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Young Voices

Youth of Bangladesh

Ekramul Hossain Khan

The streets near the slums of Gulshan, Banani, Uttara and Dhanmondi were crowded with youths in purple T-shirts in the early morning of Friday, September 23, 2011. Curiosity rose among all people nearby, their eyes reading the logo on the back of the T-shirt--“Youth of Bangladesh”. The name was simple, yet it held a deep meaning, it represented the strength and responsibility that the youth hold for the country. With such a vision, Youth Of Bangladesh (YOB) launched their first project, a project to raise the mortality of the infants of this country.

courtesy: Ekramul Hossain Khan

YOB set out with a goal to raise awareness amongst the slum dwellers about the importance of proper nutrition and also to provide information on how to gain that nutrition within their limited earnings. The dwellers were surprised to learn about the impact that improper nutrition may have on their children and how it can affect their future health and well being. One of the founders of YOB, Irfan Ul Hoque, said, “We were all trying to decide on how we can contribute to our country, when we came across the fact that according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook in 2010, 40% (estimated) of Bangladesh's total population lies under poverty line amongst which majority are children who lack proper nutrition. We were honestly shocked with the percentage and thus came up with this idea.”

Thus, with a dream and a mission set, YOB started their promotion in August 2011, hoping to find enough response from volunteers to help them in their journey, and they did receive a great number of responses! “We were expecting the number of volunteers to be either 300 or 400. But to our surprise, there were more then 800 volunteers participating. To be honest, I was indeed taken aback by the number of volunteers, as this was our first project,” said Afnan Azad, another founder of YOB.

The day started in a rush for all--volunteers arrived at their designated points on time and preparing for their jobs, while coordinators guided and assisted them. As they reached their designated places, the volunteers began their work, trying to communicate and spread their messages. “We were thrilled by the curiosity and response of the people there; they listened to us eagerly and participated in our surveys,” said Nafiz Khair, one of the volunteers.

The volunteers spent the morning with the slum families, trying to know their lifestyle and understand their hardship. “We are happy considering the fact that our little attempt might help make these peoples' lives better,” said Rukhsar Sanjaree Nawaz, another volunteer. At noon, the volunteers spent their time with the children. Later, the children were given the opportunity to draw whatever they liked with YOB providing them with drawing pencils and papers and afternoon snacks.

The project was a success. Not only did it spread the message and the guidance YOB set out with, it also enlightened the youth about the life and hardships of the underpriviledged ones. The day long activities of the YOB members were an effort to reach out to the slum dwellers and make them feel and realise that there are people out there who care for them and for their well being.

DID YOU KNOW?

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl was born September 13, 1916, in Llandaff, South Wales, United Kingdom, to Norwegian parents. He was a mischievous child, full of energy, and from an early age he proved himself skilled at finding trouble. After his father died when Dahl was four, his mother followed her late husband's wish that Dahl be sent to English schools. Dahl first attended Llandaff Cathedral School, where he began a series of unfortunate adventures in school. After he and several other students were severely beaten by the principal for placing a dead mouse in a storekeeper's candy jar, Dahl's mother moved him to St. Peter's Boarding School and later to Repton, an excellent private school. Dahl would later describe his school years as "days of horrors" filled with "rules, rules and still more rules that had to be obeyed," which inspired much of his gruesome fiction. Though not a good student, his mother nevertheless offered him the option of attending Oxford or Cambridge University when he finished school. His reply, recorded in his book about his childhood called Boy: Tales of Childhood, was, "No, thank you. I want to go straight from school to work for a company that will send me to wonderful faraway places like Africa or China!"

Information Source: Internet.