address urgent needs such as repairing homes and latrines, meeting education and medical expenses, and protecting households from rain and power outages. Participants also valued the accessible feedback mechanisms and timely resolution of distribution-related issues. For future responses, participants recommended providing flexible cash assistance to all targeted households where feasible and establishing distribution points closer to communities to improve access and reduce travel costs and risks, particularly for older people, women, and persons with disabilities.

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2026 Observed in Cox’s Bazar with the theme "Resilience Starts at Home". On 13 October, the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was observed in Cox’s Bazar through a series of meaningful activities organized by the Cox’s Bazar District Administration in collaboration with relevant NGOs. The programme featured a rally, a fire safety simulation conducted by the Fire Service and Civil Defence, and essay-writing competitions for primary and secondary school students to raise awareness of disaster preparedness and risk reduction. PHALS, along with several other NGOs, actively participated in the observance, contributing to the vibrancy of the event and reinforcing the importance of collective action in building safer and more disaster-resilient communities. Make PHALS’s role more specific Strengthen the closing message Shorten it for social media

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FEo5vobLK/