Fieldwork – Shapla Community

In the search for biological family, the field workers play a very important role. Due to the geographical distance, the different language/culture and the number of cases we work on, it is practically impossible to follow all leads without help.

That is why we use local people for this. They come from the region, speak the language/dialect and can therefore more easily generate the much-needed trust.

Shapla has partnered with Lef4Life in Bangladesh, and their students will follow leads, conduct interviews and hopefully solve many cases successfully, under our coordination.

On November 21st, the time had come. The first part of the training. It was a very interesting day with a lively discussion about adoption and its history in Bangladesh.
Part two was about Shapla. Who are we, what do we do, what services do we offer. What was important here was what processes do we have; accuracy and reliability are very important in searches (we want to prevent things like a well-known TV program).

After the theoretical part was completed, it was time for practical exercises.

With the help of different helpers, each playing a different role (e.g. a Bengali mother, a villager, etc.), we had the students play out different scenarios.

After each round, a group was allowed to present their findings and feedback was given by the 'actors'.

As a final part, we took two students to Jamalpur/Mymensingh to work on a few real cases for practical experience under our supervision. It became two very intensive days in which we saw a lot of Bangladesh and even took steps in the right direction for these cases.

These were inspiring and stimulating days in which we engaged with the students in English and Bengali.

Thanks again to everyone who made the training possible and contributed: our team members, the team members of Lef4Life and of course all the students!

Dedicated field workers are working tirelessly to reunite families, despite scorching heat, pouring rain and challenging conditions, they persevere in their noble mission.

We express our appreciation for their incredible dedication. Together we will continue to ensure that this vital work can continue and possibly bring some relief to those who yearn to be reunited with their families.

Nothing will stop us. We are determined to bring you back to your families, no matter what challenges we face. We understand the deep longing and emotions that come with this, and we are ready to fight for your reunion.