With a cumulation of unfavourable climatological and geographical factors that annually causes three quarters of the country to overflow, Bangladesh is one of the least liveable areas.

Furthermore, the food deficit and a lack of hygiene, health care and decent education make for a dead-end future, while the country is faced with a rising population density and an increasing lack of provisions.

In a patriarchal society under an extreme Muslim fundamentalists dominance, women are pushed into a subservient position, denying them any form of education, personal development or freedom of speech.

Girls often face assault and sexual violence within their own family, sometimes at an extremely young age. Due to a lack of education and means, they frequently end up in the streets or in prostitution or are married off at a very early age.

Many young girls work as domestic helpers in richer households, where rape and mutilation by the man of the house is part of the daily routine.

For disabled children, especially girls, the living conditions are even harder. Because of the shame and the stigma that they carry, most of them are abandoned or even killed by their own family. Deprived of any possible social or educational contact, they are condemned to a life in the streets and the sewers of the bigger cities.

Moreover, these children are often recruited to beg and are mutilated or blinded with sulphuric or nitric acid, in order to make more money.

Each year, the Baptist Mission Integrated School (BMIS) offers shelter and education to about 80 blind or visually impaired girls between the age of 5 and 18, making the school unique in Bangladesh.

Regardless of background or religion, these girls are given a chance to develop within a protected community. Every day they are educated a few hours in Braille, while the rest of the day is filled with tasks such as cooking, cleaning and washing.

Despite the excellent work of the institute, there is an undeniable atmosphere of boredom and loneliness. The girls often aimlessly walk around in circles back and forth or sit shaking quietly in a corner. They seem to wait for something to break the rut. For something to take them out of the darkness.