Sharna Bremner
Outreach Blogger
13 June 2010
Today was a day much like the city of Dhaka itself: a lot to take in all at once. So for the sake of brevity and the preservation of my own slightly-waning sanity after a long day, I’ll give you a bit of an overview before letting the images do the talking.
Here’s our day in just a few sentences:
Early start (Earlier than expected. Whoops). Escaping the chaos of Dhaka for the lush greenery of Development Area 16 (DA16). First stop: a Village Education Resource Centre (VERC) pre-school where kids cute enough to instantly melt my cold, child-disliking heart give us roses, sing songs and giggle at us.
Cha (tea) break
Back in the van with ActionAid Bangladesh guru and all-round nice guy, Towfik, who continues a rapid stream of information about the area we are in (Singair/Manikonj). Second stop: a Community Outreach Group, comprised of mainly women who do some incredible work in their villages; a true success story. We continue to marvel at the spectacular, serene rural setting.
Back on the road again. Third and final stop: VERC headquarters. We learn about the partnership between VERC and ActionAid, the problems faced by the villages in the area and the solutions that are being worked on.
Lunch break. Even more drool-worthy food and more cha.
We meet the Community Journalist Group (CJG). One of 31 CJG’s in ActionAid’s Development Areas. Consisting of a local community and civil society members, sponsored and non-sponsored children and two generous professional journalist mentors, the CJG discuss with us what they hope to gain from the ActionAid Bangladesh blogs.
Snack break. The Bangladeshi people sure do love to feed us…
Photo time. Again. Every trip, every stop, every adventure is turning into a mini photoshoot. And then it’s back to the trusty van and the incessant flow and clamour of Dhaka.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words right? Let’s hope these pictures do a better job than my exhaustion-induced nonsensical ramblings would…
Could you imagine a cuter bunch of kids??
Nurjahan Begum - The Community Outreach Group taught Nurjahan to read and write. She now takes care of her family's finances and affairs as her husband is illiterate.
The Community Outreach Group, an initiative of ActionAid Bangladesh, deals with problems such as early marriage, polygamy and education in their villages.
The Community Outreach Group provides small loans for women to purchase cows, which are sold for profit which in turn, is used to by land.
Joel and I with the generous volunteers from the Community Journalist Group. The CJG are hoping that the ActionAid Bangladesh Blog will show how innovative they are, share grassroots problems, and hopefully bring some funding to work towards lasting solutions.
The children from the CJG are hoping to get their stories heard globally. They want to raise awareness of issues faced by children in their villages, such as bullying, illiteracy and disempowerment of girls.
Learn more about ActionAid and Project TOTO:
- ActionAid Australia website
- ActionAid Australia on Twitter
- ActionAid Bangladesh Blog
- ActionAid Bangladesh on Twitter
- Joel Katz profile
- Sharna Bremner profile
Tags: Actionaid Bangladesh, blog, Cha, CJG, Community Journalist Group, Community Outreach Group, DA16, Development Area, Dhaka, early marriage, illiteracy, polygamy, VERC, Village Education Resource Centre
-
Adorable kids, girl power and some inspirational Community Journalists: http://bit.ly/cz4pXX #totoDhaka
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
-
Getting ready for another busy day in the DA’s. http://bit.ly/cz4pXX #totoDhaka
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
-
Aw, the children are gorgeous! Love the smiling faces and all that colour.
Education for all is definitely a number one priority. I love how the initiatives of the Community Outreach Group is bringing about change, especially through gender equality and empowerment to women!
Reading about Nurjahan Begum’s story of her ability to now read and write and take charge in the family home is inspiring and shows that change can happen despite deeply ingrained traditional and cultural practices. It’s amazing what a group of women are capable of!
Sharna, what do you feel is the biggest problem facing these women in these rural communities? I’m curious about the solutions that ActionAid and VERC are working on. How can people get involved, especially through social media?
Thanks for the post! Looking forward to the videos. Keep up the great work guys…
-
I thought Nurjahan’s story was pretty inspiring too Lana. Just the simple ability to read has given her so much freedom and power!
I’ve just managed to upload the video which shows some of the girls from DA16 discussing the problems they face and what they hope social media can do to help. I think they sum it up nicely! Spreading the word and being heard is the biggest hurdle for many of the women, but hopefully the ActionAid Bangladesh blogs will be the first step to overcoming this problem.
I’d love to see people getting involved by not just reading our blogs, but also the blogs of the Community Journalist Groups in Bangladesh. The first one is up now and is another ‘girl power’ story! Or at least a girl power story in the making. Puspo wants to represent her country playing soccer, but being a girl holds her back. I know she’d love to see some encouraging comments on her blog!
Glad you’re enjoying our blogs!
-
-
Oh my god I am so glad that you are the person that you are Shazz. As a mother I couldnt be more proud of you, and also relieved that you are looking so well. It breaks my heart to see the way that these people have to live. However, I think that Joel and you have given me hope and I find solace that there are so may heart felt people willing to try to make this world a better place.
Once again well done guys and I hope your last few days there will be as enlightening and uplifting as it appears your first week has been.
By the way love the Video Shazz.
Luv your Mum x x x x
P.S. Yes I will make you spaghetti bolognese for tea on Sunday!!!
-
What was Mum on about??? Trying to use BIG words! Nice blog Shaz, not that I understand much of what you are on about. Tisha xx
-
love Joel’s face in above photo: why do we have to hold hands? why do we have to hold hands? Why do we have to hold hands? why do we have to hold hands?
You two are doing very impressive work, huge congrats.
-
Well done Sharna!! Good to see you are actually working…and doing a good job by the looks of the video.
Fudd
-
Wanted to hold my hand whole time. Just pictured Natalie Portman, and wasn’t too bad…
-
Pingback from Project TOTO · Sometimes it’s good to be wrong. on 18/06/2010 at 1:55 am
-
Pingback from Project TOTO · It’s been quite a ‘Journey’… on 13/09/2010 at 7:31 am
Comments are now closed.
Additional comments powered by BackType
ActionAid Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
11 comments