“I never told my children what my job was. I never wanted them to feel ashamed because of me. When my youngest daughter asked me what I did, I used to tell her hesitantly that I was a laborer.
Before I went back home every day, I used to take a bath in the public toilets so they did not get any hint of the work I was doing. I wanted to send my daughters to school, to educate them. I wanted them to stand in front of people with dignity. I never wanted anyone to look down upon them like the way everyone did to me.
People always humiliated me. I invested every penny of my earnings for my daughters’ education. I never bought a new shirt, instead, I used the money for buying books for them. Respect is all I wanted them to earn for me. I was a cleaner.
The day before the last date of my daughter’s college admission, I could not manage to get her admission fees. I could not work that day. I was sitting beside the rubbish, trying hard to hide my tears. All my co-workers were looking at me but no one came to speak to me. I had failed and felt heartbroken. I had no idea how to face my daughter who would ask me about the admission fees once I got back home. I was born poor. I believed nothing good can happen to a poor person.
After work, all the cleaners came to me, sat beside me, and asked if I considered them as brothers. Before I could answer, they each handed me their one day’s income. When I tried to refuse everyone; they confronted me by saying, ‘We will starve today if needed, but our daughter has to go to college.’ I couldn’t reply to them. That day I did not take a shower; I went back to my house like a cleaner.
My oldest daughter is going to finish her University very soon. Three of them do not let me go to work anymore. My oldest girl has a part-time job and the other three of them do tuition. Oftentimes, my oldest daughter takes me to my working place.
She feeds all my co-workers along with me. They laugh and ask her why she feeds them so often. My daughter told them, ‘All of you starved for me that day so I can become what I am today, pray for me that I can feed you all, every day.’ Nowadays I don’t feel like I am a poor man. Whoever has such children, how can he be poor?” – Idris
The story of this dad and his unconditional love for his daughters has been posted by Bangladeshi journalist GMB Akash on his Facebook page. Since being shared on May 6, 2017, the post has received thousands of reactions and shares.
GMB Akash has shared stories of several people on his Facebook page. “The best part about being a photographer is that I’m able to articulate the experiences of the voiceless and to bring their identities to the forefront which gives meaning and purpose to my own life,” he says on Facebook. According to his Facebook bio he has received over 100 international awards and his work has been featured in many international publications like National Geographic, Time, The Guardian, and more.
