OBAT Helpers is a non-profit, 501(C) 3 organization committed to providing aid, support, education and economic empowerment to the displaced Bihari population residing in camps in Bangladesh. Commonly known as stranded Pakistanis, they have been suffering silently in the many shanty camps across Bangladesh for the past 40 years. They are stateless as they are unclaimed by the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan. There are about 300,000 Biharis languishing in the sixty-six makeshift camps in extremely poor conditions. They are a population living in abject poverty with no access to basic amenities or sanitation facilities.
OBAT Helpers was initially formed as a family initiative to alleviate the suffering of the displaced Biharis, in a limited manner. In fact, OBAT is an acronym formed by the first letters of the names of the parents (Obaid, Bilquis, Aman & Tayyaba) of Anwar and Afshan Khan, the founders of this charitable initiative. However, once these forgotten people were chosen as the immediate relief focus, the founders realized that a family initiative like theirs would be rendered totally ineffective due to the extreme severity and magnitude of the crisis on hand.
OBAT Helpers was thus incorporated as a non-profit, a non-religious, and non-political organization in the state of Indiana. Currently, we are focusing our energies on building and providing basic amenities and decent living conditions for the camp dwellers. Presently education and economic empowerment are the areas of focus. The emphasis is on providing them with the tools to help themselves and their fellow beings in the community, in the most effective manner. We believe that a judicious and strategic mix of aid, education, vocational training and self empowerment initiatives will help us achieve this objective.
OBAT Helpers as a non-profit organization is solely dependent upon donations and volunteer support to carry out its programs and activities.