How Utsho Started The story of Utsho started thirty years ago with its Founder Mahbooba Akhter Mahmood Leena, or popularly known as Leena Apa (Apa meaning elder sister) within the Utsho Family. She shares her story in her own words:Starting my career in Readymade Garments industry in 1984 while I was working for Naripokkho dreaming of building a supportive society for women, I felt the need of helping working women to take care of their children. I once saw a mother in a slum tying up her child around the waist at home before going to work, which really shook me to the core. I felt that while we spend thousands of Taka on toys for our children, a much smaller amount can provide food and shelter for the less fortunate kids. During one of my visits to a Brothel on behalf of Naripokkho for a study on Sex-Workers in 1990, I saw a beautiful 2-year old girl who smiled at me. When I picked her up in my arms and told her ”You have a lovely smile!”, one of the Sex workers made a very obscene comment. I asked her why she would say such a thing about their own children! She said, “Apa, you would all leave after your work is done. This girl was born here, just like her mother was born to this child’s grandmother who was sold to this brothel. So this girl will also eventually become a Sex worker, such is the fate of all our children!” I shared my experience with my husband and told him how low it made me feel. He proposed “Why don’t you bring a few of these children home? We will raise them along with our two kids.” I was taken aback, and I asked him, “Are you serious?” My husband said, “Our parents raised eight children with an income much less than ours, while we have only two kids. Why can’t we take care of a few more?” This is when I discussed the idea with a few like-minded friends asking them about their thoughts on setting up a home for underprivileged children. They all committed their support.And that’s how Utsho started its journey in July 1993 with three children along with three high and low benches in a small rented house at Jikatola, Dhaka. We have come a long way in the last thirty years, and we have bigger hopes about the next thirty!