Feature

The Access Academy Program is being introduced in Bangladesh for the first time. It is a 16-month bridge program, where students will be taught courses of English, Math, Computer skills and Critical Reasoning, to acquire necessary understanding required for university courses.

Upon their arrival, students went through a 4-day-long Orientation Program designed by Annie Hsu, who arrived from America a few months ago from the Boston office of AUW, and Shaheda Ghafur, the Deputy Director of Student Affairs. This extensive Orientation Program included sessions on diverse topics like self-defense, women's health, art workshop, banking in Bangladesh, using mobile phones, and even the history of Independence of Bangladesh! Just after this orientation many students performed in the Welcoming Ceremony held on 5th April, which received some coverage from the print and electronic media.

When asked about how they had come to know about this University, Jyoti Shreshta from Nepal said that she came to know about AUW from a local newspaper. She is one of the eleven students who have traveled to Bangladesh from Nepal, with their country coordinator, Anjana, on 28th March. Neha Rauniyar, also from Nepal, said that while she did have better options in Nepal, it was too expensive. She thinks she is going to get the best quality education at affordable prices in this university.

It might be mentioned here that the students of the first batch are all on full scholarship provided by Goldman-Sachs Foundation. Talking about the differences between cultures, they admitted they did have some problems initially, but are now well adjusted. When asked about the problems they are facing in Bangladesh they commented, “The heat is quite troublesome, but it is not creating much of a problem as we are not going out that often.”. “The diverse cultural background of the students here is helping us to become international citizens, which is very important in this day and age,” added Jyoti. After passing out from AUW, they intend to contribute to AUW and their community by working for any development organization.

Aida T Johny and Nimisha K are two of the 19 students who have come here from Kerala, South India, traveling for more than 30 hours, through Chennai and Kolkata to Chittagong. However, after reaching Bangladesh, the excitement has made them forget the hardship of their journey. Both of them have come from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, a very selective institution of India. While they heard of Bangladesh, they had no idea what it was going to be like. To Aida, the blend of students from different countries is the most attractive part of AUW. She realizes that this makes it easier for them to improve their fluency in English. They have found it easy to adjust to the local atmosphere, which is almost like their own. At present Aida is a busy e-mailing friends back home to make them jealous about the facilities she and others are enjoying.

The eight students from Cambodia heard about AUW from an announcement circulated by the Ministry of Education. They thought it would be interesting, as it would improve their knowledge of English giving them international experience. Sorya intends to work in other countries for women and environment before returning home. Nazneen, one of the three Pakistani students, is from the Northern region of Pakistan. She was interested in AUW because of the scholarship. In Pakistan, higher education is costly, while scholarship is conditional. She feels comfortable in Chittagong, as the landscape matches the hilly area she comes from. However, the mosquitoes are a problem. She intends to educate women in the region she comes from. Shashika Madurangi is from Colombo. When asked what persuaded her to leave her family and friends in Sri Lanka to come here, she said that it was the international environment of AUW that made her most interested.

She also thinks that higher education in Sri Lanka is good, but the university life is long because of session jams. She feels she will be more knowledgeable after interacting with students from a variety of regions. She intends to be a bank manager after her education.

Now it's time to hear about the teachers who are from the US, Australia and Canada. Arriving three weeks before the students, they are now well adjusted in Bangladesh. These enthusiastic and energetic people have chosen to volunteer in a faraway land, leaving behind their family and friends. As some of them said, they did know about Bangladesh before. “But most of the real learning about Bangladesh happened when I got here and started to explore everything”, said Angela Saunders from Canada. For her, it was the mission and purpose of AUW that inspired her to choose Bangladesh, while for Nancy Ko of America, it was the opportunity of working in a Muslim Country, educating women from various parts of Southeast Asia.

Nicole Gruel from Australia feels that this tenure would allow her to make a contribution that is lasting and worthwhile, while being plunged into the realities of life within a developing country. Through exposure to international development workers and literature, it appears to her that despite many restraints, Bangladesh is progressive in achieving awareness and action towards amending gender imbalances. Most volunteers decided that working with underprivileged women would be an exciting opportunity by itself, making them choose Bangladesh to work in.

An issue that seems to bother them is the poverty, particularly in children who are unhealthy and malnourished, begging on the streets in a volatile and vulnerable environment.

Talking about the prospects of their young talented students, all teachers agree that they have great potential and are highly motivated to succeed as female leaders and role models, willing to contribute to their communities. “The sky is the limit for them,” commented the teachers about these young women. What will be exciting to watch is how radiantly these stars start to shine, a few years from now.

(Student, BBA, International Islamic University Chittagong)