I was fortunate to meet Samsul Alam Rifat, the founder of Genesis Foundation. Let’s hear from him about his initiative.
First of all, tell us about Genesis Foundation.
Genesis Foundation is a non – profit organization that does social work trying to contribute to our society. We, the members of this foundation are contributing for the betterment of our society by doing some social work such as building up libraries in institutions, donating blood in places to save valuable lives, donating clothes and necessary items to orphanages; flood-affected areas and specially to the people shivering with bitter cold and for the people living in old homes separated by their children.
What made you come up with this initiative?
When I started to understand social inequalities and the never-ending problems around us all, I thought it should be changed. Like when I saw an uncovered hole in our daily used roads, I felt unhappy as it could cause accidents to us. By having such examples like these common incidents, I had a mindset to do something for society. It’s always better to do work together as it saves time and energy and brings harmony. I can say the idea of this foundation grew up day by day.
Tell us about some programs of Genesis Foundation.
There are some very encouraging success stories of our Genesis Foundation. We have donated Punjabis which in some of the orphanages in Dhaka before the Eid festival.
Donating Punjabis among the orphanages
We executed a program of having iftar together with the orphanage kids last Ramadan. We are building up libraries in schools. Last year we donated clothes for the people shivering with bitter cold in Kurigram.
Donating Clothes in Kurigram
How do you manage your time to balance your work and academics?
Actually, managing time for my foundation is not a big deal. If you have dedication to do something you can always manage time for it as I did. I fixed a suitable time for my work separated by my study time. During the event times, I try to utilize time more effectively regarding my time duration. So, all in all, it is not quite hard.
What is your future plan with Genesis Foundation?
If we work together, I think we will be able to build up a school with all kinds of facilities for the people who are deprived of education. There will be Islamic, English language facilities along with technical opportunities where the students will be well qualified for jobs and betterment of our country.
We are planning for some development projects for orphanage kids and old home people. And yes, we have a big dream to go ahead with our library project where we will try to build libraries in every possible school in Bangladesh.
Any piece of advice or message would you like to give to the youth?
Look, it’s never too late to start doing something good for our family, society, and country. You can do any good work which can end up being great. You can start it by helping your mother even. Try to avoid all negative thoughts, and life will be beautiful for you and for our country too.