The Rickshaw Driver keeping Children in School

Photo by Raymond Amoah, www. rayamoah.com Just like many other men in Bangladesh, Tara starts his day by checking his rickshaw is ready for the long work day ahead. Bangladesh’s ‘taxis’ are very different to London’s monotonous black cab.  Balanced on the rickshaw’s two wheels lays a brown seat worn in from the hundreds of …

Teaching and Training in Schools

If poverty had an enemy, it would be education.  Education can eradicate some of the practices which arise from poverty, like child marriage and the dowry system.  Children around the world have very different experiences of going to school and the education they receive. Growing up in the UK, school was a natural part of …

An interview with Ananda: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope”

Photo by Raymond Amoah, http://www.rayamoah.com "When education comes, equality will also come after that." Meet Ananda, our volunteer supervisor. After first meeting Ananda and realising his name pretty much sounds like nandos, I took this as a good sign for the future – and a good sign it was indeed. Ananda is an amazing supervisor …

Conducting Workshops and Creating Change

Over the past few weeks, my team and I have been conducting several workshops with local communities and schools .The aim of the workshops are to raise awareness on topics which are current issues in Bangladesh. We have run workshops on topics such as sanitation, sexual health, eve teasing, child marriage, volunteering and addiction.  These …

International Women’s Day 2017: Celebrating in Bangladesh

I was lucky enough to be in Bangladesh on International Women’s Day and get involved with the local celebrations. This made me particularly happy as I love learning about gender equality (if you couldn’t tell already) and this is one of the main aims of my ICS project, so it fitted in perfectly. The day …

International Women’s Day 2017: Change an Attitude, Change a Girl’s Life

Education. Independence. Freedom.  These are rights which I have been entitled to as a female in the UK. Women in history have suffered and grieved to allow me to have these rights without having to no longer fight for them. As a 23 year old, I have developed ambitious aspirations of what I want to …

International Women’s Day 2017: An Interview with Akhi

 Photo by Ramond Amoah, http://www.rayamoah.com "Men need to understand and respect women.  Men need to stop thinking that woman can’t do things." International Women’s Day is on March 8th and this year’s theme is #BeBoldforChange.  Individuals are being encouraged to shout about creating a more gender inclusive world. Some people who definitely will be doing …

International Women’s Day: An Interview with Prosenjit

Photo by Ramond Amoah, http://www.rayamoah.com "I want the rest of Bangladesh to be inspired by strong female leaders." Meet Prosenjit or as we like to call him ‘Bossenjit’.  In our team, he regularly takes on the role of director and creates engaging dramas for our workshops and training. When it comes to volunteering, he doesn’t …

Settling in and Running Focus Groups

  My new home for the next few months is pretty special. Rural Bangladesh is beautiful; vibrant green fields fill most of the land, paddy fields are everywhere you look and huge palm trees tower in the background. In our small village, life happens at a much slower pace compared to the UK. Farmers work …

Training week in Dhaka

I have now been in Bangladesh for just over 2 weeks which have been filled with training, team bonding and lots of rice. After a long flight (with a quick stop in Delhi- just enough time for a cheeky lassi) we arrived in the capital for a week of training.  When the plane was landing, …