HOPE lives!

As an organization, HOPE has been dormant for a fairly long while now, but the students of IUB are ever curious about the community they live in. This summer, the students of the Public Speaking course at the Department of Media and Communication were given Project H.O.P.E as their term-end assignment. The task was simple: go spend an hour with someone less privileged than you, and come back and share with the class, all the things that you've learned. Needless to say, the response was fabulous. Let's take a look at three of these cases.

Tasbir Ahmed chose to visit the Chondrima Uddayan to talk to flower vendors there. He learned a lot about how they collect the flowers, knit their garlands, and what their earnings are like. That's him talking to a flower girl about the poor sales she made that day.

Arif Hussain Nayeem, who's a student by day and a DJ by night, chose to interview Insaf Ali, a street vendor of home-made kulfi. Arif came back with many stories about Mr Ali's struggles and the unfortunate circumstances that led to this as a career choice. He was also brave enough to try one of the man's kulfis, without asking too many questions about the hygiene. Kudos to you, Arif!

And finally, there's our Faisal Ahmed Misha who spent a day at the Swapnadhara Patshala, talking to the teachers, taking in the modest surroundings of the school, and in general, coming to appreciate how fortunate he is to be studying in an institution that offers the kind of facilities the students at the patshala can't even dream of.

Here's hoping that the students all learned something new from their venture!

Happy Birthday, HOPE

And on April 25, we quietly turned 3...
After all the pep and fire of Autumn 2008, this has been a very sleepy semester for everyone, what with half the executive team struggling through their final semester.
That is not to say that HOPE has done absolutely nothing these past three months.
On February 25, delegates from HOPE made their way to Koitta, Manikganj, where they distributed warm clothes among the villagers. It so happened that, while there the team encountered a party that had met with an automobile accident. In true spirit of empathy, they transported the wounded to the nearest medical centre.
Also in the cards is an impending trip by a doctor, sponsored by HOPE, in collaboration with Care Bangladesh, to provide free medical treatment in the village. We are currently negotiating with the doctors. Here's hoping the next semester will be a fruitful one.

Reliving Muktijuddho Memories

Continuing from our experience of the Liberation War discussion, the HOPE members decided to accept Mr Akku Chowdhury's kind invitation to go and see the Liberation War Museum in Shegunbagicha. The trip featured a documentary presentation, as well as a tour of the museum's exhibits. We were pretty stunned to see items like the skeletons of the martyrs, and their personal effects, along with news clippings from articles and reports during that time. Particularly touching were the interactive video clips available at selected display stands, featuring interviews and news reporting.
It was certainly an eye-opener for us all.

Muktijuddo and our questions

Many of us born in independent Bangladesh have a lot of questions regarding the Liberation War, issues that led to it, and of course, where we stand today. In order to shed some light on these queries, HOPE organised an hour-long discussion session, as part of a series, on the War of Liberation at the university campus on October 30, 2008, (last Thursday).
The invited panel of guests, included Maj. (Retd.) A Matin Chowdhury, currently a member of the Board of Trustees of IUB, General (Retd.) Syeed Ahmed, Lt. Col. (Retd.) Mohammad Nazrul Islam, BP, PSC, and Mr. Akku Chowdhury, who is also member of the Board of Trustees of the Liberation War Museum. Also presiding over the event was Prof. Bazlul Mobin Choudhury, Vice Chancellor, IUB; Dr. Tanvir Ahmed, Registrar, Prof. Nazrul Islam, Director of School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SLASS), and Dr. GM Shahidul Alam, Head of Department of Media and Communications also attended.

It was an exciting, interactive event. For more information, check out Farina's coverage of the discussion on Star Campus at http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2008/11/02/feature_iub.htm

Old is Gold

Right before Eid, we went to check out our tiny friends and see if we could make them happy. We needed to see how people on the other end of the age spectrum lived their lives. That's why, on October 25, a delegation from HOPE went to the Boshipuk Old Home to spend some time with the aged residents there.
It was a beautiful place, and the people living there seemed well taken care of, but some of their stories, of how they ended up here, were really heart-wrenching. Too bad our plans for a concert were nixed by the institution's policies, but we still hope to get a correspondence program running shortly. Stay tuned for more news!

Shishu Hospital Trip

Alright, these faces are beaming after a successful delivery of clothes and toys to 100+ kids of the non-paying wards at the Shishu Hospital.
It was a hectic morning for all of us, as we lugged the goodies to the hospital. Prof Dr AR Khan, the Director, was kind enough to brief us with basic information about the institute, its history, a brief skinny on its programs and personnel. Then we were off to the wards!
For the most part, it was a heartwarming experience, to see the kids smiling after opening their parcels and pulling out the goodies inside. The tiniest tots, of course, had no idea what was going on, but they showed their appreciation by looking cute.

The trip was a good lesson in empathy, though, because we got to see for ourselves the plight of the people. Many of the kids were gravely ill, and their parents had flocked to the capital from remote corners of Bangladesh, in the hope of obtaining treatment for their children.
We had a really sad moment when we witnessed a group of doctors fighting to save a premature baby, but were unsuccessful. Let's please keep the mother in our prayers - she's only 12!

At the end of the day, though, we managed to bring a little Eid spirit into the lives of several of the patients, and that counts for something. Check out Santa Hiller!

Food, Fun and Fitra

Lovely picture, isn't it? Taskin and Tahnia all smiles! Well, that's because our iftar benefit at Roll Xpress was a success. For those tuning in, HOPE organized another fundraiser, our first this semester.
This time it was pretty simple. People booked seats at Rolls Xpress for Tk 500, out of which Tk 300 went into our fund for the kids at the Shishu Hospital. We had a full house, and raised a little more than our target for 200 children.
Thanks to Dhrubo and Sarah for organizing this! Big thank you to Adib for bringing in his posse, and of course, our models Taskin and Tahnia for their help with booking the venue and picking the menu. Special mention for Maher Khan and his enormous marketing efforts.