Zillur Hussain , a teenager from Sunamganj, Bangladesh, migrated to the United Kingdom with his father in the nineties. Then grew up and studied there. Before completing his education, young Zillur took over his father’s business. Zillur found the path to success very quickly. He had a long-cherished dream from his childhood to do something for people. From this great perspective, in the year of 2012, Zi Foundation commenced its journey in the United Kingdom. Zi Foundation has become a very popular name among the people of the United Kingdom for its various activities. Now the same group has taken another great initiative to inaugurate the SMR project in Bangladesh. SMR operates its activities globally on people’s mental health, social issues, and other complex issues. A formal agreement has already been signed to set up a call center for this organization in Bangladesh and create skilled manpower. The staff of this call center will be trained by important resource persons from different places in the world.
The multilingual call center will initially provide mental health services to Bengalis and English nationals living in England. This organization mainly works with lonely, depressed, and people who have suicidal tendencies. Zillur Hussain, the founder of the Zi Foundation and SMR project, said that its work will start in Bangladesh. Originally launched in London, now the plan is underway to roll it out internationally.
Zillur Hussain said that England has supported Bangladesh in various ways. Now we want to use our manpower here to serve the people of England. If this is possible, it will be a great achievement for the people of Bangladesh. Not only that, just as those people who will be trained here can become a great asset for Bangladesh. Maintaining international standards, it will be possible to export these trained people outside the country, added Zillur Hussain.
Zi Foundation, the main promoter of SMR, started its journey in 2012. After that, this non-profit voluntary organization started providing various services in schools and hospitals in the UK. When asked about the activities of such call centers, Zillur Hussain said, ‘’if someone’s arm is broken, it can be seen. But it is not possible to show the mentally affected part of the body.’’
A study shows that 75 percent of people suffer from mental health problems. If you can boost them through positive words, they will be calmer and their mental health will be better. The surprising fact is that a person commits suicide in just every 4 seconds in the world. If someone feels depressed, depressed, unhappy and has no interest in living in the world, this initiative is for those people. People are so busy now that they don’t have time to talk to anyone.
Zillur wants to spread his unique service all over the world with everyone’s support and cooperation. He said that if you conduct the activities honestly, you will not have to face hurdles to get government funds. How will Bangladesh benefit from this initiative of SMRProject? Zillur responded to such a question. Those we are training, like nurses, will get employment opportunities after their training.
Nurses of Bangladesh are working in many countries including England, Germany and France. If they need nurses in the future, our trained nurses can easily join. It will take at least six months for someone who trained by us to join those workplaces.
When asked whether the language will be a barrier or not, Zilllur Hussain said – first of all, more than one million Bangladeshis live in England. Many of our Bangladeshis can speak Hindi. Which will remove the linguistic barrier easily. English people are also getting used to these languages nowadays. However, our call center will be multilingual.
Zillur Hussain is a renowned restaurateur. He is a revered person in the kingdom.
In 2020, his organization was awarded an MBE from the Royal Family. Zilllur and his organization’s activities during the Corona pandemic have been highly praised throughout the kingdom.
During the Corona pandemic, Zi Foundation helped almost 75 thousand people in two cities with all their household items. In recognition of this, the British Royal Family has given them an MBE medal. Zilllur organization pays tuition fees for children in London who cannot afford to pay school fees. It also provides food assistance to children who cannot bring lunch to school.
About his amazing journey to the UK, he said, ‘I have been living in London since 1991. I went to London when I was 14 years old. I studied at Sunamganj Jubilee High School till 7th standard. Our family business was a hotel business. When I went to Southampton, my father was a businessman. I worked with him. When I was 18, my father moved to the country. Since then, I have been involved in the business. We currently have two hotels in Cambridge.
Along with SMR Project, Zillur has initiated several women empowerment and poverty alleviation projects. In such projects, many Bangladeshi individuals and institutions are involved. Zillur believes that his initiatives will play an important role in fulfilling the dream of a modern Bangladesh which will be free from hunger and poverty.
