Yesterday was a unique day for us. Education in Bangladesh is very valued, it's a person's only opportunity at a future that may give them skills and lead to employment. This year the College had 150 applications for 50 spots in the new RN class. Yesterday 120 + students arrived at the school early with a parent or their family to see the school and for the girls to be "tested" for admission (some travelled for 7 hours or more by bus). They first did a social survey that asked a lot of questions we'd never dream of asking (how many meals per day you eat, if you have ever had health education, how many hours you sleep, etc). At the College they house the girls in dorms for their 3 years, so I guess some questions are relevant.
Next they had an hour and a half exam and finally finished off with a bridge building activity, using straws and teamwork. They had to balance an egg on their "bridge", if their bridge collapsed, they were eliminated from the challenge. Bev, Kim and Danielle had done a similar straw teamwork building activity in Canada, so it was fun for them to see it in Bangladesh.
We sat at the front of the auditorium during the final assembly, and we wandered through the classrooms between their survey and exam time. I think the College was "proud" that they had foreign visitors, so we did our part. We have certainly been welcomed by the College, made to feel at home and they appreciated our teaching aids and our workshops.
Life is just so different here, the Bangladeshi people want to improve their lives, but truthfully, they have so far to go. We can't help but think of how fortunate we are to have been born and raised in Canada, we have so much opportunity. We have choices, we have options, so many here do not. Going to nursing school will give some girls options, if we had our way, we would want to accept all 150 girls..... They were lovely, curious and caring...... We are so lucky to have come to Bangladesh, what we've learned we can't even express clearly, it's given us a special appreciation of being Canadian. Enjoy the pictures.....
Girls Still working.....We also visited the Nobel museum, which commemorates Dr. Yunus's and Grameen's 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, very interesting and successful concept.
Next they had an hour and a half exam and finally finished off with a bridge building activity, using straws and teamwork. They had to balance an egg on their "bridge", if their bridge collapsed, they were eliminated from the challenge. Bev, Kim and Danielle had done a similar straw teamwork building activity in Canada, so it was fun for them to see it in Bangladesh.
We sat at the front of the auditorium during the final assembly, and we wandered through the classrooms between their survey and exam time. I think the College was "proud" that they had foreign visitors, so we did our part. We have certainly been welcomed by the College, made to feel at home and they appreciated our teaching aids and our workshops.
Life is just so different here, the Bangladeshi people want to improve their lives, but truthfully, they have so far to go. We can't help but think of how fortunate we are to have been born and raised in Canada, we have so much opportunity. We have choices, we have options, so many here do not. Going to nursing school will give some girls options, if we had our way, we would want to accept all 150 girls..... They were lovely, curious and caring...... We are so lucky to have come to Bangladesh, what we've learned we can't even express clearly, it's given us a special appreciation of being Canadian. Enjoy the pictures.....
Notice the hena on her hands
The girls building their bridges, there were 10 or so teams of about a dozen girls per teamGirls Still working.....We also visited the Nobel museum, which commemorates Dr. Yunus's and Grameen's 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, very interesting and successful concept.
They just had straws and pins, and this was the winning bridge.
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