Sports

Swing for a Change

Naimul Karim

With an aim to spread awareness, with respect to the environment, amongst the industrialists of the country, 'Reach Out Bangladesh' organised a three day golf tournament at the Army Golf Club. The tournament which attracted close to 600 participants took place from February 9-11.

“The main concept behind this contest is to gather people through the sport and inspire them to use environment-friendly technology at their workplace,” says Mohaimen M Kaisar, Executive Committee, Reach Out Bangladesh. He further says, “Even if five percent of the industrialists are inspired to use non-renewable sources of energy, it can create a huge difference.”

The tournament which attracted golfers from different age groups disproved the age-old conception of golf being an unpopular sport in the city. “Apart from people from the corporate sector, many youngsters have also participated in the event and the response was overwhelming,” says Kaisar who is currently a student of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA).

“It was a good experience since it was a well organised tournament and had lots of participants. It is a sport that is slowly gaining popularity in the country thanks to professional golfers like Siddiqui. I hope that I can become a professional golfer in the future,” says 16 year old Fahad Ahmed.

Reach Out Bangladesh started six months ago by a group of students with an aim to help society by organising various events. “I feel extremely lucky to be born in a good family in Bangladesh. But there are several others who struggle everyday. Through Reach Out we want to give something back to the society,” says Kaisar.

In a short span of time, the organisation hosted four events, each of which had a social cause. Their first event, entitled 'Reach Out for a Smile' was aimed at children living in the streets of Dhaka. “We collected money from various people and organised an event for the thousands of homeless children out there,” says Kaisar. “Our aim was to give them at least one day to smile about,” he adds.

Although their latest event, 'Swing for a Change', may contain factors that one may not usually relate to while spreading awareness, Kaisar believes that a lot of progress can be made if the corporate sector and various industrialists go 'green'. Echoing Kaisar's sentiments, Peter Anthony Dindial, CEO of GPIT, says, “Events like these can actually make a huge difference. For instance, if a company decides to recycle its used papers, even that can have a positive impact on the environment. Similarly, there are various other ways one can use technology to reduce the negative impact on the environment.” He further said that if one company starts the tradition of going green, several other companies will follow suite.

Perhaps the most positive aspect of the tournament was the fact that it was organised by a group of students who have defied the traditional paths usually taken by Bangladeshis who are well-off and have actually decided to do something positive for the society. One hopes that Reach Out Bangladesh expands as an organisation in the upcoming years and inspires several other youngsters to follow a similar path in the future.