Friendship

Social entrepreneur Runa Khan founded Friendship in 2002 to provide aid to the under-resourced residents of Bangladesh's remote communities. By turning river barges into medical ships, Khan transformed how mobile health care could be executed in hard-to-reach areas. The Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital accesses areas isolated by the nation's natural barriers — namely, the shifting river islands of the north and the Bay of Bengal's coastal deltas. Fully equipped and staffed with volunteer medical and dental professionals, the floating hospital provides services including x-rays, surgery, and primary care visits.

Today, Friendship operates two hospital ships, health camps and clinics, and the land-based Friendship Hospital Shyamnagar in Bangladesh's water-logged southern region. Friendship also has launched initiatives outside of the health care sphere, including programs focusing on education, disaster management, infrastructure development, good governance, sustainable economic development, and cultural preservation.