Students in a HAKF-supported classroom holding new school backpacks

Breaking barriers, building futures

From relief to opportunity. From camps to communities.

For fifty-five years, a quarter of a million people have lived in Bangladesh's camps on relief that never changed the equation. The H.A. Kalam Foundation is building the bridge out — education, skills, and real livelihoods, delivered together.

A registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit · Tax ID 92-0798391 · Your donation is tax deductible

5Pre-primary centers operating
376Pre-primary places budgeted
30Students on scholarship
50Adult literacy learners
130Women targeted for sewing training
96IT training seats

Our model

Education is the start of the pathway, not the end of it

Most programs stop at training. Ours is designed so each stage hands off to the next, until a family no longer needs the programme at all.

Education

Pre-primary through Grade VIII, plus adult literacy

Skills

IT training, sewing centers, vocational programs

Employment

Placement and employer linkages for graduates

Sustainable income

Microfinance and small-enterprise development

Empowerment

Families independent of relief entirely

Students in school uniform lined up for morning assembly Morning assembly

Our mission

Every person deserves the opportunity to thrive

The H.A. Kalam Foundation empowers underprivileged communities by providing essential resources and opportunities for holistic development. We work to foster sustainable livelihoods, promote education, enhance healthcare access, and cultivate a culture of resilience and self-reliance.

Through collaborative efforts and innovative solutions, we aim to alleviate poverty, eradicate illiteracy, and address pressing social challenges — ensuring a brighter future for all.

Vision 2040

Breaking barriers. Building futures.

A multi-year strategy to reach the tipping point on full education, empowerment and integration of Bangladesh's Urdu-speaking camp communities — not charity, not temporary relief, but dignity restored and barriers removed.

250,000 People still living in camps
116 Camps across Bangladesh
9 Districts involved
55 Years since 1971

From the field

The work, as it actually looks

View the full gallery

Support the work

Choose where your giving goes

Each area meets a critical need at a different stage of life and community development.

Full-time school

Free or highly subsidised education and learning resources, so financial hardship never stands between a child and their future.

Give to schooling

Education projects

IT training and professional upskilling across underserved communities — the resources that turn schooling into employability.

Give to projects

Economic empowerment

Direct financial relief for families in need, plus vocational upskilling that moves households toward long-term self-sufficiency.

Give to empowerment