You might take a car, a bus, or a bike to school. But in Bangladesh, instead of waiting for a school bus to come down their street, many students wait for a school boat to come down the river. That's right—these students attend school on a boat!

Bangladesh is very close to sea level. 【小题1】The flooding creates many problems. For the nearly 160 million people living there, the periodic flooding means that they are often unable to access roads, electricity, or telephones.

Growing up in Bangladesh, Mohammed Rezwan was often troubled by these disruptions(破坏). 【小题2】The name means“self-reliance (自力更生). ”The purpose of the organization is to help the people of Bangladesh receive an education and also to bring technology and an improved quality of life to poor people in remote areas of the country. In 2002, Rezwan began transforming boats into schools. Each boat was built to house between 30 and 35 students. The boats had everything you might find in a regular classroom. The only difference was that they floated on a river.

【小题3】Today Rezwan and his organization operate 88 boats in northern Bangladesh. About half the boats are used as schools, and the other half are used as temporary houses during the flood season. In addition to the schools and the temporary housing, there are also a floating technology and training center, a library that allows students to check out books,and a health-care center. The school boats travel along the rivers and pick up students for classes that include computer technology, agriculture, and human rights.

At night the boats provide additional learning opportunities for students and adults. 【小题4】They study using solar lamps that are charged during the day at stations near the river. Special equipment on the boats also projects lessons onto big screens made from sailcloth. People can come down to the river bank to watch films. In all, these boats help educate close to 90,000 families in Bangladesh.

By floating down the rivers, the school boats provide more than books. 【小题5】"'This ‘library’ boat inspired me," said 18-year- old student Shanto Islam, who enjoys reading science fiction books. “I started to dream.”Islam now wants to attend a university.

Volunteer Day

What better way is there to enjoy your own hobbies while helping others at the same time? Come to Volunteer Day and choose which activity you’d like to join for the day. See below for a schedule of events on Volunteer Day.

Volunteer Day schedule:

7:30a.m.: Meet at the Community (社区) Center for juice and bagels.

8:00—8:30 a.m.: Choose which activity you’d like to help with for the day.

8:30 a.m.: Board the bus to your activity site.

9:00 a.m.—3:30 p.m.: Work as a volunteer.

3:30 p.m.: Board the bus that will take you back to the Community Center.

See below for a list of volunteer opportunities for Volunteer Day so you can begin thinking about which activity you might want to join.

A list of volunteer activities:

Paint houses: Do you enjoy making art? If so, this volunteer opportunity might be just right for you! Happy Homes is a local organization that provides home repairs for needy people in the form of painting. For elderly or physically disabled people who cannot do repairs to their homes, Happy Homes provides volunteer painters to repaint old homes; outside or in. Happy Homes also provides painters to create beautiful wall paintings inside schools or community centers.

Plant flowers: Do you enjoy being outside in nature? City Parks Association has many great opportunities for people who love to be outdoors. Help plant flowers and bushes in city parks; help lay paths at Cave Springs Park, or help pick up rubbish around the river banks. These activities are very active, so remember to be prepared with plenty of drinking water!

Read to children: Do you enjoy working with young children? Do you like books? Love and Learning is an organization that provides volunteers to help children with learning disabilities. Read books out loud to groups of children four to six years old, or read one-on-one with struggling readers seven to eight years old.

Play with animals: Do you love animals? Lovely Friends is an organization that visits local animal shelters and provides volunteers to spend time with the animals while their cages are being cleaned. Play with puppies, snuggle with cats, or hand-feed rabbits.

Andrew Baldock and his friend Jason Baird decided to wear Spider-Man suits for the daily jog to cheer up locked-down children in their town, Stockport. They never expected such a huge response. The “Stockport Spider-Men” had soon achieved global levels of fame, making headlines from India to Canada.

“We were promoting staying home, staying safe and keeping a distance. We were helping get the message out there,” Baldock says. “A lot of parents were saying, ‘You’ve made my kids’ day—they have not stopped talking about it.’”

“We’ll walk down the street and even if we’re not in Spider-Man costume, people will recognise us, shout out and beep their horn,” says Baldock, “We’ve been all over the world with it—Baird did an interview with ABC News in Chicago. It’s so strange to think pictures of us are being seen by people in these faraway countries.”

Children started drawing pictures of their favourite characters to stick in their windows and dressing up themselves.

“I do believe it’s brought Stockport closer together,” says 35-year-old Baird.

A Facebook group was set up, attracting thousands of members, and the two decided to use it to raise funds for the NHS (National Health Service). “The original fundraising target was only £1,000, and we beat that in a week. In the end we raised about £62,000,” Baldock says. “It kept us busy and positive. I believe if we hadn’t been doing that, our mindsets would have been in a very bad place. There’s no better joy than bringing joy to other people. It made me feel like Spider-Man—we were out saving the day.”