Bangladesh – Week 2: Settling in and youth group formation

Sorry it’s so late, I’ve had a few difficulties trying to upload it several times etc! BUT, week 2 vlog is here so hopefully this gives you a good insight into what we did during our first proper week of volunteering.

We began the week by travelling 7 hours up to Birisiri, where we will be living for around 10 weeks. Team Birisiri was then split into two groups, based on who our In-country volunteers were. I was partnered with the lovely Nishita, and accordingly assigned to one of the rural communites which is closer to where we are staying.

We spent 2 days visiting the community, speaking to many of the families living there informing them of the meeting we were holding on the Friday in order to form a new youth group. Many of the young people were at school, but we felt so welcomed by the residents for example being invited into their homes for tea (cha), food etc. The main of the youth group is create a sustainable project which allows and empowers the young people to come together and speak about issues affecting their community, as well as developing their skills for example public speaking which will hugely benefit them in both their personal and professional life.

Luckily, both groups were able to successfully form a youth group by the end of the week which meant we could begin planning our workshops sooner. These workshops are planned and delivered by us, the volunteers, and cover many topics such as skills, social and health issues.

The communities seemed hugely on board with our project and it is amazing to see how much it has already benefited not just the young peope in the youth groups, but also the in country volunteers.

During our free time, we visited the local markets and explored much of the surrounding areas, particularly near the beautiful Someshwari river. Loving everything so far!

Songs used: Firefly by Mura Masa
Silence by Marshmallow and Khalid
Let’s go by Khalid