But yesterday, the country turned into a donor when the common people of this disaster-prone nation extended a helping hand to the victims of tsunami that affected a number of Asian countries recently.

In addition to government assistance, the civil society of Bangladesh collected Tk 3.78 crore as general contribution of the ordinary people for tsunami victims in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives.

Hundreds of school children took part in fund collection campaigns and contributed to the fund by saving money from their tiffin and birthday budget.

Poor village women and micro-credit borrowers of non-government organisations also contributed to the fund as a gesture of fellow feelings for the victims who lost their relatives, houses and other properties in the disaster.

Ambassador of Indonesia Warmas Hasan Saputra, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Gamini S Munasinghe, and a high official of Indian High Commission Ajit Kumar formally accepted the money at a simple ceremony at Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation (PKSF) boardroom.

They expressed their heart-felt gratitude to the common people of Bangladesh for standing beside the victims during their sufferings.

CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan, PKSF Managing Director Salehuddin Ahmed, and Brac Executive Director Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion.

South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACFPS) and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) took the initiative to raise the funds from civil society of Bangladesh in support of the tsunami victims.

Brac, PKSF, CPD, DCCI, ICCB, Citibank and Sunbeams School widely took part in the donation. Orchi, a schoolgirl from Kalabagan, alone contributed Tk 1,000 from her personal savings.

A total of 125 NGOs participated in fund collection under the leadership of the PKSF.