A conference with a difference

Print Edition

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Dhaka Live

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Author / Source : ---

For the adolescents who are part of BRAC’s Adolescent Development Programme life has new meaning

On the September 14, 70 young women, all of them students and entrepreneurs were at the BRAC Centre in Dhaka to take part in the Livelihood Conference 2011. They’d travelled from seventy Upazilas and thirty districts to boost their knowledge about running their businesses. The day-long conference was a chance for the participants to network and learn from various representatives from established companies and businessmen from Dhaka.  Among the enthusiastic young women was Juma Rani Sarkar of Netrokona’s Mohonganj Upazila, who had not been able to pursue her education beyond class ten due to financial constraints, so when she joined one of BRAC’s Adolescent clubs in her area, she was able to train as a beautician, which opened up opportunities to earn a living, which she did by starting her own business. The young entrepreneur is now preparing to sit for the Secondary school examinations under the Open University. For her, the conference was a wonderful experience, where she met some of the most celebrated women of Bangladesh, such as Rokeya Afzal Rahman, Kaniz Almas Khan, and Munni Saha, but Sarkar was not star-struck at all, instead she seemed to be inspired by coming into contact with these pioneering personalities and confidently she stated, “Back home everyone knows me as the beautician Jhuma. I have a dream, which is to become one of the most successful beauticians in greater Mymensingh area so that people recognize me by my name.”
Rokeya Afzal Rahman who is the chairperson of the Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs was struck by the strength and confidence that was evident among the young women; she noted that their ability to multitask was admirable. Dr. Mahbub Hossain BRAC’s executive director spoke of practicalities when he explained that women’s economic development was vital for the nation’s growth and development, without women playing an active part, Bangladesh can not move forward. Persona’s MD Kaniz Almas, one of the most respected and celebrated beauticians of Bangladesh today, and a woman who has revolutionised the beauty industry was kind enough to preside over a session with the young entrepreneurs, among whom many were beauticians, so they were thrilled to have her amongst them. Almas spoke from her experience and shared vital ideas and advice with the young women, who went away with tips on how to establish themselves successfully in the business of beauty. There was practical advice and lessons from Professor Mamunur Rashid from the BRAC Business School for the entrepreneurs, who certainly learned a great deal from the session with one of the country’s most learned minds.
There were many others sharing their ideas, knowledge and time freely during the conference. Among them was Asif Saleh who is the director of communications at BRAC, and another well respected personality, Shameran Abed head of the microfinance programme also took an interactive session, which was certainly of great value for the young businesswomen, who learned a great deal about financial management, and where to get the support they need. The programme manager of the Adolescent Development Programme at BRAC Rashida Parveen lead a session where the young women shared their experience and were able to ask questions that related to areas they needed or wanted guidance in related to their work and life. The day’s programme was honoured by distinguished speakers such as Lady Syeda Sarwat Abed, director CFL-BRAC University, Dr. Safiqul Islam, director- BRAC Education, Md. Monowar Hossain Khondakar, Programme Coordinator-BRAC Education, and Dr. Obaidur Rob Chowdhury the chairman of UCEP.
BRAC’s Adolescent Development Programme stemmed from the schools for older children in the early 90s. The programme is aimed at giving young girls in particular a place to meet and socialise, and engage in various social activities and games indoor, as well as enjoy themselves with music and dance performances, activities that are often frowned upon by society at large, even though there is evidence that such activities are beneficial for adolescents. The programme has come a long way since those early days and now works in co-operation with the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MoWCA) and the Department of Youth Development under the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Among the various activities of the Adolescent Development Programme is the Adolescent Club or Kishori Kendro. The main objective of the clubs is to empower adolescents girls in particular, so they cam learn to make the right decisions about their life choices, and through the club they learn to work in teams and eventually can become active agents for social change in society, as the adolescent girls and boys learn to interact with mutual respect. Also part of the programme are courses that teach them life skills, which includes awareness of taboo topics that are actually life saving, such as knowledge about reproductive health, sexual abuse, children’s rights, gender, HIV/AIDS, STIs, verbal and sexual abuse or harassment, child trafficking, substance abuse, violence, family planning, child marriage, dowry, etc. Since its inception thousands of young men and women have gained essential knowledge in these courses. There are also practical training to help them make a living so they can learn about photography, tailoring and embroidery, raising and keeping poultry or livestock, and as we saw from some of the attendants at the conference, beauty care training is popular. The training is provided in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sport and local organisations. Such skills would be useless with the ability to communicate effectively so a communication, awareness and advocacy programme ensures community members are also engaged in the process through meetings with parents, mothers and fathers separately, plus various community workshops that include formal and informal interaction and dialogue between these groups so that they understand and provide the necessary support network.
The ADP’s interactive theatre groups and club’s activities have resulted in the production of a television show ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ that has paved the way for greater success for many underprivileged young women, with support from Shadhona and ATN Bangla.  l

For more on BRAC’s activities see the website www.brac.net.
Information courtesy Pujarini Sen, BRAC.