The exhibit of photography from the Urdu-speaking camps in Bangladesh, Diamonds in the Rough, is a creation of a new group, OBAT Helpers Media Production.
For OBAT Helpers, the key to addressing the plight of the marginalized Urdu-speaking camp dwellers in Bangladesh is empowering their youth. High quality education is part of empowerment. OBAT’s projects in the camps provide more than 5,000 children the educational opportunities they’ll need to make a normal life for themselves. OBAT provides more than 1,000 scholarships for students from middle school to college. Tutoring centers prepare students for the all-important examinations that will determine whether they can continue in school.

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Another aspect of youth empowerment is being able to tell their own stories in their own terms. In 2015 OBAT Media Productions was established to provide young people in the camps with digital media tools and training. OBAT Helpers COO Immad Ahmed and other professionals have led workshops in the fundamentals of media production, photography, video production and storyboarding. The goal of OBAT Media Productions is to create a team that can create and produce content on a regular basis, both for OBAT and for themselves as a possible source of income.
“Diamonds in the Rough” is the first exhibit for OBAT Media Productions. High school and college students have documented each other’s realities and aspirations through images, text and video. They reveal themselves as kids we’d recognize in Central Indiana. They play games and sports, tell jokes with their friends, admire their parents and teachers. They want to make a better life for themselves and their community. But when families try to get by on $50 or $60 a month, kids’ education may seem like an unaffordable luxury. Living in an 8’x8’ room with their parents and several siblings makes studying a challenge. Life is indeed rough for these potential diamonds, yet they continue to dream. OBAT Helpers believes we can help them make those dreams real.
Md.Tanveer, Noor Hasan, Md. Dipu, Md. Faisal, Md. Sakhawat Ali, Nisha Faruki, Nasrin Haque
Md.Tanveer, Noor Hasan, Md. Dipu, Md. Faisal, Md. Sakhawat Ali, Nisha Faruki, Nasrin Haque

The photographers in this exhibit:

  • Mohammad Tanveer Alam, 11th grade in Al- Hera College
  • Sakhawat Ali Irfan, will pursue degree in business administration at Northern College
  • Nasrin Haque, 11th grade in Kisholoy Girls School & College
  • Nisha Faruki, 11th grade in Mohammadpur Mohila College
  • Noor Hasan, 11th grade in Dhaka Uddan Gov. College
  • Md. Dipu, 10th grade in Feroza Bashar Ideal Institute
  • Mohammad Faisal, enrolled in the MBA program at SouthEast University

Students from Butler University’s “Communications and Social Justice” class, taught by Prof. Lindsay Ems, have helped with the exhibit.