Spotlight

Volunteers and Interns

A growing tribe in Bangladesh

Volunteers and interns come to Bangladesh from faraway countries--US, UK, Canada, Norway and Australia, among others. Bringing their much needed expertise to the country, many of them learn to enjoy their stay here, particularly those in development agencies who think nothing of hopping into buses and going to remote villages. Speaking to a few volunteers and interns, one gets a glimpse of the intrepid foreigners who have stopped over in Bangladesh and will return home with happy memories--both personal and professional.

Natasha Yolland, a volunteer from Australia at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP)
Natasha has worked as a voluntary occupational therapy lecturer at the Bangladesh Health Professionals Institute (CRP's academic institute). The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Programme sent her for one year. The Daily Star caught up with her a day before her recent departure.

What does she take home with her? Flashbacks of the good and rough times. As she says," CRP provided a great work environment and I got to know about the strong family network in Bangladesh. It also broadened my horizons as the popular--and erroneous--western concept about the country is that it is just a land of floods, tragedies and cyclones."

There is also a downside. "The attitudes and culture of Bangladesh vary greatly from those of Australia. It has taken time but I have learnt to adjust to some extent to this culture," says Natasha.

In the course of her stay at CRP, she has been to the rural areas as well. Among her memories is a visit to Kulara (south of Sylhet) along with her third year occupational therapy students. In this awareness generation exercise, the group visited the local schools and minority villages. This went a long way in clearing the air about disability. As Natasha says, " There is a negative perception of disability in Bangladesh communities. The popular view is that it is a curse of God or the price a person has to pay for wrongdoing. CRP has gone a long way in creating disability awareness."

Janey Mavis Lowdermilk, an American intern at the Grameen Bank
Janey has spent a rewarding three months working as an intern at the Grameen Bank. Set to leave Bangladesh, she looks back nostalgically at her stint with the bank.

While at Grameen, Janey has visited several villages and branches of the bank. Among the places where she has stopped over are Gazipur, Manikgonj, Jobra near Chittagong, Bogra and Sirajung.

Explaining the motivation of coming to Bangladesh and Grameen Bank, she says, "I wanted to learn about micro finance. I believe Grameen has a system with such a depth of quality that is very unique to a development organisation."

Professionally, she asserts that she would take back a wealth of knowledge about development. In her words, " Having a background with the Grameen Bank is pivotal for my career because it is slowly becoming world famous in economic circles. It is very important that I understand this new approach to development."

On the personal front, says Janey, Bangladesh is entirely different from other cultures--take the food, the noises, the people, the cultural expectations of her as a woman or student, "The culture of the US is more liberal. I am becoming aware of how different things are here. This is my first experience in a Muslim country," she maintains.

Being here has broadened her horizons. As she points out, "It is very easy in American society to be unaware of different places, cultures and lifestyles. I think my three months in Bangladesh have opened my eyes to an entirely different world. Earlier I had no contact with Bangladesh except as a place on the map. Now when people mention Bangladesh, I have something to reflect on. I can say I know what a village is and this experience will enrich my life."

Magdalena Falkowska, an intern from Poland, working in BRAC's Basic Education Programme (BEP)
Come May, Magdalena will be heading homewards after a four-month successful internship with BRAC. Her stint in Dhaka, she believes, has opened her eyes to a completely different reality. Travelling to villages and field offices, she has had a first hand view of life in the rural areas. The non-formal BRAC schools she has visited are located in Manikgonj, Brahmanbaria, Narsingdi and Khulna.

Reminisces Magdalena: "I was very impressed to see how the schools transform the lives of the children, communities and families. They don't learn just to read and write. It's a question of bringing about a new mindset. Thus they have better health because they know how to cook food, learn about hygiene and gain consciousness about different issues. I also found out that the communities are very positive about BRAC and the BEP."

She admits to feeling lost on her arrival. Warsaw, she says is a big city but it cannot be compared with Dhaka. Nevertheless she soon settled down and made friends with other interns from various parts of the world.

Magdalene feels that the Bangladesh experience has enriched her immensely. As she comments, "I have acquired more information about this country. I found people very helpful both in the villages and Dhaka."

By Kavita Charanji

KL Fashion Week

The Star newspaper in Malaysia will be organising the third Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week from 3rd to 8th May 2005, participated by Malaysian and Asian designers and this event in a short span of time has become the much awaited event of the year. In fact designers from Malaysia and all over Asia who will be participating in this year's KL Fashion Week marks this week as a big event in the fashion calender.

In just two years, KL Fashion Week has grown leaps and bounds. Themed 'Where Fashion and Passion Meets' in 2003 and 'Stylish Asia' in 2004, KL Fashion Week has set the trend for new ideas and concepts in fashion for others to follow.

This fashion week continues to boost Malaysia as an international fashion hub with the participation of many top designers from Asia such as India's Mr. Rohit Bal, Hong Kong's Mr. Walter Ma, Singapore's Mr. Allan Chai and Mr. Nono Palmos from the Philippines..

To be held from 3rd to 8th May 2005, KL Fashion Week 2005, The Premier Event will kick start with Fashion Gala Night where guests will get to enjoy a buoyant cocktail and showcase of world class designer labels.

Renowned international designers will showcase their collections at the Designer Showcase on 4th and 5th May 2005 at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur while corporate guests and clients being treated to an array of creations at the Corporate Cocktail Nights. Themed 'Style', 'Splendour' and 'Sophistication', the three memorable nights are to be held on 4th, 5th and 6th May 2005 featuring top local designers.

KL Fashion Week 2005 is organised by The Star and presented by Tourism Malaysia and L'Oreal Paris. KL Fashion Week 2005 is one of many steps taken to spur young Malaysians in the fashion and beauty industry to reach higher levels of creativity and professionalism, and also to establish new paradigms in the local fashion industry that will put Malaysia on the world map of fashion and all this in equilibrium with Asian fashion as well.

-LS Desk

Cookbook clips

BY Sherifa Ahmed

Matar Paneer
(Home-made cottage cheese and pea curry)
To serve 4
Paneer:
1 liter milk
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons well beaten curd
Oil for frying
Boil milk, add lime juice and curd. Cook stirring until the whey separates and the milk curdles,

Adding an extra squeeze of lime juice if required for separating. Take it off the heat. Drain off whey. Put the curd in a bag (seam end out) to drain off and set, smoothing out the wrinkles in the bag. This method results in a softer and spongier texture of curd. It takes about 45 minutes to set.

Take paneer out of the bag and chill in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours. Cut paneer into 1inch cubes and chill again for the cubes to get firm. Fry lightly.

Meanwhile make pea curry as follows:
8 to 10 tablespoons shelled peas
2 medium sized onions, 1" ginger and 2 seeded red chillies ground to paste
2 bay leaves ½ sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 to 5 tablespoons well beaten curd
1 tablespoon poppy seeds, ground separately
3 cardamoms
3 tablespoons ghee or oil
Water, approximately half a liter
Method:
Heat oil, fry ground ingredients to golden brown. Add peas, sugar, bay leaves, salt and cardamoms and saute further for a minute. Add water and cook covered until peas are tender, Adding more water if required. Add well beaten curd and simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in fried paneer cubes, simmer for another couple of minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Ls alert
Colours of SHAKO

This week fill your senses with the colours of Shako. From March 23 Bengal Shilpaloy at 275/F, Dhanmondi 27 is arranging a painting exhibition of 13 women artists of Shako.

Shako features women artist only and this is exactly the reason why you should be there. It will give you a chance to witness the expose of women's psyche through their canvas and colour, through their images captured in oil, spirit seized within their sculptures. These work of art portray the affliction that women face everyday and their struggle against it. Women artists taking part in the exhibition are Kanak Chapa Chakma, Farida Zaman, Nasrin Begum, Kuhu, Farzana Islam, Rebecca Sultana, Naima Haque, Fareha Zeba, and Shulekha Chowdhury. The exhibition is also featuring prominent artist Ferdousi Priobhashini. Total number of 42 works by these artists is on display, these include oil, water, mixed media and a few sculptures.

The exhibition will continue till April 6 and open from 12noon to 8pm in the evening. This week's recommendation is definitely for serious art lovers.

By Shahnaz Parveen

 

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TIPS

Using water wisely

March 22 is observed as the World Water Day. The day went by without getting any attention from us. If we look around us now, we notice that we all waste huge volumes of water both indoors and outdoors. Many of us forget to shut the tap after use while others forget to turn off the water pump until the reservoir overflows… Here are a few things that all of us can try to do to reduce this wastage.

If in your vicinity, there's currently a water shortage then use a bucket while you have a bath instead of a shower. Showers waste huge amount of water. Store water in the sink while washing dishes. The water used for washing vegetables can be easily reused. Instead of pouring it down the drain, try to reuse it for watering houseplants. Check out for hidden leaks in your taps and water pipes and mend them right away.

If the toilet's handle frequently sticks in the flush position, letting water run constantly, replace or adjust it. Huge amount of water in urban households is wasted in the above way. Don't let water run while brushing teeth, shaving or washing your face. Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects and other similar waste in the trash rather than the toilet.

If you are into gardening then refrain from using sprinklers and avoid water wastage. Instead of using hosepipe to wash your car, make use of a bucket. Do not use water to clean the area in front of your house or shop, use a good broom to clean away debris. You can also reuse the water you washed vegetables with.

If you see any leakage in the WASA line in your neighbourhod inform the authority at once. This process will obviously take time, in such a case, try to fix it with the help your neighbour. This type of community service helps a lot. We should all avoid the installation of ornamental fountains to reduce unnecessary use of water.

Together we can bring big changes. So to give the above recommendations a shape of reality it's necessary that we all unite to grow awareness. We can from clubs in our own vicinities and undertake campaigns to encourage people not to waste water.

The schools should be encouraged to develop and promote water conservation ethic among children. Employers should try to make their staff aware of the negative outcomes of water wastage. Bulletins can be put on the notice boards of schools and offices to encourage people not to waste this precious natural resource.

Let us all abide by the rules and suggestions of WASA to help prevent wastage of this life saving resource. Many of us resort to improper and illegal connections to avoid paying normal water bills. Let's stop it because this is not only against the law but such practices result in huge volumes of water loss.

Try to do one thing each day that will result in saving water. Don't worry if the savings are minimal. Every drop counts. Together we can make a difference. Water is precious, so let's use it wisely.

By Wara Karim