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For their 2003 project, 1,000 ODW-USA students took a vote and selected the "Capacity Building - Youth, Schools, and Community" proposal submitted by Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB) in Irvington, New York. The winning proposal was one of six considered for support by the students. According to Dr. Rahman, President of VAB, the Bangladesh school system is overwhelmed by the growing population and by the young age of the population; over 50% are 19 years old or younger. The quality of schools is very poor and must be improved; the literacy rate for girls is particularly low; and Bangladesh has the worst student-teacher ratio in the world at 59 to 1.
Project goals include: modernizing four high schools to deliver a quality education, providing educational and skills training opportunities for 240 low-income students, and training 160 unemployed youth to operate computers for employment. Teacher workshops and after-school tutoring by teachers and local volunteer professionals will also be included in the project. An evaluation of the program will be undertaken to provide a basis for replicating the project elsewhere.
Of the six proposals received for consideration this year, it is important to note that the students felt every one of them was worthy of funding and would make a tremendous difference in the lives of youth.
A letter informing Dr. Rahman of the students' decision can be read here, as well as his response to the ODW students.
With everyone involved in gathering resources, we came up with a number of items to help inform the students about the country they selected, as well as the culture and customs of the people, especially those in middle and high school. These resources include a list of websites and a bibliography on Bangladesh; recipes; two very descriptive responses from Bangladeshi students initiated by an inquiry on teen life from ODW students; and to help further inform ODW students about his country and organization, Dr. Rahman submitted a number of documents about Bangladesh and VAB.
We have also obtained some pictures of the students and a school building in Bangladesh that will be affected by the project.
For a quick review of Bangladesh, click on USAID's sites at:
ODW Students and Advisors may post further information they’ve gathered about the project here: http://forums.info.usaid.gov/~odw-forum/
To view PDF files, download
the accessible version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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