No chairs or tables in sight. But people will be seen sitting on the pavement, waiting for a covered van in Dhaka’s Tejgaon, Banani, and Kamalapur every day.
At 2:30pm, the van arrives and parks beside the pavement. Then volunteers get out of the vehicle and approach those who are waiting one by one – starts taking note of their name, age and what good deed they performed that day.
“Bhalo Kajer Hotel” – mainly designed for the rootless, helpless, and street children – does not bill its guests. It arranges food for 600 to 700 poor and low-income people every day in an open space. They do not need money to eat here; all they need is at least one good deed for the day. However, if one fails to perform a good deed, the hotel still feeds such people. But they must do two good deeds the next day.
Bhalo Kajer Hotel: Where each good deed is worth a free meal
Mainly dishes like khichuri, pilao or white rice with egg curry, vegetables and meat are served. The organisers try to change the menu every other day. On Fridays, they have special items like chicken roast with pilao.
From a belief that people around the world choose to do bad things mostly because of hunger, Youth for Bangladesh launched the initiative in December 2019, before Covid-19 hit the country.
Bhalo Kajer Hotel: Where each good deed is worth a free meal
Starting with 150 people a day, the organisation now feeds more than 600 to 700 people per day. According to team members, the initiative now has 1,600 members and almost 4,000 volunteers.
Source: United News of Bangladesh