Who We Are
Amcariza Foundation, is a British charity – with one mission. To donate grants or fund the needy, who are in crisis or conflict but in a way that dignifies them and their sponsor. Run by ordinary people who got together, to find a new way of celebrating and helping developing countries.
Our name combines the initials and names of two significant local individuals: AMC and Ariza. It carries on the legacy of one man. The late Al-Haj Abdul Muquith Choudhury (AMC), who was born in Sylhet, the land of his landowning ancestors, AMC is the father of Amcariza’s founder Yasmin Choudhury.
Ariza was the mother of AMC and his 7 brothers. She fell on hard times after her husband died, leaving her a widow at a young age. In the 1950s initial philanthropic work for a rural village was initiated by AMC’s older brother, who later died in the 1960s.
And so, AMC left Bangladesh to emigrate to the UK in the 1950s. After decades of assisting the poor, he died on March 23, 2004 after a horrific road accident. Amcariza was set up by Yasmin, to streamline the charitable requests and activities originally undertaken by AMC, including a girl’s rural village school he had founded. He left 1/3 of his Bangladesh estate, which the charity is seeking to now administer.
What We Do
- Farming and vegetable planting.
- Fishery knowledge.
- Supporting local artisans.
- Rehabilitation of street orphans and prostitutes*
- Training and education for schoolkids.
- Basic shelter
- Repairs to tools.
- Food hygiene.
- Basic Medical assistance for elderly or vulnerable.
- Sponsoring single mothers, child labourers, orphans and street kids to access labour skills.
- Victims of Domestic violence.
METHODOLOGY
We never provide cash into the hands of locals – unless it is an exception and they are destitute.
We log charitable requests and then review and prioritise a list of beneficiaries after painstakingly enquiring, checking and thoroughly vetting their circumstances.
HELP ME, HELP OTHERS
Only those who are vetted and assessed as being without access to financial funding are helped.
Wherever possible, we ask locals to sponsor, to donate their time or skills to others. We teach those who your money helps, to help others too. For example, we will provide tutors to the children of locals; in turn they could suggest to water or tend to crops for an elderly person. So we create a positive intergrated community spirit.
We also will request the Muslim community every year, to donate to us Zakat – the annual Muslim ritual to assist the poor. Or Eid Ul Adha donations.
Why Support Us?
Amcariza’s mission is to rescue people from poverty. Caused by conflict or crisis. And to prevent poor people from getting loans or further into debt. As our founder is the owner of a luxury fashion brand called Lovedesh, we also support artisans in order to protect, preserve their heritage skills.
We socially mobilise refugees, local artisans, rural farmers and villagers, poverty-stricken folks, by working directly, at grassroots level. Volunteers are mostly local Bangladeshis and led by founder, Yasmin Choudhury, herself a British citizen who is of Bangladeshi heritage. She can speak the local dialect and is well known amongst the local people we work with.
As the founder of Amcariza, Yasmin is tied to her local ancestral village in Bangladesh by her blood heritage. A key component to effect change and gain trust from locals. Once a beneficiary has benefited, we move them on and away from the foundation to ensure dependency is not formed and that they serve as an example to others, of how hard work and commitment can change lives.
The goodwill and trust we garner at the grassroots level, allows us to get projects up and running quickly to help us effect change. As a charity, this is what makes us unique. And we also work to protect and preserve heritage skills such as Tatreez the cultural embroidery technique unique to Palestine as well as Jamdani, the ancient art of muslin weaving in Bangladesh. Please support us?