BAFA is a 501(c)(3) Non-profit Organization, EIN 47-5660177
Community News
Bijoy Dibosh Celebration - December 16, 2023
As you all know, the 16th of December is the Victory Day of our homeland Bangladesh. Fifty-one years ago, on this day, Bangladesh became independent by defeating the Pakistani occupation forces after the nine-month-long liberation war. Millions of people sacrificed their lives for our home country. To commemorate their sacrifices and celebrate the victory, the Bangladeshi American Foundation of Albany (BAFA) will organize an event on Saturday, Dec 16, 2023.
Upcoming BAFA Events:
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Bijoy Dibosh Celebration - December 16, 2023
The SUNY Prepare Innovation and Internship Seed Grant Program Recognized BAFA:
COMMUNICATING HEALTH MESSAGES WITHIN CULTURALLY AND COMMUNICATING HEALTH MESSAGES WITHIN CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE (CALD) COMMUNITIES
BAFA collaboration in Research Study with SUNY Albany on COVID-19
We are thrilled to share that BAFA agreed to participate in Research Study with SUNY Albany on COVID-19. This research aims to facilitate communication of clear health messages to those who speak Bengali (with no or limited English proficiency) and examine communication strategies that effectively reduce the burden of the pandemic. The findings of this research will raise the awareness of healthcare providers about how to adapt mainstream messages to our Bangladeshi community's needs, which would result in a more responsive system of healthcare.
This study will benefit our Bangladeshi Community. Therefore, your participation is extremely important for our community. Please see attached document.
Please stay tuned, and we will share more details soon.
We are delighted to announce that BAFA achieved another milestone. University at Albany, State University of New York, acknowledged BAFA in a recently published research paper. The publication was on “Communicating Health Messages Within Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities."
Our community members participated in that research survey through BAFA. Our sincere appreciation to our community members who participated in that survey. To learn more about the finding of that research paper, please view the following links:
We would also like to inform you that the recent research conducted by SUNY showed that 13.3 % of the Bangladeshi community increased their knowledge after watching COVID 19 videos in their native language. As you know, during the early phase of COVID 19, BAFA published many educational videos and information for our community members on the BAFA's website in both Bangla and English language. Please feel free to visit the following links to learn more:
One of our missions as an organization is to act as an information-sharing platform and we are maintaining our goals because of your tremendous support.
https://www.nybafa.org/about_us
কমিউনিটির সম্মানিত প্রিয় সদস্যবৃন্দ,
আমরা অত্যন্ত আনন্দের সাথে জানাচ্ছি যে, SUNY Albany' র COVID-19 সংক্রান্ত একটি গবেষনার সাথে BAFA অংশগ্রহণ করতে সম্মত হয়েছে। এই গবেষণার লক্ষ্য হলো, যারা মূলতঃ বাংলা (যাদের ইংরেজি ভাষায় দক্ষতার সীমাবদ্ধতা আছে) ভাষায় কথা বলে, তাদের জন্য মহামারীটির স্বাস্থ্যবিধি সংক্রান্ত বার্তাগুলির মর্মাথ্য সহজতর করা এবং উক্ত জনগোষ্ঠীর সাথে যোগাযোগের ভাষা সহজতর করা, যাতে বাংলা ভাষাভাষী জনগোষ্ঠী এই মহামারীটির গতিবিধি বুঝতে পারে, ও প্রয়োজনীয় পদক্ষেপ গ্রহণ করতে পারে। এই গবেষণার ফলাফল, আমাদের বাংলাদেশী সম্প্রদায়ের প্রয়োজনের সাথে, মূলধারার বার্তাগুলিকে অতি সহজেই অভিযোজিত করতে পারবে, এবং সে সম্পর্কে স্বাস্থ্যসেবা সরবরাহকারীদের মাঝে সচেতনতা বাড়িয়ে তুলবে, যা বর্তমান স্বাস্থ্যসেবাকে আরও কার্যকরী ভূমিকা রাখতে সাহায্য করবে।
এই গবেষণাটি আমাদের বাংলাদেশী সম্প্রদায়ের জন্য অত্যন্ত প্রয়োজনীয় ও উপকারী। সূতরাং এই গবেষণায়, আপনার আমার অংশগ্রহণ আমাদের সম্প্রদায়ের জন্য অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ।
BAFA collaboration in Research Study with SUNY Albany on COVID-19
Dear Community Members,
As many of you know, there has been a recent outbreak of “coronavirus disease 2019”.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responding to this outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in China. It has been detected in almost 90 locations internationally, including in the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency to make it easier to respond to the outbreak. He announced a series of actions to raise awareness and prepare New York State in response to this outbreak of a novel coronavirus. There were two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Saratoga County.
The 2019 novel coronavirus may cause mild to severe respiratory symptoms like fever, cough, and shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, staying home if you are sick, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.
We are advising to be cautious and conscious about this recent outbreak. We are sharing some useful links for your convenience.
The following are the final results of the BAFA Election for 2020-2021 Term.
Board of Directors:
Chairman: Modasser Hussain
Vice-Chairman: Abdullah Khan
President: Tania Manir
Vice President: Humayun Kabir (junior)
General Secretary: Sohel Ahmed
Secretary (Finance): Abul Basar
Secretary (Culture): Mizanur Rahman Prodhan
Director (s): Rahim Badshah
Advisors (as of 3/7/2020)
Sonjoy Sikder (Coordinator)
Humayun Kabir (senior)
Zabed Manir
Effective as of this announcement, the above mentioned members of BAFA shall take charge of their respective offices. Please join me in congratulating them.
Sincerely,
Ratan M. Huda
On behalf of:
BAFA BOD 2018-19
Appreciation Message to BAFA
Dear BAFA officials/members,
On behalf of my family I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all respected BAFA Officials and it's members for being with us during our most difficult time.
All of your prayers, well wishes and moral supports helped us to keep our mental strengths as strong as possible during our most saddest time. Without your support I couldn't have been done all the burial process for my dad's peaceful journey (May Allah grant him Jannah!) towards great Almighty Allah.
Through BAFA, I also would like to thank all the brothers and sisters as well as all other respected members of our greater community for their prayers, well wishes and sincere supports during this time.
May Allah accept all of your good deeds...ameen!
Best Regards,
Rahim Badshah
Reaching out to OBAC for uniting the Community
To:
Masud Khandaker, Chairman
Mahmud Khan, President
Organization of Bangladeshi American Community (OBAC), Albany, New York
Cc: Entire community
Subject: Uniting the Community
Dear Fellows:
With the request of many of our community members, for the proper upbringing of the community kids and increasing the social bonding among the Bangladeshi families in Greater Albany Area, we are approaching to (OBAC) executives to sit down and open up a dialogue to find out ways to unite and serve the community better.
We would greatly appreciate if you could let us know your response on or before June 25, 2017. If you show your interest in this matter, then we can further discuss about the date, time and venue. Should you have any question or concern, please feel free to contact us anytime at the phone numbers listed below. Thank you..
Sincerely,
Abul K. Azad, Chairman
Ph. (518) 331-6438
Abdullah Khan, Executive Director
Ph. (347) 423-1086
Bangladeshi American Foundation of Albany (BAFA)
Happy Bengali New Year: Congressman Paul D. Tonko
Happy Bengali New Year:
Mayor of Albany
Obituary/মৃত্যু সংবাদ
Mohammad Zeaor Rahman
With deep sorrow, we are letting you know that Mohammad Zeaor Rahman (83), father of our community member Mr. Aftabur Rahman, passed away last night at 11:30 pm at his residence in Queens, NY. Inna llillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. Mr. Rahman left behind his wife, seven children and twelve grandchildren.
May Allah bless the departed soul. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rahman’s family at this difficult time. Please keep them in your prayers.
Mrs. Badrunnesa Islam
Dear Community Member:
With deep sorrow, we are letting you know that Mrs. Badrunnesa Islam, mother of Mr. Shaheen Ahmed of Guilderland, passed away in Bangladesh on Sunday, May 28 at local time 7:30 pm. Inna llillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. May her soul be placed in Jannah. Brother Shaheen has asked for your dua for his mother. He can be reached at 347-279-5389.
With deep sorrow, we are letting you know that Mohammad Zeaor Rahman (83), father of our community member Mr. Aftabur Rahman, passed away last night at 11:30 pm at his residence in Queens, NY. Inna llillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. Mr. Rahman left behind his wife, seven children and twelve grandchildren.
May Allah bless the departed soul. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rahman’s family at this difficult time. Please keep them in your prayers.
Mr. Amzad Hossain (64)
Dear Community Member:
With deep sorrow, we are letting you know that Mr. Amzad Hossain (64), father of Mr. Rahim Badshah, passed away today at 2:15 pm at Albany Medical Center. Inna llillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. Mr. Hossain left behind his wife, two sons, one daughter, and three grand children. Our thoughts and prayers are with Badshah family at this difficult time. Please keep them in your prayers.