Mokhlesur Rahman's son brought him to an old age home and left him there. He has not heard much from his family since.

"My son left me here. Nobody checks on me," he said. "It hurts when I think about my family. But I am doing well here."

Mokhlesur now lives at Nirapad Old Age Home, a modest shelter in Kishoreganj Upazila of Nilphamari district, where 65 elderly men and women have found a place to spend their remaining years.

Some were abandoned by their children. Others lost their homes, savings or family support. Many arrived with little more than the clothes they were wearing.

The man who looks after them is Sazedul Islam Saju, a local pesticide retailer who began taking in vulnerable elderly people eight years ago.

He had no experience running a care home. He had no institutional funding or established network of donors. What he had was a small business, some savings and a growing conviction that elderly people without family support needed somewhere to go.

Since June 2018, his shelter has accommodated 270 people from different parts of Bangladesh.

Some eventually returned to their families. Others remained. Sixty-seven have died while living there.

It began with a woman outside his shop

In June 2018, as Saju was preparing to open his business, he noticed an elderly woman lying helplessly beside his shop.

She appeared to be in her 60s. He did not know her.

“Rather than leaving her there, I brought her home. With my wife's help, I bathed the woman and gave her clean clothes,” Saju told Daily Waadaa.

The incident stayed with him.

He began thinking about elderly people who had nowhere to turn when illness, poverty or family disputes left them unable to care for themselves. A song had already shaped some of those thoughts.

Briddhashram, or Old Age Home, by the Bengali singer Nachiketa, tells of the isolation of parents who spend their lives raising children only to find themselves neglected in old age.

Saju was touched by the lyrics and the uncomfortable question it raised…what happens to parents when the children they once supported are no longer willing or able to care for them?

The woman outside his shop gave that question an immediate reality. He decided to establish a permanent shelter.

Using income from his pesticide retail business, Saju gradually developed Nirapad Old Age Home on 14 decimals of land in Barabhita Union.

“I didn’t get any large donation to start it,” said Saju, “The money came primarily from my own earnings.”

As the number of residents increased, so did the expenses.

He approached people for assistance, sometimes going from one person to another seeking contributions. Some questioned his motives. Others criticized his decision to spend his money on strangers.

He continued anyway.

A home, but not a replacement for family

For the residents, the old age home provides food, accommodation and basic care. It also offers something many had lost before arriving: regular human contact.

But the shelter cannot entirely replace their families.

Mokhlesur still thinks about the people who left him there. His account is brief, but the sense of separation is unmistakable. He is grateful for the care he receives. He also misses his family.

Jamila Khatun, another resident, has lived at the home for three years.

Her children do not visit or inquire about her well-being, she said. Over time, Saju has become the person she depends on.

"Saju takes care of us like a son," Jamila told Waadaa. "None of our sons or daughters checks on us. We live here like a family."

She does not pretend that life at the shelter has erased the sadness of separation.

"Despite the pain, we are doing well here," she said. "Although we are not related by blood, he looks after us."

But Running the home has become an increasingly difficult financial undertaking.

Five employees — three women and two men — care for its 65 residents. A female teacher provides religious instruction to the elderly women.

The monthly expenses amount to approximately 100,000 taka, according to Saju.

That covers food, medical treatment, medicines, employee salaries and other operating costs.

“Much of the money comes from my retail business,” said Saju, adding that it is supplemented by assistance he seeks from others.

But his earnings are not enough to comfortably sustain an institution of this size.

"I established this old age home on my own initiative," he said. "Helpless people from different areas live here. Whenever someone informs me about a person in need, I bring them here at my own expense."

He has continued accepting people despite the financial strain.

"I want to continue looking after them for as long as I can, within my means," he said.

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