Dr. Kathy's mehendi colored hands

Bangladeshi girls are designed their hands with mehndi in special occasion such as Eid day, wedding ceremony, 1st day of Bengali new year, first day of spring etc.

Dr. Kathryn B. ward likes mehendi, mehendi color and its smell. She likes to design her hand with mehendi. Watch more from video.

Nari Jibon Project and Its Bloggers: What Other Bloggers are Saying

Cross posted from bideshi blue

Students in the computer lab.....

Recently I returned from 45 hot (beshi garum) days in Bangladesh where I visited the Nari Jibon Project, among other activities. Loadshedding continued to take its toil on me, Nari Jibon computers, students as well as garment factories. Nonetheless students have come to their computer and english classes as well as practiced in the women only cyber cafe. During this visit, many students opened their own blogs!

During this time, Nari Jibon hosted a visiting lecturer, Kira, who gave a lecture and worked with smaller groups on blogs, photography, photo websites.

In response, many students posted in the Nari Jibon english blog for the first time. Other students have continued to contributed to Nari Jibon bangla blog. Many of the bangla poems have been translated into english and posted in the english blog. Some students opened their own blogs (in English and Bangla) and some staff started blogging again...

some bloggers' photography session with Ms. Kira:
Zannat, Jannat, Choti, Kira, Jainub's daughter, Jesmin

For overviews of these blogging activities, check out what others have been saying about Nari Jibon and its bloggers. Please follow the links within and read the bloggers' creative activities as they find and develop their own voices and computer-photo skills and continue to post. Your comments (kind, thoughtful, constructive) will provide much needed encouragement. Below, I list some students' and staff members' individual blogs.

new from David Sasaki's visit to Dhaka and Nari Jibon Project:

http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2008/09/02/nari-jibon-using-blogs-to-give-bangladeshi-women-new-skills/

new ! http://el-oso.net/blog/archives/2008/09/02/bangladesh/en/

http://el-oso.net/blog/archives/2008/08/15/an-update-from-nari-jibon/en/

http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2008/08/14/nari-jibon-making-a-difference/

http://uncultured.com/2008/07/25/what-would-kathy-do/

http://www.k-minos.com/?p=577

http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2008/07/10/nari-jibon-the-joy-of-having-their-own-blog/

Some Students’ blog addresses:

Afrin's Gallery http://asiaafrin.blogspot.com/

Jesmin’s garden http://jesmingarden.blogspot.com/

Zannat's world http://zannatworld.blogspot.com/

Rainbow http://jannat-fardoush.blogspot.com/

Bangladeshi Women http://jainub-khanam.blogspot.com/

Ahona http://ahona-hira.blogspot.com/

Window of Mind, http://sufia-eti.blogspot.com/

My Dream, http://poly-dream.blogspot.com/

Choti’s blog http://choitrerdinguly.blogspot.com/

Staff blog addresses:

new ! Kajol's destiny http://kajols-destiny.blogspot.com/

Bipa’s Prokrito Bangladesh http://www.bipa-prokritobangladesh.blogspot.com/

Sujan’s Chinta, http://hi-bangladesh.blogspot.com/

Creative talk by Nilufa http://annekuet.blogspot.com/

Kazi’s eye, http://kazi-rafiq.blogspot.com/

Techna Tara: http://taslima-toma.blogspot.com/

computer teachers taslima & nilufa watch kira teach about photography

Blog workshop on Flickr

By Kazi Rafiqul Islam

Nari jibon blogdol arranged blog workshop on Friday (20.06.08). Venezuelan journalist and photo blogger Ms. Kira Kariakar, Mr. Shawn Ahmed of Uncultured project, Prof. Dr. Kathryn B. Ward (Executive Director Nari Jibon Project), Ms. Shaina Haider (Visiting English teacher/researcher (Nari Jibon) and under graduate student Florida State University USA) were present in the meeting. 40 students and 13 staff attended the workshop. In the workshop Ms Kira told the staff/students/bloggers about the importance of photo blogging, flickr account etc.

In discussion on Flickr she told us that Flickr is a photo management and sharing application. We can use flickr to store pictures for our personal private use, to share them with our friends/family, to aid us blogging, to establish communities with friends and family and to pursue an interest through communities. She informed that in order to join flickr we need a yahoo account and no other email account can be used.

She told that image is worth a thousand words. Sometimes a unique image can express what we want to say. Other time an image can bring strength, emphasis to what we want to say. She also told that blogs that have posts with pictures often get more visitors than post without. Readers get interested on the pictures of the bloggers and his/her “eye of world” so they’ll mean likely come back. She told pictures get listed in search engine like google and they attract visits referred by the search. And photo blog use pictures as their mean of expression instead of writing.

Ms. Kira told us the way of uploading pictures. She told in this respect that there are many ways to upload pictures and videos to flickr. We can do it through the website with third part application and plug-ins by email and with our mobiles. On the website we click on the link to upload pictures on the welcome page. We can use the basic upload photos and videos page. Ms Kira told us that we can send also pictures by email with an email address given to us for that purpose by flickr.

Ms Kira told us that we can organize our picture by set and collection (only for paid account). For free accounts there is another way to organize the pictures is by tagging. She also informed us how we can post a picture in our blogs from a flickr. In this respect she told that we can integrate our account with blogger. We can choose the pictures we want to blog even if it is not ours. And flickr account copyright permits. We select the size we need for our blog and insert the code of the image in our post. The email will be retrieved and displayed in our blog. Ms Kira also told about safety and copyright. She told that in general we can set our levels of safety for searching and for what kind of content we have. We have to establish in our setting if our content is searchable and if it’s safe. We can keep all our rights of authorship or select any of the licenses of creative commons.

At the end of her speeches she told that she needs a small group of students/bloggers so that she can teach them clearly and easily about flickr accounts etc.

At the end of the workshop Kathryn B. Ward announced the name of the best bloggers of Nari Jibon blog. They are Nurunnahar Islam Munni (Dowry system in Bangladesh), Jannatul Ferdoush Nargis (Garments Workers), Sufia Khatun (Ogradhikar- Priority) and Shahida Islam Mony (Nari—Woman).

A Great Woman –Dr. Kathryn B. Ward

Cross posted from Bangladeshi Women

Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and many others human being was famous for their sacrifice of valuable time, image, strength of mind and money. The woman awakening of bangle was thinking first time our admirable begum Rokeya Sakhawath Hossain. Just like that a great woman-- mother of Nari Jibon Dr. B. Ward thinks that the woman of Bangladesh should efficient to go away in advance to the long way. Besides that they need to be educated alternatively. We give her cordial respect and love.

She is an American, professionally professor and researcher. She had come in Bangladesh purpose on woman research. She came in Bangladesh and observed the weakness of Bengali women. She built up woman welfare basis organization`Nari Jibon project’ in 2005 with some kind hearted people of Bangladesh.

Welfare basis this organization cooperates to increase the skill and constructive work, such as-- computer, graphics design, photography, hardware, Bengali, tailoring and English Spoken etc. Such kinds of activities help a woman and never break off her progress to go front. So that they don’t need to depend on others. She could live as highly regarded person in society with lofty head and honour.

Nari Jibon helps the female to over come from defenseless and lead to move and stroll with proficiency. By dint of Nari Jibon, today I can browse Internet in spite of as a simple housewife. When I think that, I am a student of Nari Jibon and I feel proud. Here every teachers and students are female. So no gathering happens of male and female. This type of Nari Jibon office environment is very comfortable for women. I have no idea about the same type of organization is there in any other places.

As a good wisher, I strongly oppeal and demand from my core heart –should more expended the branches of Nari Jibon in other places, especially women who lives in villages. They could do better if they would get opportunity. Welfare related organization slighthy think for those type of woman as a result in spite of merit they are confined in a narrow area.

In the end, again I wish good luck to Madam and May Nari Jibon lives long, and it extends in all districts even villages in the whole country. Through her core helping every women of Bangladesh can be expert, active and self-confident. Dr. Kathryn B. Ward may live by the heart of skillful and successful women.

Nari Jibon Project: Three Years of Providing Alternative Skills for Women

From Kathryn Ward, crossposted in Bideshi Blue.

Shuvo Jonno Din ba Happy Birthday to Nari Jibon Project! Three years ago on 1 March 2005, the Nari Jibon Project (women's lives) opened to provide alternative skills to disadvantaged urban women in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Three Fulbright fellows and Bangladeshi staff provided low cost classes in Bangla, tailoring, English, and computers in a cramped one flat space (for our herstory, see the Nari Jibon website). Nari Jibon has now expanded to three flats and more offerings such as three levels of English, more computer classes with broadband access (including repair-graphics-photography-video), and also a website, nari only cyber cafe, tailoring shop, and research cell. Since June 2007 and thanks to a small grant from Global-Rising Voices, Nari Jibon also has two blogs in English and Bangla, which have been read by over 13,000 readers. You can read a Rezwan's recent overview of the blogs and spring in Bangladesh.

Many of our students have gone on to develop their own businesses, improve their salaries from literacy in Bangla and skills, jobs in offices and NGOs, and pursue their higher education with computer and improved skills in English and Bangla speaking, writing, and reading. To learn more about our students and their lives, photographs, and videos, please scroll through the Nari Jibon blog and website.

My thanks go out to the Nari Jibon Project staff and thousands of students who have passed through our doors for various studies. May they have learned many different skills that they have used in their lives, families, income generation, and continued education. Thanks to all our donors and supporters for your time and generosity.

Alas, we still need your support for Nari Jibon's continued success and programme. If you are interesting in donating time or funds, please contact me and/or go to Narijibonusa.org where you can learn what your donation can provide, more success stories and download a donation form for cheque donations to Give2Asia and/or contribute by credit card Give2Asia Foundation for the Nari Jibon Project (tax deductible in USA and Canada permitted by law).

If you are in the Carbondale, IL, USA area, you can attend a Women's History month performance by The Composters, the wonderful feminist oral-media performance duo on 21 March 2008, 8 pm, LongBranch Coffeehouse, West Jackson Street. Donations will go to Nari Jibon Project.

You can follow the pithy advice & adventures of avid Composters Glenda Greenhouse & Mary Mercury as they perform sustainably in their Compostthis! blog. They have also been featured in Spring 2008, Bitch Magazine.

You can also hear me discuss Nari Jibon and blogging on WDBX Radio, 91.1, "Native Voices" radio programme, on Sunday, 2 March, 1:00-1:30pm (central standard time) streaming url, http://wdbx.scientistsuperstar.com/

or the "Big Muddy Media" radio programme, which will be broadcast on the same station/streaming url from 9-9:30am (central standard) on Wednesday, 5 March. On the Rising Voices blogsite, you can hear me discuss the benefits of blogging for Bangladeshi women via an interview segment on mp3.

I hope that all will have some misti (sweets) in honor of Nari Jibon's birthday as well as some fair trade chocolate-tea-coffee on International Women's Day, 8 March 2008.