Valerie Ann Taylor

Valerie Ann Taylor
OBE
Born (1944-02-08) February 8, 1944
Bromley, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Citizenship British
Bangladeshi
Awards Anannya Top Ten Awards (2000)

Valerie Ann Taylor, OBE (born February 8, 1944) is a British-born Bangladeshi physiotherapist and philanthropist.[1] She was awarded Independence Day Award in 2004 for her social work by the Government of Bangladesh. In 1998 she was granted Bangladeshi citizenship by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.[1] She is often called the Mother Theresa of Bangladesh.[2]

Early life

Taylor was born in Kent, England to Marie Taylor and William Taylor.[3] She grew up living close to National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England.[4]

Career

In 1969, Taylor came to Bangladesh, under contract for 15 months, with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) to work as a physiotherapist in the Christian Hospital, Chandraghona in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.[1] She established the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in 1979.[3] At the start of her career, she was running CRP with four patients in an abandoned warehouse of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital. Later CRP has grown to include a 100-bed hospital.[5]

Personal life

Taylor is a legal guardian to two girls with disabilities, Joyti and Poppy.[3]

Honors

  • Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (1995)[1]
  • Arthur Eyre Brook Gold Medal (1996)
  • National Social Service Award (2000)
  • Anannya Top Ten Awards (2000)
  • Millennium Award (2000)
  • Dr. MR Khan and Anwara Trust Gold Medal (2001)
  • Hakkani Mission Bangladesh Award (2001)
  • Bangladesh Independence Day Award (2004)
  • Rokeya Shining Personality Award (2005)
  • Princess Diana Gold Medal (2007)[6]
  • Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award (2009)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award by Hope Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh (2009)
  • Nova Southeastern University Award (2009)
  • Rotary International Award (2013)[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Valerie Ann Taylor - Social Work". February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Valerie Taylor wins Rotary International award". The Daily Star. June 8, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Valerie Ann Taylor: Founder and Coordinator of CRP". The Daily Star. November 28, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Valerie Taylor's anniversary of birth today". The Daily Star. February 8, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Valerie Ann Taylor". CRP-Bangladesh. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ Amitava Kar (March 8, 2015). "IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS". The Daily Star. Retrieved February 9, 2016.

Further reading

  • "CHALLENGING THE STIGMA". The Daily Star.
  • Khan, Mubin S. (1 June 2007). "Divided we fall". New Age. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 2007-07-07. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
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