SAHIDUL ISLAM NIRAB, from Sherpur

Even at 83, Razia Samad Dahlia, a veteran social worker who has spent decades serving the poor, the sick and the vulnerable, shows little sign of slowing down.

Affectionately known as “Dahlia Khalamoni”, she has helped establish a diabetic hospital, launch a heart foundation, support underprivileged students, arrange treatment for poor patients, and provide shelter to abandoned children in Sherpur.

For her years of selfless service, local residents have come to call her “Sherpur’s Mother Teresa”.

Born on September 23, 1943, in Sherpur town, Dahlia is the daughter of Khan Bahadur Fazlur Rahman, a former chief whip of undivided Bengal.

After her husband, engineer Abdus Samad, died in 1981, she left her teaching career in Dhaka and returned to Sherpur in 1990 to devote herself fully to social work.

Over the years, she has spent much of her personal wealth and inherited property on humanitarian causes, including the establishment of educational and healthcare institutions for disadvantaged communities.

One of her most significant initiatives is the Sherpur Diabetic Centre, established in 1997 and later upgraded into a hospital. The institution provides interest-free loans and financial support to low-income patients, and helps them buy insulin.

“She is a rare individual who has dedicated both her life and resources to the welfare of others,” said Imam Hossain Thandu, general secretary of the Sherpur Diabetic Association.

As the founding president of the Sherpur district chapter of the Red Crescent Society, Dahlia has been regularly arranging blood donations for patients and facilitating treatment by specialist physicians.

She has also been supporting women victims of violence and financially disadvantaged students.

Dahlia has played an important role in promoting cultural and social activities in the region, having serv in leadership positions in several civic and voluntary organisations.

She is the founding president of the National Rabindra Sangeet Sammilon Parishad’s Sherpur district unit. She also helped Patabahar Khelaghar Asor, a children’s organisation, construct a permanent building to replace its former dilapidated structure alongside organising cultural festivals.

Through the women’s organisation Ujjayini, she has been facilitating free eye surgeries for poor patients with support from the Khan Bahadur Fazlur Rahman Foundation.

Her humanitarian work has often gone beyond conventional charity.

Two decades ago, she rescued a Garo woman suffering from leprosy after she had been abandoned by her family. Dahlia arranged her treatment and rehabilitation, helping her return to normal life.

She has also provided shelter and educational opportunities to orphaned and abandoned children.

Two girls she rescued from the streets in the early 1990s eventually completed their education and She

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