Heartbeat of Hope: A Journey Through Fear, Love, and Resilience

[Yousuf Khan]

My name is Yousuf, and today I want to share a story of my own—one that has both sadness and inspiration.
From a young age, seeing the different struggles people around me faced, I often thought, "If I could do something for them, how great would that be!" Though I had the desire, somehow I could never act on it. To be honest, I’m a bit of a lazy person, and because of that, despite my good intentions, I never really did much for them.
Anyway, recently, I joined an NGO called Bangladesh Rural Economic Development (BRED). Fortunately, BRED is now implementing a “Community Empowerment Through SALT” project, supported by the Global Fund for Children (GFC). As an employee, I get to experience this approach regularly through conversations with my senior, Peya Apu. Gradually, this approach helped to grow my interest in BRED’s work. When I told her about my childhood wish to do something for society, she encouraged me to pursue it whenever an opportunity arose. This brought back my old desire to help others.
However, last month, my cousin came to Dhaka from her village to be admitted to the hospital for her delivery. She had already experienced two miscarriages, so this time was especially risky. The doctor advised that six bags of blood be kept ready for the cesarean. Not knowing many people in Dhaka, my cousin’s family called, asking for my help with arranging the blood. Thanks to Peya Apu and the SALT approach, I felt I could genuinely help here and began trying to arrange six bags of blood. Since I had studied at Dhaka University, I knew many people who were regular blood donors. But my cousin’s blood type was rare—AB-negative—making it hard to find enough donors.
At my university dorm, one of my roommates had AB-negative blood, so I called him, but he told me. “Friend, I’ve never donated blood before. I’m a bit scared to do it.” Despite my efforts, I managed to gather only five bags and still needed one more, without which the cesarean couldn’t proceed.
At that point, I decided to speak to my roommate using the SALT approach. I tried to make him realize the goodness within him, encouraging him to find the courage to help someone else. After some conversation, he started to feel that courage and understood that donating blood isn't so difficult. Finally, he agreed, saying, “Alright, friend, I’ll donate the last bag for your cousin.” We went to the hospital together, and once the final bag of blood was collected, the doctor began the operation.
The sad part of this story is that my cousin gave birth to a baby girl who was born with a physical disability—her left arm was missing from the elbow down. While both mother and daughter are fine, my niece will have to live with this physical limitation. Please keep her in your prayers so that she can grow to be someone capable and strong, so that she can overcome this challenge in her life.