1.
GV Children outside Finnish Mission, Dacca City
0.03

2.
CU Finnish Foreign Free Mission nameplate
0.06

3.
SV Teacher calls roll outside school
0.19

4.
SV INTERIOR Classroom PAN TO children at desks
0.29

5.
CU Children at desks (2 shots)
0.34

6.
SV Teacher writing on blackboard
0.37

7.
SV Pupil supervised by teacher writing on blackboard
0.42

8.
SV Children sitting on classroom floor (2 shots)
0.48

9.
SV PAN Children at meal-time (3 shots)
1.02

10.
LV Children playing in playground
1.09

11.
GV Back of building TILT DOWN TO Land-rover and children queueing
1.15

12.
SV Doctor examining child
1.22

13.
SCU Mother and child
1.25

14.
SV Doctor filling in form TILT UP TO mother and child
1.31

15.
SV Finish woman who runs mission TILT DOWN TO Medicine bottles
1.34

16.
SV Woman and children waiting outside dispensary
1.39

17.
SV Women collecting medicine
1.42



Initials BB/0045



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: More than a million children in Bangladesh are orphans. Unable to provide for them, the government of Bangladesh has encouraged foreign voluntary missions to stem in. One such mission -- in Dacca City -- is run with the help of the Finnish government.

SYNOPSIS: Donations from the citizens of Finland and subsidies from the Finnish government provide for more than three hundred and fifty children, who call this mission home. Not only do they live and play here, but they are educated here as well.

Most of these children would have grown up on the streets. And they would never have seen the inside of a classroom. The mission pledges to give them a basic education and later, vocational training so they can be employed in local industries.

Food consumption in Bangladesh has actually fallen in the last year. But these children enjoy a balanced and healthy diet, in contrast to the remainder of the country. Parents turn up every day hoping to find a place in the mission for children they cannot feed. Many orphans have been adopted by families in West Germany, they Netherlands, Sweden and Britain.

Medical facilities fall far short of the needs of the population. Serious malnutrition, inadequate sanitation and shelter makes the general population even more vulnerable to disease. The mission provides health care for its residents -- and also for the surrounding community. The government of Bangladesh cannot at present provide the necessary social conditions to bring up healthy children. These foreign missions serve a temporary, but vital function.