Korvi Rakshand founded JAAGO Foundation in 2007 to provide education to underprivileged children in Bangladesh. He started with 17 children in a single rented room and has since expanded to 8 schools educating 1400 children. JAAGO also undertakes health, nutrition, and social development projects to improve lives. In addition, JAAGO's Volunteer for Bangladesh program inspires youth volunteerism and community development projects across Bangladesh with over 10,000 volunteers. JAAGO aims to expand to provide free, quality education to underprivileged children nationwide and fulfill its vision of rebuilding Bangladesh through education.

1. JAAGO’s Story- From 2007 to 2013
- Raisa Tamanna Khan
In Bangladesh, 31.5% of the total population has to live below the poverty line and this
impoverished population is deprived of education, health and other basic rights. In Urban areas,
28% people live below the poverty line and they are predestined to live a low standard life
deprived of most necessary needs. The Government and Non-Government initiatives
undertaken so far seem to be inadequate to diminish these increasing problems of poverty and
illiteracy in our country.
However, a matter of hope is that the youth of our country is coming up with ideas and
attempts to improve the conditions of the urban poor. Korvi Rakshand is one of the
inspirational youths who decided to dedicate his life towards bringing improvements in the
lives of the impoverished people of our nation through breaking the cycle of illiteracy and
poverty.
As he belongs to a business family, everyone around him expected Korvi Rakshand to join
family business just after the completion of his studies. But, to everyone’s utter surprise, he
started working for the betterment of education of the urban slum children to bring a positive
and sustainable change in the lives of the despondent people of the society. Along with some
of his university friends who believe in the same cause as Rakshand does, he headed towards a
new and humble journey of his life with the vision of rebuilding the nation through educating
the future generation of Bangladesh.
JAAGO’s idea first commenced with a small yet significant incident in Korvi Rakshand’s life.
While travelling to Sylhet for a philanthropic activity, Korvi Rakshand met a group of children
and spent the whole day with them eating, playing and conversing with the innocent kids. After
a day full of joy when Rakshand stood up to leave the room bidding farewell to the kids, one
little girl came forward and held Korvi’s hand staring at his face. The girl suddenly uttered two
simple sentences that transformed Korvi into a different person from that very moment! The
girl, with all her naivety said, “I do not have a father. Will you please be my father?” That was
not only an emotional moment for him but also a moment of epiphany when Korvi was startled
with the innocence of these children and decided to dedicate the rest of his life for the
betterment of the underprivileged children of our nation.
Therefore, Rakshand started building his story of JAAGO that was first originated in a rented
single room of the Rayer Bazar slum area in the year 2007. The founder Korvi Rakshand set off
in the mission of changing the lives of the underprivileged by starting a school with 17 children
from the surrounding areas on November 2007. In this journey, he got support from some of

2. his benevolent friends whose financial contribution helped Korvi to educate these children and
to fulfill his dream. That year, the single-room contained one white board, a marker and a little
mat for the children to sit on. Now after six years, the Rayer Bazar free-of-cost English Medium
School is running successfully with 600 underprivileged children.
JAAGO Foundation was not meant to limit its boundary within one school only. Therefore, the
founder’s ambitious vision of opening a free-of-cost English Medium School in each of the
districts of Bangladesh is being achieved gradually with the expansion of JAAGO Foundation
School by adding new branches every year. By March 2011, JAAGO opened another school in
the Karail slum area of Banani. Followed by the launching of its second school in Karail, the
organization opened its first online school in Gazipur in September 2011. With the inauguration
of its first ever online school, JAAGO Foundation kicked off its innovative and revolutionary
endeavor of educating the underprivileged children from a distant location where skilled
teachers are unavailable. JAAGO constantly thrives to expand its territory by ensuring quality
education for more underprivileged families on a large scale. Therefore, the organization
continued to reach more districts outside Dhaka by building schools in Chittagong, Rajshahi,
Gaibandha, Madaripur, Bandarban. To date, JAAGO Schools are now being operated with a
total number of 1400 deprived children in its eight schools.
JAAGO Foundation does not only focus on the education of the poor but also its projects
extended to health, nutrition, environment, social conditions and sustainable development in
the lives of the underprivileged people. Therefore, JAAGO undertook some supporting projects
titled Healthy Living, First Aid Center, Call for Hygiene and Sewing Center to bring
improvements in the lives of its beneficiaries.
Apart from growing as an organization, JAAGO Foundation profoundly believes in nurturing the
potentials of the children enrolled in JAAGO schools. As part of this endeavor, a bright student
of JAAGO Foundation, Suborna Bithi, attended a three day long conference titled SAARC
UNICEF Regional Policy Dialogue on Adolescents as one of the selected panelists. Belonging to a
disadvantaged family and living in a shabby house of Rayer Bazar slum, 4th
grader Bithi could
not even dreamt of travelling abroad at such a tender age and discussing her thoughts in front
of the expert panelists in an international conference. Like Bithi’s ecstatic journey to Nepal,
JAAGO Foundation wants to give wings to thousands of little dreams that are being weaved in
the slums of Rayer Bazar, in the stingy roads of Karail slum, in the remoteness of Bandarban
and in every nook and corner of Bangladesh.
In addition to the organization’s education program and supporting projects, JAAGO
Foundation initiated its first ever volunteer wing Volunteer for Bangladesh (VBD) in 2011 to
inspire and recognize the spirit of youth and to encourage the youth of our nation to work
together for bringing positive changes in our society. VBD is a nationwide alliance of young
volunteers and volunteer groups who are dedicated to work for effective awareness as well as

3. fundraising projects throughout the country focusing on the issues of poverty, children’s rights,
education, gender equality, health and nutrition, environment and community development.
Currently, with support from U.S. Embassy, Dhaka, VBD has successfully established 21
Volunteer Action Groups throughout the country independently running their own projects
under the supervision of a local district board. At present, more than 10,000 registered
volunteers from home and abroad are actively working for VBD.
Korvi Rakshand, the founder and chairman of JAAGO Foundation, has been recognized for his
extraordinary accomplishments in the fields of education, volunteerism and development of
the urban poor of our nation. He was awarded the International Visitor Leadership Program
(IVLP) and Mosaic International Award in 2010. The founder also participated in the
Transatlantic Forum on Migration and Integration (TFMI) Annual Conference in the same year.
Some of the other achievements of Korvi include his involvement in the 6th
World Congress on
Family Law and Children’s Rights in Australia, Opportunity Collaboration in Mexico and Global
Youth Network Co-Design Workshop in England. Recently, Korvi has reached another significant
milestone in 2013 by being selected as one of the top 99 under 33 Foreign Policy Leaders. The
“Top 99 under 33 Foreign Policy Leader” program was held in Washington D.C. in this year. The
list of Korvi’s achievements goes beyond the above mentioned ones as he has been selected as
one of the sixteen finalists for the Commonwealth Youth Awards 2013 for Excellence in
Development.
JAAGO Foundation has grown into a registered civil society organization working for the
sustainable development in the lives of the poverty-stricken unfortunate community of
Bangladesh from a humble single-room school in Rayer Bazar. Currently, the organization
stands upright with the eight schools already running gloriously with 1400 children ensuring
quality education and a better life for them. Moreover, the organization is touching the lives of
the impoverished children’s families and other distressed population through activating its
supporting projects. Korvi’s initiative of educating the slum children in Rayer Bazar has now
turned into a gigantic promise and an ambitious dream of removing the roots of illiteracy from
our nation by educating every child to rebuild a poverty-free Bangladesh.