Study tour

By Irin Sultana

I went to visit Chittagong as a study tour from my college in 2007. Our college had arranged a study tour for our good experience. We stayed in Chittagong for 7 days. We started our journey to Chittagong on 14th march at 11:30 pm at night. It was a bus journey. We were 75 students.

I am at Cox’s Bazaar

All of our students were making a lot of fun. We have a group with 5 friends. We sat together. All night we were so excited that we couldn’t sleep and had fun. After that we reached at Chittagong on next day at 5:30a.m. A hotel was booked for our 75 students of Finance Department. We stayed in that hotel. After having breakfast at 10:00am we went to EPZ which is the industrial area of Chittagong. This is the main part of our study tour.

I am with my friends

On the next day we went to the sea port of Chittagong. Almost 3 days we had traveled to the mini Bangladesh, as like: Anwara Beach, Zia Jadughar and many other places.

On the fourth day, we went to Cox’s Bazaar. A hotel was booked for us there. It was a beautiful place. We went to the sea beach of Cox’s Bazaar. Next day morning we went to the beach for taking bath. That was a great fun for us. How nice the sea beach is!

I am with my friends

We also enjoy the sun set of the sea beach. That was a marvelous sight. Suddenly one of my friends’ Afrin got too much sick at that time our whole team were afraid. She was having a problem of gastric. She got sick for the outside food and heavy journey. Our all friends and teacher tried to take care for her. After few hours she felt well and all of us got very happy.

In this study tour we have traveled in many places of Cox’s Bazaar. We also did shopping in the Barmiz Market. I had some shopping for my family and friends from Barmiz Mmarket. The Barmiz ‘Achar’ [sauce] is famous in all over the Bangladesh. I have bought many packets of ‘Achar’ for my family and friends.

The entire journey was really great. I have enjoyed very much by this journey. It was a memorable event for my whole life.

Media’s role on women’s development

By Rabbany Sujon

First Published

Few days ago we passed “International women’s day 2008”. Many women organizations and human rights organization arranged sufficient programs in Bangladesh regarding that day. Purush Somabesh (male gatherings) at Dhanmondi Robindra Sorobor was one of the attractive and praiseworthy programs. Thousands of young people participated there willingly. Some popular singers sang songs besides discussion on violence against women. Most of the TV channels, Radio and other Medias focused these programs. Well e very well. People who could not attend in these ceremonies, they learned many things through these media programs. Thus, media can make people aware about many things that are dark in our society.

I think violence against women increasing in our society only for ignorance. People have not sufficient knowledge on women’s rights. Media can keep sufficient contribution to reduce women’s violence.

But what can we learn all around the year? I would like to discuss about some advertisements that are showcased in the whole year by the media channels.

I can see an advertisement of Bangladesh Olympic Association’s on “Crira Unnoyan lottery” everyday several times on BTV where displays that ----
‘A young woman was taken to a young man for choosing her as his bride/wife. (This is an ancient ceremony before getting married in our society). Then young man becomes very worried to see the young girl as she did not wear sufficient ornaments. Then one of guardians or matchmaker takes him to another room and shows a lottery, he tells that you will get everything by this lottery if- -. Then bridegroom becomes happy and gets married.’
Here what is the advertisement teaching us? Are ornaments or valuable things or everything essential for every woman? What will happen if bridegroom don’t get lottery price?

Let’s have a look at another TV advertisement of a famous Cosmetic Company. It displays that----
‘A young girl failed to collect any job in the job markets. Later she started to use beauty cream and she became beautiful within two weeks and gets a rich job easily.’
What does the advertiser want to mean by this advertisement? Are all the jobs reserved for white skinned women?

There are huge advertisements (Soap, cream etc) are shown in the various TV channels where that the black skinned women are underestimated. These advertisements make very sorrow to the black skinned women and make a negative sense to the male persons against black skinned women.

We can also learn observing some clothe washing soap/detergent powder’s advertisements that clothes washing tasks are only for women and that have been done from ancient. Though most of the commercial laundries are lead by the male persons. Same-same we are also learned from some spice companies advertisements that all the cooking tasks are only for women and that have been done from ancient though most of the restaurant and first food shop are leaded by male persons.

Few days ago I saw an advertisement of a car fair in a daily news-paper where some new model cars were with two young girls. Those girls wore nice and short dress. I did not understand why these girls are beside these cars. I know that new cars are used by rich businessmen or high officers.
Are not these girls used as goods or sex object? We can see on the TV commercial everyday in many advertisements that women are using as goods and sex objects if you look these by your naked eyes.

Add producers, TV commercials and women/models who act in these kinds of advertisements should think about the add concept before making those. We know media is the conscience of the society. The society can be affected by the media both positively and negatively. We hope the media will take step to make awareness in the society and help to reduce the negative sense on add concept.

Education for Women

By Aysha Parveen

A nation can not get progress without education because education is the back bone of a nation. Every people should be educated. Women are the part of our nation. Without education women can not prosper in their life. An educated mother can make an educated family. If women can prosper in their life then a nation can be developed.

Bangladesh is a small and developing country. Education is the part of our life. So Bangladesh will not be success without a proper education. Most of the people are women here. For this reason women are the very important part of our country. An educated woman can help to build a developed nation. Every woman will be a mother. An educated woman can take and make decision in every step in life. They can build their career in many sectors, like: - computer, banking, education, NGO and many other government sectors. As a result our nation can be connected with the other development countries. It helps to develop a country in many sectors. So education is very important for every woman’s life.

Bangladeshi women are very helpless because most of the women of our country are illiterate. They are tortured in many ways because most of them are uneducated. An educated woman can get progress in her life very easily. In the conclusion, we can say that every woman should be educated. It is really very important for a nation.

Garments Workers

By Jannatul Ferdoush

Bangladesh is a small and poor country. It is an over populated country too. There are many people who live in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka is a very crowded city. Most of the people of Bangladesh live in villages. Many people come to the cities to do a good job to earn money. Most of them work in garments factories. All aged people can work in the garments. They had no choice to do another work to earn money.

Garments workers’ life is very difficult. They wake up in every early morning. At first they are to finish their all household works. After that they go out to attend their work. They walked a long way to attend their work. Women workers face many problems. They are to maintain both their family and professional life at a time.

Garments workers’ life is very simple. These workers are lower class people. Most of garments workers live in slums. They work in garments for a long time. Most of the times they do over time work. But they can’t get their legal salary.

Bangladesh earns million dollars from foreign countries for these garment workers. But workers didn’t get the real respect like other people. We should respect them. These workers are the most important part of our country.

International Women's Day 2008--Poems from Nari Jibon Students

From Kathryn Ward, USA. Graphics from TakeBackTheTech!


In honor of International Women's Day, six Nari Jibon students composed Bangla poems on the theme of "Women Hold Up Half of the Sky". Sufia's poem (below) was selected as one of three student bloggers' poems for the Rising Voices Poetry Jam (others from Madagascar and Colombia).

Here are the english translations of all six entries from the Nari Jibon Project as translated by Kazi Rafiqul Islam; the Bangla versions will be up soon on Amader Kotha as well as some other poems and stories for this day!

Enjoy some of the latest from the Nari Jibon Project students whose talents continue to grow and as they tell their stories through poetry!

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Priority

Sufia-734 (In Bangla)

Time has come now

To stand for that we need

Not equality, but priority.

Upright

We want to open our heart

Express our mind

For that we need

Not equality, but priority.

Fathers can be cruel even

Mothers cannot.

Mothers can sacrifice

Fathers cannot.

That is what women are

We can do everything.

Combating with sorrow

Win happiness.

No more shall we endure injustice

No more shall we remain within the four walls.

Time has come to open ears and eyes

To protest against unfair deeds.

For that we need

Not equality, but priority.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are a woman

Sonia-782 (In Bangla)

You are a woman

O woman, you are my mother.

A woman is the symbol of beauty.

O woman, you are the beginning

You are the end.

In you I find the morning, the evening.

In darkness you bring light

You serve us

You are the blessing of God.

You have equal rights in all affairs

You are affectionate, symbol of love.

Your love makes us feel great.

On this International Women’s Day

We convey our love and respect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woman

Rosy Alam-555 (In Bangla)

Behind every success, who plays the prominent role?

None else, it is woman who achieves the goal.

It is known to everybody

Woman is a poem of victory.

That is why endless sorrows and pains

Can not touch you, even

In a male dominated society

Still you give a gaiety

Without you the world is ugly

You have made it beautiful, really.

You are sacred, holy you are

You own the achievements, here and there.

That is why on the day

Remembering you I want to say

All my love and respect to you.

O woman! You are symbol of fulfillment

We pay you all our tributes and honor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am still alive

Husnul Awread-769 (In Bangla)

Don’t shed your tears, other

I do suffer a lot

Who told you mother

I am not alive.

When my memory

Haunt you, mother

I will blossom as flowers in the garden.

Keep the flower with dearly care

Into the lock of your hair.

Before going to bed keep the flower in the vase.

You will dream the flower – talking with you.

I am still alive as a flower

On your lap, mother

As thousands of flowers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In vain

Surma Akter- 691 (In Bangla)

Story of a woman’s life

All in vain

No one wants to listen.

Story of a woman’s life

Laughter and tears, pains and sorrows

That is the way of life.

Story of a woman’s life

Along the solitary path

Hurdles and barriers.

Story of a woman’s life

Spread around imaginations.

Days and years pass away

Pass all the decades

Still the sufferings of women

Remain uncared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Confident woman

Shilpi Akter -772 (In Bangla)

Can I say as a woman

Am I not the vast sky?

Can I say as a woman

Am I not a beach of the sea?

Can I say as a woman

Am I not hills and mountains?

Can I say as a woman

Am I not crater of a volcano?

Can I say as a woman

Can’t I be the life saving oxygen?

Can I say as a woman

Am I not hard working as a man?

I can be everything as a woman

I can build up a strong mind and self confidence.

The Journey to Comilla

By Ayesha Parveen

One day we decided to go for a journey to Comilla in the Ramadan month. We decided to go to Comilla after “Eid-ul-Fitar” by bus.

We are three friends; Tani, Munia and I. We went to the bus counter of Cydabad to take ticket on the next day of “Eid-ul-Fitar”.

When the bus started the journey to go to the Comilla we were very excited. We were going out side from Dhaka without our parents for the first time. After two hours we reached at Comilla. Tani’s cousin came to receive us at the bus counter.

When we went to the Tani’s cousin’s house it was 3 p.m. Then we got freshen up. And we took our lunch. After having our lunch we started to visit the whole house.

We gossiped for some times and after that we decided to go out side. But at that moment the rain started. Because of the rain we had to remain at home and we changed our dress. We gossiped for a long time to one another. After gossiping we found that it was 10:00 pm at night. Then we had our dinner. We went to sleep at 12 a.m.

On the next day after taking our Breakfast we went to visit the village. Then we rode on the “sako” [a small bridge]. We were very afraid that the “sako” was thin. Then we decided to ride on a van. We visited the village by the Van.

The villagers were very happy to see us. We were also happy to see them. We gossiped with them and took many photos. Then we went to the river side. It was very wonderful place. We sit at the side of the river and enjoyed the natural beauties. The fresh air of the river side touched our hearts and made us fresh. We walked and gossiped near the river for some times.

After passing some beautiful moments we went to the house. We took our lunch and got prepared to return in Dhaka. Then we decided to ride on a boat and enjoyed the charming place for some moments. We started our journey to return in Dhaka in the afternoon and reached at home at 7 p.m.
The journey to Comilla is a very pleasant experience to me. We were very happy. It is a very memorable journey in my life. We went to visit without our parents.

The natural beauties of Comilla are very beautiful. I really liked the river side, the vast green paddy field and the sako in Comilla. It was a very pleasant journey for us.

Life of Poor People in Bangladesh

By Jannatul Ferdous

Bangladesh is a small and beautiful country. She is over populated country also. Most of the people are Muslims here; some people are Hindus, some are Buddhists and some are christens. Different religions’ people live in our country. Most of the people are poor in our country. Most of them live in villages. Some people live in towns.

Dhaka is the Capital of Bangladesh. I live in Dhaka. I saw how the poor people spend their life in the town. Some people work in Garments, some are day labors, some are rickshaw-pullers, some are street hawkers and some are beggars etc.

In the morning when I go out from my home, I can see many men and women are to attend their Work. You know that most of the people are garments worker here. Every morning they are to attend their work and return home at night. The whole day they work very hard. They always maintain their work timely. Most of the garment workers are child labors.

Sometimes we see old men, young boys as rickshaw-pullers. The whole day they drive rickshaw to earn Money. The Day labors also work hard all day. We can also see some street hawkers as vegetable, fish, flower sellers. We also see that some beggars beg in front of the houses, markets, schools, colleges etc. Some beggars are very old, some beg with baby.

Most of them live in slums. They live in poverty. But they are part of our country and our life. We can change our poor peoples’ Destiny. Our rich people can help them beside some government activities. I know Bangladeshi people are very kind and well hearted. Please help the poor people and save our country from the poverty.

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.

It seems to me that the day of today is only for me

By Sherin Sultana

Today I am very happy. No sorrows are in my mind. I am flying in my dream. An unknown pleasure is touching my mind again and again. In this morning no body needed to make me wake up. I got up as my own. I was waiting for this morning for many days.

After many days I felt like walking on foot on the soft grass. Today the black crows are seemed very beautiful. It seems to me that the nature is appeared with all of its elegance and beauty just like as the first morning of Falgun (the first day of spring). The sky seems to me as cool as the autumn. It seems to me that the day of today is only for me. This day is only for my pleasure. How beautiful every thing is! Being wonder I observed all the arrangements of nature today. A deep feeling filled my mind.

From many days I don’t use ‘Tip’ when I used to make up my face. So I will make up my face today as my choice. I will take a trip by rickshaw all day long. I will forget about the time today. Today I will observe the sunset for the last time. I will enjoy the beautiful nature at the light of twilight.

Today I feel like to sing with loud voice and wish to tell all of my untold talking to all.

If you come today all the arrangements will be arranged only for you. Do you know --- I am waiting for you for how many times, how many days, how many years ………….

The best time to have Pitha is in the Winter Morning

Written &Video taken by Mohtarimun Nahar Bipa
Video edited by Tarun Falia

In our country Pitha [home made cake] is a traditional food item. Different types of Pitha are made in the whole year in Bangladesh. But the winter season is the best season for making and having Pitha. To me the best time to have Pitha is in the winter morning.

For making Pitha, we need powder of Atap rice, coconut, banana, oil etc. For making sweet Pitha we use Molasses of date-palm [Patali Gur] or Molasses of sugarcane or juice of date or sugar etc. It depends on the type of Pitha. Some Pitha are sweet, some are salty & some are soft and some are hard.

In the winter season different kinds of Pitha are made in different areas in Bangladesh. Some known Pitha are—Chitoi, Milk-Chitoi, Vapa-pitha, Bora-pitha, Patishapta-pitha, Puli-pitha, Malpoa, Andesha, Alokeshi, Milk-puli, Khir-puli etc.

Village people receive and treat hospitably to their guest by seasonal Pitha

Village girls and women make different shapes and designed Pitha. It calls ‘Nakshi Pitha’. The names of some Nakhi Pitha are—Hijal-pata, Kajol-lata, Shajni-bahar, Padma-dighi, Shagor-dighi etc. Generally different kinds of Nakshi Pitha are arranged in the marriage ceremony of village.

In the Bangladesh Pitha making is a common tradition of village areas. The city people also like Pitha. Now-a-day different kinds of Pitha are found in the food shop. I think all aged people and children like Pitha.

Some days ago I went to my village with my Mom and Dad in winter season. My village name is Digrirchor. It is in the Dewangonj Thana in the Jamalpur district. Our village is near the Bangladesh-India Border. I stayed in my village for 3 days. All of my relatives came to meet with us. My uncles and aunts were busy to receive and treat hospitably to us. My Mom and aunts made some winter Pitha for me. I took videos on Puli-pitha and Malpoa-pitha.

Ekushey Boi Mela-2008

By Firoza Begum Poly

Boi, Kitab, Postak, Book, any word we use, is comprised of some individual sounds or letters. These sorts of word make a sentence. So do some sentence with a language. Disciplined and well furnished sentences are represented as poem, story, novel, drama, essays, lyric etc in a book. We embrace new development, match our experience, deepen our thought, and enlightened our cherished dream by reading a book. If this book is written in Bangla, we feel much comfort while reading it than the book of any other language.

As a part of nursing and promoting Bangla, Bangla language and literature Bangla Academy arranges a month long book fair having slogan of “Read book and collect them for future use” this year in the month of February 2008 at the academy premises . The first Ekushey book fair was held in 1974. This year the 23rd Ekushey book fair is on going with necessary formalities including inauguration by Chief Advisor Dr. Fakuruddin Ahmed. Centering Bangla Academy as many as 374 stalls are offering different sorts of publications to the book lovers and visitors. People from all walks of life are rushing to the fair and standing in a long queue enters in the mela not even showing a bit of disturbance. Everyday thousand of visitors thorn the mela from 3 pm to 9 pm.

This year the environment of the mela is more neat and clean. More space is occupied with number of stalls. Rate of sale is also satisfactory. A leading essay writer Dr. Anisuzzaman calls for by saying that a pioneer publisher Chittaranjan Babu took the initiative to arrange Boi Mela at the academy primises and in response to his call almost every writer of Bangladesh took part in the mela and sold their own books by sitting on old newspapers. Dr. Zaman grieves that every year we are losing some good writers for ever.

Shamim Ahmed, a migrated writer, estimates that the woman writer is also coming forward with their creative writings. She herself has come to the fair from England to get her poetry “Giol Gakham” sold. She insists on the matter that we should not undermine the woman writer by indicating them as woman writer rather we should evaluate them as a writer not by gender. Without discriminating the writer we must think of the standard of the respective writes -up.

Chayanat, a publishing house, joins the book fair this year for the first time. Wahidul Haq, the owner of Chayanat, has published some creative books for the mela. Pathachari, Anushilan, Kanthashilan, Rabindra Sangith Sammellan etc. are mentionable of them.

Rehana Ashiqur Rahman, a radio & television artist, has written & published her own book Rajkumarir Ganmadin, Rajputra, Sindabad Er Galpa and Jolakannaya.

Bangladesh Computer Association has also joined the fair. Riki, a sales woman of BCA stall, who is also a student of Philosophy at Jagannath University, marks the changing learning trends of the child. BCA has come up with audio-visual learning materials for the children. Riki says that the main focus of the BCA is to free the children fear of traditional learning system and to replace audio-visual and animated learning materials.

Bangla is our mother tounge. We feel eternal peace in speaking Bangla. Though it was supposed to be spoken Bangla as our birth right, we had to acquire it by exchange of blood, which is not a floral achievement. We had to sacrifice a lot. So we are expected to do something more to develop the Bangla Language and Literature. Salam, Barakat, Rafiq, Jabber contributed to Bangla by embracing death in 1952. It is our great achievement that their supreme sacrifice on the 21st February 1952 receives international acknowledgement International Mother Language Day. I am sharing some photos of Ekushe Boimela, 2008.

Ekushe and my thought

By Kazi Rafiqul Islam

Thousands of books, articles and poems were written on Ekushe (21st February-International mother language day). And also we see many seminar, symposium on it. People can see/read what happened that day in the year 1952, how many people sacrificed their lives to establish their mother tongue through these books, articles, TV news, news papers, seminar, symposium etc.

I would like to say probably we have forgotten why they have sacrificed their lives. What we see everywhere? People have started to talk in English or Hindi or other languages where they could easily talk in Bengali. Talking in English has become a fashion of our young generation. If they practice talking in English that’s fine but sometimes it seems they are showing others that they can talk in English and also feeling proud and ignoring Bengali language (their attitude prove that). I think people should talk in English or other languages where necessary but not everywhere. I would never discourage people to learn English as it is international language. We must learn English to develop ourselves and it is also needed for our country’s development and at the same time we should not forget to learn our own language Bengali (Bangla). To develop our Bengali literature and establish Bengali language we need to translate many books, articles and journals in Bengali that are written in other languages.

To acquire more knowledge people can/should learn different language specially English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Arabic etc who have money and other opportunities. People also can learn culture, music, religion, politics etc of other countries. In these way people can compare with their own things, can add more what is good or omit what is not good.

Few months ago I went to visit one of my relatives house. They are very rich and also educated. Some of their family members live in England. One of their daughters came from England and for her honor they arranged a party where I was invited. Mother of that girl told me that her daughter can not speak in Bangla (Bengali) and she was talking like it is her pride. I just told, “Is that so?” I could not show how much I was surprised and shocked. Learning other languages is good but not forgetting own language. People can feel proud of learning many languages but what is it when people forget or stop learning his/her own language, forget own culture? I never heard about a boy or girl who has come from England or America and is living in Bangladesh or other countries but forgot his/her own language (English).

Finally I would like to say people should learn their own language first and maintain their own culture.

The Falgun Fair of Housewives

By Mohtarimun Nahar [Bipa]

Hello readers. I hope you are having a nice spring season. In our Bangladesh the spring season stays for two months [Falgun and Chaitra].

Yesterday when I was coming to The Nari Jibon Project then I found, a fair is held on Falgun. It is held near the Nari Jibon Project. I was very much attracted for one reason. I know that Bangladeshi people are fond of celebrating all the occasions. But the best part of this fair is --- it is arranged By ‘Dhaka Shatadal’ the organization of housewives. The word ‘Housewives’ attracted me a lot that I didn’t hear any organization like this.

In Bengali the name of this fair is ‘Griho Bodhu-der Falgun-er Mela’ [The Falgun Fair of Housewives].

All the sellers are housewives here. That’s why I went to visit the fair. The fair is arranged in a room. But there are many items to sell; those are: three-pieces, shawls, bed covers, skirt-tops, ornaments, Bengalese, sharees etc. Some dry foods and drinks are also sold in this fare.

I feel very happy that in this busy city Bangladeshi people try to celebrate some occasions. It can be arranged by locally or by the help of any organization or by personally. It may small but how many people try to celebrate and manage time to celebrate beside their official or other works. I feel very proud to be a Bangladeshi. Our people are very friendly and jolly minded.

I took permission of the Fair people to take some pictures. They were very happy. I would like to share some photos of this fair. Those are given below:

I went to Singapore with my family

By Farjana Hoque

In 1997, I went to Singapore with my family. That was not for the first time that I went to Singapore. In that year I spent the most beautiful time by visiting in Singapore. At that time I was in 14 years old. I remember every moment still now. I enjoyed very much in that year.

I am in Singapore

I enjoyed a lot by viewing many beautiful sceneries of Singapore. The most memorable sight seen was “Santosa, Jorong Bird Park and The Zoo”.

At First I would like to write something about Santosa. We went to Santosa by three ways. The ways were-- train, Cable Car and Ship. We used train and ship. The Cable Car was the most exciting way to go to Santosa. In Santosa there were many things that I saw and enjoyed. The most beautiful part was Water dancing. I watched water dancing in the evening in Santosa. There was a sea beach. I ate some food there.

On the next day we went to the Jorong Bird Park. It is the largest bird park of Asia. There were 8,000 birds of 600 Species from all over the world. The world largest collections are there in the park, like-- Toucans, Penguin etc. The Daily Shows are shown with these birds.

The Zoo was also exciting place for me. There were so many animals. I enjoyed the animals’ shows, like--- Elephant’s show, Bird’s show, Snake’s show etc. I enjoyed every show. I think Singapore is a very good place for traveling.

Out Against Abuse-New Blogsite Against Domestic Violence

From Kathryn B. Ward, USA and cross-posted from Bideshi Blue

As readers of this blog and Bideshi Blue know, I have been very interested in issues of violence against women, in particular, domestic violence in Bangladesh and where ever Bangladeshi women migrate as students, wives, and family members as well as in the USA. I have encouraged readers to learn more and reach out to one another and give support to organizations within their own communities. I'm very excited by a new website, Out Against Abuse, started in January 2008 to educate and organize the South Asian community in USA against gender abuse-domestic violence through information, interviews with activists, and comments-participation by readers. Please go to this blogsite, bookmark it, and read through the posts to date. The most recent post is a very informative interview with Dr. Nusrat Ameen, law professor, activist, and author of Wife Abuse in Bangladesh: An Unrecognized Offence, UPL, 2005.

The co-founders, Sabrin Chowdhury, executive director and Raj Gupta, technology director, provide their mission statement. They looking for more interviews with activists, commentary on gender abuse, information about events and resources. You can contact Out Against Abuse: info@outagainstabuse.org. Please contact them!

In the following from this blogsite, Sabrin Chowdhury writes about the purpose of Out Against Abuse:

Educating Our Community: Taking the First Step Against Gender Abuse

“Two out of five South Asian women have experienced partner violence, a rate disproportionately higher than that of other minority groups,” – www.dayahouston.org.

Domestic violence is defined as “a pattern of abusive behavior which keeps one partner in a position of power over the other partner through the use of fear, intimidation, and control*,” and is an ongoing problem that continues to plague women from all around the world. South Asian women tend to suffer from problems of gender abuse at a much more severe rate than other races; however, the topic of domestic violence is one that is rarely discussed in the South Asian community.

The problem stems from the fact that many of us do not realize how vast the effects of abuse can be and how instances of domestic violence have a grave impact on many other problems in our community. Unfortunately domestic violence is not an issue of the past and is not limited to just rural and economically disadvantaged women in South Asian countries. More and more we hear about incidents of violence committed against highly educated and independent women. In many instances these women feel forced to stay in abusive relationships due to the societal stigma that comes from failed marriages or relationships and the lack of awareness of how to deal with domestic violence in general. Many people also wrongly believe abuse to only refer to physical violence. However, domestic abuse includes physical, sexual, economic and emotional abuse, creating an atmosphere of fear and despair for the victim.

I believe that the first step in putting an end to gender abuse is educating ourselves and our community. Out Against Abuse is a blog based website devoted to discussing the issues surrounding domestic violence and gender based abuse in the South Asian community. The blog will be updated with articles discussing key women’s issues and also with interviews conducted with various activists working to combat domestic abuse. This forum was created to increase awareness and discussion in the South Asian community about gender based abuse. The more we become conscious and educated about the issue, the harder we can work at ending violence against women. But for that we need your thoughts, comments, and collaboration to spread the word in our community.

With that, I leave you with the question: What actions can we exactly take to educate our community and put a stop to violence against women? Whether the impact is great or small, how can we all do our part to end violence?

* http://www.apiahf.org/apidvinstitute/ResearchAndPolicy/factsheet.htm