Anwar's Diaries- Day 8

19th December, 2016
After an early morning journey from Rangpur to Saidpur with our OBAT team, including two honorable guests Dr. Rezwan Khan and Mr. Aftab Iqbal, we were ready for a busy day. We started our day by visiting Chamra Godown Camp in Saidpur, where we met with the camp residents and consulted with them regarding problems and solutions. We arrived at our pre-school in Chamra Godown camp before visiting our sewing center project for females in Golahat, Saidpur. Each woman present at the sewing center was dedicated to working very hard to support her family by first empowering herself.
We were happy to visit FOH (Friends of Humanity) Primary School project where some kids performed rhymes and poems. Afterwards, we joined our implementing partner ISDCM (Integrated Service for Development of Children and Mothers), Saidpur, for an administrative meeting. Together, we went to the OBAT/ISDCM Health Center where we discussed patient care, the satellite clinic, how the community can gain the maximum benefit from this institution, and how we can better deliver health care solutions.
We also went to OBAT Computer Center situated in Saidpur with Mr. Aftab Iqbal and discussed with students regarding outsourcing, programming and its future impact in career growth.
Following the health clinic, we visited the Project Officer of Concern Worldwide, Saidpur, Shakeel Ahmed, who is an excellent source in micro-finance. We discussed how to work collaboratively in this field.
Later that evening, we went to the Success Tutoring Center funded by the RS Foundation, who is doing great work. We met some amazing students, majority of whom were brilliant girls. OBAT hopes to help decrease the high rate of dropout for teenage boys. We had an interactive session with OBAT tutoring students in Saidpur, where we emphasized youth leadership and its impact. Many young women had amazing aspirations to be doctors, engineers and even law enforcement officials. So great to see girls who want to pursue careers, normally designated as male occupations in Bangladesh.
Sunny, our executive intern, had conducted a session with tutoring students to activate OBAT Think Tank in Saidpur and to start activities such as how to solve community problems through awareness campaigns, charity distribution, tutoring center for street and working children and self-based training.