On October 20, 2020, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) inaugurated a boat clinic in Bangladesh to provide health-care services for underserved villagers living along the coastal areas of the Dakop sub-district.

Myun Ju Lee, president of the Bangladesh Adventist Union Mission (BAUM) and ADRA board member in Bangladesh, shared his thoughts about the boat clinic while visiting the Avail and Access Medication project office. He was joined by fellow members of the board for ADRA in Bangladesh.

“I appreciate ADRA’s efforts to serve underprivileged people in the remote area,” Lee said. “I also admire ADRA’s approach for launching the boat clinic and implementing an innovative service for the community.”

The boat clinic carries trained and certified medical personnel to provide immediate basic treatment and access to specialized doctors. A fee will be charged for services depending on the treatment.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people weren’t able to leave their community due to travel restrictions and had little to no access to medication and health-care services,” Lucille Sircar, ADRA’s Programs Director in Bangladesh, said. “Since ADRA has inaugurated the boat clinic, people can have access to health-care services at their door. It saves a lot of money and time, as people don’t need to travel to visit doctors and get medication.”

The boat clinic aims to reach more than 48,00 people in the coastal belt within the project period, providing for people who are frequently deprived of medication and health services.

“The boat clinic has appeared before us as a blessing of God,” Aporna Kobiraj, a 35-year-old housewife, said. “This will help and save lives in our locality as we don’t get proper medical support. We have to go to the town to visit a doctor, which takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money.”

Sircar adds, “ADRA’s end goal is to partner with community-based organizations like women-led groups, the Upazila Health Complex, local pharmacies, et cetera, who will take care of different parts of the clinic and carry on the services of the clinic.”

Among the services offered in the region, ADRA provides short-term food assistance in Dakop for roughly 600 people who are most marginalized.

The original version of this story was posted on the Adventist Development and Relief Agency site.