Binaytara Foundation

Binaytara Foundation (BTF) is an Illinois non-profit organization exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The mission of the foundation is to bring positive change in society by promoting health and education.
 

Some Facts about Health and Education Status in the World

According to the World health Organization (WHO), more than 20 Million children under the age of five are severely malnourished, and nearly 10 Million die every year, more than 1000 every hour. About half of them die within the first month of their birth. WHO states that almost all of these children could survive and thrive with access to simple affordable interventions. The factors responsible for such a high rate of childhood mortality are poor hygiene, poor nutrition, inadequate prenatal care/improper birth practices, lack of accessibility to preventive healthcare services, and lack of knowledge.

2.2 Million children in the developing countries die because of inadequate vaccination. [Ref.]


Out of the 6 billion population in the world, 2.6 billion live without adequate sanitation. Diarrhea alone kills some 1.8 million children each year. About fifty percent of the people in developing countries suffer from sanitation related health problems at any given time.
Of the 6 billion world’s population, 2.2 billion are children, and 1 billion children live in poverty. About half a million women give up their lives every year while trying to bring a new life to the world. More than 99 percent of this maternal death occurs in developing countries.


75 million school-aged children were out of school in 2006, about two-thirds of them live in the developing countries, and more than half of them are girls. UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring report states that the number of children starting primary education has increased sharply in last decade, and more girls have been admitted in the school than ever before. However, the poor quality, high cost of schooling and the persistent adult illiteracy are hindrances to achieving Education For All by 2015 goal.

According to the UNESCO International Statistics data, there are approximately 774 Million adults in the world who are illiterate, 64% of them are women.

 

Why are these statistics important?

It is an undisputed fact that education is essential component of overall human and social development. Education helps individuals better understand themselves and their surroundings, and prepare them to fight the battle against poverty, ignorance, and physical ailments. Education and health are interrelated, as are poverty and diseases. Education provides knowledge, and knowledge is ‘power’. Lack of education means lack of power. Lack of education limits the potential for economic growth; low income combined with lack of knowledge contributes to poor health; unhealthy individuals have lowest economic opportunities, and the cycle repeats. An educated society consists of healthy citizens and higher per capita income.

Investment in health alone or education alone will not bring significant changes, therefore, we must emphasize on both components equally. The goal of immunizing all newborn against certain diseases will only be successful if the parents (or the significant care providers) have been educated on and understand the importance of vaccination. Similarly, the goal of enrolling all school-age children in the primary school will only be successful if the children are mentally and physically fit for the class. A severely malnourished child or a child suffering from a communicable disease may not be able to participate in educational activities unless his/her pre-existing health condition is addressed properly.
 

What do we want to achieve?


Binaytara Foundation strives to bring positive changes in people’s life by promoting health and education. We want to change the statistics above. We want to help the underprivileged child in the slum or the homeless child on the street to be able to read, write and better prepare him/herself for an overall personal economic, and social development in his/her adult life. We want to prevent hundreds of thousands of those children from dying due to poor nutrition, poor hygiene, poor knowledge, and poor income. We believe no human should have to die of preventable health problems or be denied the opportunities to strengthen their potentials through the power of knowledge. Education emits light in people’s life and brings smile in faces that were lost in the darkness for decades.

Therefore, Binaytara Foundation wants to collaborate with individuals and organizations globally to defeat the world’s biggest enemies against humans- Illiteracy and Diseases.