Bangladesh is a poor country and most of the population lives below poverty level. There are many distressed families among the poor those who are unable to nurture their children due extreme poverty. These kids are deprived of basic needs like food, shelter and education. Their growing number is a great concern for the society. ORCA, the organization of the ex cadet's of Rajshahi Cadet College strongly feels for these children. We consider that it is our responsibility to do something for these marooned children. Keeping this in mind, the idea of 'ORCA HOMES' was floated in 1999 by the members of Chittagong ORCA.

There are about forty members of ORCA Ctg chapter. Most of them are from Bangladesh Navy. There are also members in Bangladesh Army, Air Force and in the civil society. There is an elected body that decides yearly program and activities of the organization. We seat every quarterly for our future action. The members pay a monthly contribution for the organization.

In Apr 2001, a residence was hired in Patenga, Ctg (opposite to Ctg steel mills ltd) to accommodate the children of ORCA HOMES. The location was chosen close to Ctg Navy as we always had some naval members who would take care of the boys. The house stands on a land of about 5 katha (quarter bigha ). It has four small family quarters. Each quarter has two rooms and a toilette. There is a small yard in front of the quarters. Two of the quarters were made accommodation for the children, one was made study room and store then another one was kept to lodge the caretaker and cook. Most of the living materials like cot, mattresses, utensils etc were collected as charity from the members. Twelve (12) orphan boys, mostly of tender age were collected from different parts of the country. A caretaker and a cook were also appointed to run the institution. Thus the noble venture received its initial momentum.

The children wake up at 5:30 and offers morning prayer. Then they go for PT (Physical Exercise). After that they take breakfast and prepares for school. All of them go to a local primary school. Most of the boys read in between class III-V. They return to homes at around 2 pm. After taking lunch they offer johr prayer and then go for a nap. Subsequently they are to assemble in study room for studies by 3 pm. They are to study the Quran for half an hour after asr prayer. Then they go out for games. They come back to homes before magrib. They take shower, offer prayer and start preparation for next day's school. A young dedicated tutor has been appointed for them recently. Dinner is served in between 8-9 pm. Then they offer esha after which they are given one hour time to watch TV.
The daily program has been chalked out considering the daily events of a cadet of Cadet College. In addition, recitation from holy Quran and the salat has been made compulsory.

A yearly program is also set which includes different kinds of games and sports, cultural events, publication of magazines and educational tours.

The physician members of ORCA Ctg provide the medical coverage.

Regular inspection of the accommodation by a nominated ORCA member is carried out to look after hygiene of the children and their living standard.

The homes have one caretaker who looks after overall administration. He receives guidance from the committee. The tutor is responsible for studies and other daily and yearly activities. Other than them, there is a cook for daily cooking.

The daily running cost expended is mainly for food. Approximately Tk 7000/00 per month is spent for purchase of foodstuff, namely vegetable. The monthly expense includes house rent (Tk 6000/00), salary of the staff (Tk 7000/00 approx). The occasional expenditure is for cloth, school gears for the children etc. At present, the total running cost is Tk 20,000/00 per month.

It should be mentioned that the actual monthly expenditure would exceed Tk 30,000/00. Every month, a good quantity of ration is collected from the officers and sailors of Bangladesh Navy. Moreover, every month 2-3 sacrificial animals are also received from Navy. ORCA North America pays the monthly house rent. The other expenditures are met from monthly contribution of the members of Ctg area and other donations.

At the beginning, the committee had planned to increase the number of children to 100 step by step. We also thought of having own land and accommodation for homes. Our final goal was to launch a technical school in the homes premises and train the boys there. The aim had been to train the children and establish them in the society.

The establishment of such a noble venture was obviously a great success. Twelve children, those who were burden for their parents are being brought up for last about five years and they are doing good result in the school. They are also living a healthy living, which is unexpected in the poor society.

The initial momentum was excellent, but the speed was restricted due to loss of effort and scarcity of fund. Most of the founder members are now out of Ctg and adequate fund could not be generated due to lack of initiative. There is also lack of close supervision of the children which is essential for sound physical and mental development of the children.

Followings are essential to revamp the institution:

• Purchase of Land : A piece of land of around at least one bigha (33 decimal) may be purchased to build own infrastructure. This land also includes playground for the children. If we don't buy enough land, we would not be able to carry out future expansion. The minimum cost of one bigha of land would be Tk 30 lacs (low land, without road communication). The price may be up to Tk one crore when the land is high and beside road.
• Construction of Accommodation : he present accommodation can only support 12-16 children. In the first stage, a building may be constructed to accommodate at least 30 children. The construction of a tin shed building would cost Tk 10 lacs.
• Source of Permanent Income : If would be best if we can arrange something which would bring regular income for the organization. Making few low cost houses and renting it to local population can be a good option. Shortage of house is very acute in Ctg area. This is because of rapid growth of Ctg EPZ (Export Processing Zone).

'ORCA HOMES' is a gracious endeavor to mitigate the sufferings of the destitute children of the society. Work for the humanity is considered one of the best deeds as declared by the Almighty. Let us make an all out effort to help the expansion of the institute.