Ehsan Hoque

Dr. Ehsan Hoque

Dr. Ehsan Hoque (born March 13, 1964) is a medical doctor, social entrepreneur and child rights activist. He is the founder and honorary Executive Director of Distressed Children & Infants International, an international non-profit organization based in the United States that works with underprivileged children and their families to stop child labor, extend educational opportunities, and provide access to healthcare.[1]

Early Life & Education

Dr. Hoque was born in Barisal, Bangladesh to Professor A.N. Shamsul Hoque - a professor of political science and public administration at Duke University and at Rajshahi University - and Hasina Begum, in 1964. He was born with congenital cataracts, and by the age of five had undergone seven eye surgeries, which partially restored his vision. At the time cataract surgery was uncommon in Bangladesh. Despite his family and physician advising him against prolonged studying due to his impaired vision, he persevered in his studies and by 1987 he had graduated from Rajshahi Medical College to become a medical doctor. He completed his Ph.D. in 1995 at Asahikawa Medical College (Japan) and his postdoctoral fellowship in 1997 at the University of Western Ontario (Canada).[2]

Career

Distressed Children & Infants International
Founded May 24, 2003
Founder Dr. Ehsan Hoque
Dr. Brian Debroff
Type NGO
Location
Area served
 Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Nicaragua
Mission To defend child rights and provide for the basic needs of distressed children, giving them opportunities for education, healthcare and future economic possibilities
Website DCI official site

Over the course of his career, Dr. Hoque has worked at numerous institutes around the world, including Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (Bangladesh), Dhaka Shishu Hospital (Bangladesh), Asahikawa Medical University (Japan), University of Western Ontario (Canada), University of Toronto (Canada), and Yale University School of Medicine (USA). His research has focused on cardiovascular pharmacology and physiology, concentrating on ischemic reperfusion injury of the heart, and neuroendocrinology with a focus on aging. Dr. Hoque has published his work in various scientific journals, and presented his findings at national and international conferences. He has also been the recipient of numerous academic honors, including a Monbusho Scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education, research awards from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, the University of Toronto Research Fellowship, and the Hartford Foundation Fellowship.[3] Dr. Hoque is now a dedicated activist for children's rights and serves as Executive Director of the American non-profit organization Distressed Children & Infants International.

Activism

Inspired by his experience growing up with a disability and the discrimination he faced, as well as witnessing the stark contrast between his life and the lives of impoverished children in Bangladesh, Dr. Hoque began doing volunteer work for the underprivileged at an early age.

As a young doctor, he volunteered in rural areas of Bangladesh to educate local mothers about the importance of vitamins during pregnancy and distributed vegetable seeds for homestead gardens, in order to prevent children being born with cataracts.

Witnessing the suffering of so many poor, ill-nourished, and orphaned children and especially the horrific effects of child labor in his home country, Dr. Hoque realized that without adequate education and healthcare these children had little or no hope of improving their lives. He endeavored to create his own non-governmental organization that would provide comprehensive support to individual children through child sponsorship.

This goal was realized in 2003 when, together with his colleague at Yale University Dr. Brian DeBroff and his wife Dr. Nina Hoque, he founded Distressed Children & Infants International, or DCI.[4] The organization's mission is to reduce the extreme poverty that contributes to child labor by providing quality education, family support, and access to healthcare with a focus on eliminating preventable blindness.

Dr. Hoque's vision of child sponsorship has manifested itself in DCI's Sun Child Sponsorship Program, which now supports over 1100 children in Bangladesh.[5] DCI operates several other programs in Bangladesh that provide healthcare, vision care, and orphan support, and also provides support to partner organizations with similar missions in India, Nepal, and Nicaragua. These efforts have benefited thousands of children and their families while also providing opportunities for American youth to connect with less fortunate around the world through volunteerism.

Dr. Hoque has also played a leading role in organizing the Conference on Child Rights & Sight, an international conference hosted by DCI and Yale University to raise awareness about child rights, particularly with respect to child labor, and diseases that affect vision. The event gathers speakers and leaders from around the world to address these issues and discuss creative solutions. To date, DCI has held five international conferences at Yale University, in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2013, and 2015.[6] The 5th International Conference on Child Rights & Sight took place at Yale on Saturday, October 24th, 2015.[7][8][9]

Family

Dr. Hoque lives in Cheshire, Connecticut with his wife Dr. Nina Hoque and their two daughters Asahi and Sofia.

Social & Humanitarian Awards

Academic Honors & Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Team". www.distressedchildren.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  2. ↑ "Dr. Ehsan Hoque, Founder and Executive Director of Distressed Children and Infants International, to Speak at Yale UNICEF Conference! | Yale UNICEF Annual Conference on Children's Rights". yaleunicefconference.yale.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  3. ↑ "Dr. Ehsan Hoque, Founder and Executive Director of Distressed Children and Infants International, to Speak at Yale UNICEF Conference! | Yale UNICEF Annual Conference on Children's Rights". yaleunicefconference.yale.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  4. ↑ "Our Story". www.distressedchildren.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  5. ↑ "Sun Child Sponsorship Program". distressedchildren.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  6. ↑ "5th Conference on Child Rights & Sight". distressedchildren.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  7. ↑ "The Cheshire Citizen - Cheshire, CT | Locally based charity continues fight for world’s children". www.cheshirecitizen.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  8. ↑ "ePaper | The Daily Sun". www.edailysun.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  9. ↑ "Destressed Children & Infants International Conference". Sacred Heart Spectrum. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  10. ↑ http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=555166&date=2016-02-19
  11. ↑ http://www.thedailystar.net/city/dr-ehsan-hoque-gets-humanitarian-award-rmc-575458
  12. ↑ http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20160308/cheshire-doctor-given-humanitarian-award-by-college-in-bangladesh
  13. ↑ http://www.cheshirecitizen.com/news/allnews/8564159-129/resident-honored-with-humanitarian-award.html
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