Archive for October, 2009

July 10 – 25, 2007
The humidity in the air was stifling, as the bricks were passed from hand to hand, down the line of volunteers to their destination – the brand new wall of the Jaigeer Peace Center, a multi-purpose building attached to the Jaigeer School in the Manikganj District of Bangladesh. The hands that the bricks passed through belonged to a startling array of people – American, Japanese, Nepalese and, of course, Bangladeshi. Some of the hands
were tough and weathered from years of hard work. Some were gloved to protect hands unaccustomed to handling the coarse bricks. Others were the small hands of children. Sweat dripped from each of them, as Bangladesh’s summer weather lived up to its brutal reputation and tested the volunteers with its heat and humidity. But the hands did not falter, as they worked in unison to move a mountain of bricks and piece by piece, create a structure dedicated to peace and empowerment, where days before had been only an empty lot.

These hands belonged to the participants and volunteers of the 2007 Discover True Friendship Service Tour, held in the village of Jaigeer, located 30 km outside Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka. This year’s Service Tour brought participants from all over the United States together with volunteers from Bangladesh, Nepal and Japan in a service learning project that was centered on the Jaigeer School, which serves local students in grades one through five. The mission was to build an addition to the school, in order to allow the school to serve a greater number of students. The building would also, however, be used for adult education classes, business training for microfinance program participants, character education workshops, community meetings, and as a health care clinic. It would serve the community in a myriad of ways, and be a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the people of Jaigeer and their brothers and sisters from across the globe.

The Discover True Friendship Service Tour, as its name might suggest, has multiple components and purposes to it. The main purpose of the Service Tour is to serve a community in need, which we did this year by building the addition to the Jaigeer School, installing a water
pump, and laying a path from the school to the main road. For six intense days, the participants of the Service Tour, who gave up their summers to come to Jaigeer, worked side by side with local volunteers (and dozens of the students of the Jaigeer School) to accomplish these tasks. The Peace Center – a simple structure – was constructed of bricks, with a sheet metal roof. The Peace Road, connecting the school to the main road to make it accessible during the rains, was also constructed of bricks, laid in sand, while the tube well was sunk 210 feet into the ground to bring fresh drinking water to the school and local community. A brick wall was also built around the pump to protect it and provide privacy to those who might use it to wash.

Although few had any sort of prior construction experience, the Service Tour participants worked hard without complaint, doing all that was asked of them on a variety of tasks. In assembly lines, they moved enormous piles of earth, sand and brick to bring them to where they were needed. They helped to build and then plaster the walls of the school, as well as to put the roof on. They scraped the entire inside and outside of the existing building of the Jaigeer School to remove old paint and mold, then painted all of the doors and windows. They laid the bricks for the path to the road and helped in the grueling process of driving the pipes for the well deep
into the ground. It was inspiring to watch as each participant pushed themselves to serve as best they could even in difficult circumstances, all the while, having fun with each other and the
countless young students who offered their help. Through their work and their motivation, a great deal was able to be accomplished in a short time, and although the finishing details of the school were left for the professional builders, the group left with a feeling that they had contributed in a substantial and significant way to the Jaigeer Community.

After the work was finished, the Service Tour participants went on a tour of Bangladesh. They traveled around the city of Dhaka and then took a trip to Cox’s Bazar, the world’s longest continuous sand beach (120 km), and the major tourist attraction of Bangladesh. They were rewarded for their hard work with three days at the beach, where, despite a bit of rainy weather, they enjoyed themselves and recuperated from the work.

Throughout their time in Bangladesh, the participants engaged in another major component of the Service Tour – learning. They learned not only about Bangladesh and its people and culture, but of the challenges it is facing as a developing country. They also met many of the amazing men and women who are finding solutions to those challenges and improving their country. The group visited a mosque and was given an introduction to Islam, the predominant religion of Bangladesh. They also visited historic Buddhist temples. They were treated to cultural songs and performances of Bangladesh. They met with representatives from large organizations like UNICEF, and tiny organizations like SHUDHA (Support for Hungry Underprivileged Destitute Homeless and Aborigines), a school for street children that was literally started on a sidewalk.
They learned about microfinance and how it is allowing many Bangladeshis to improve their lives, then met with several families who were participating in IRFF’s Microfinance Program. They had opportunities to talk with scientists, local politicians, professors and countless other people who were dedicating their lives to doing what they could to improve their country and its people. As they visited these people and organizations, the participants began to understand Bangladesh and its situation better. They came to understand how important opportunity can be to people who have so little, and how blessed they themselves are to have so much.

The final and most important component of the Discover True Friendship Service Tour is the building of relationships and friendships between people who, on the surface, are vastly different from each other. Coming from America, our participants did not share the ethnicity, the language, the culture, or the religion of the Bangladeshi people that they met and worked with. These differences are ones that often in our world keep people apart from each other and divide them. Yet, through their time and work in Bangladesh, the participants of the Service Tour were able to break down these barriers and establish true friendships with the people of their host country. Through shared experiences and a genuine desire to understand each other, bonds were created that crossed the divides of superficial differences and that gave everyone great hope for the possibility of a global family free from stereotypes, discrimination and xenophobia.

It is this experience of bonding with individuals that they initially thought to be so different from themselves, and of experiencing the commonality of all people that each participant will carry most deeply with them. They will remember the friendships they made, they way that they served, and the way that they were served, and will be influenced by that in the future. They will remember all that they learned about Bangladesh and its people, and will make decisions in their life accordingly. They will remember those sweltering days in Jaigeer as well as the hands that passed the bricks to them and those that took the bricks from them. They will remember that they were part of something bigger than themselves and that the dream of all people working together and coexisting peacefully can indeed be a reality.

This time Discover True Friendship Service Tour : Asia Edition, 2007  was held in Bangladesh, the least developing county of south-east Asia, from July 10 to 25, 2007.

The mission of  the service tour was to construct a extension of school building run by IRFF, make a brick road and set up a tube well at Jaigeer village, Singair, Manikganj. The area was 30 km west of Dhaka, the capital and it needs around 40 minutes to reach there.

The 10 participants from USA, 2 from Japan, 1 from Nepal and 5 from Bangladesh directly attended this service tour. The international participants arrived on July 10 morning and  in the afternoon the participants introduced themselves with each other and reshuffled their planning in a mini orientation at Pradokehep NGO dormitory, the staying place of the participants during project work.

Service Project:

The service project of extension building, road and tube well  was schedule to complete from July 11 to 17, 2007. Everyday, the project participants did their works  from 8-30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. after reaching the working spot from Dhaka city. After everyday works, the participants took part in the extra curriculum activities.

Opening Program:

During the opening day on July 11, 2007, IRFF school was decorated nicely with paper flowers. The sub district Chief Government Official called as  Upazila Nirbahi Officer(UNO) in charge  SM Nazrul Islam, the chief Educational Official, local representatives and IRFF school students took part in the opening ceremony.  In his speech, the sub district chief expressed that it is a great opportunity for this area that such a organized team is working. He asked the locals to follow and learn from this service team. He along with Paul Byrne cut the red tape and inaugurated the Service works. Sub district Chief Government official showed his deep satisfaction  as the School extension building was named  as Jaigeer Peace Center and the road as Jaigeer Peace Road.

The service tour participants worked hard from morning to afternoon from July 12 to July 16 to complete the schedule tasks of constructing 32 ft long and 22 ft wide school building(Jaigeer Peace Center), making a brick road of  175ft long and 4 ft wide named Jaigeer Peace Road and setting a Tube well for pure drinking water. Besides, the tour participants washed the old school building and painted the door and windows of the building. Their dedicated works encouraged the locals to participate with them as volunteers. A number of school children also took part with the service tour participants. After one day long work to set up a tube well, when the underground fresh water came out through an ancient drilling method, the tour participants were very happy and washed their face and hands with the cold water. Every works were finished timely on July 17 at noon. The completion of works amazed the locals and they understands now  that if good schedule, leadership, dedication and work with unity exists, any big work is possible to finish.

Extra Curriculum activities

July 11
-Village Bazar Visit, Other School Visit in the morning before inauguration.
-Visit the National Monument at Savar at around 3-30 p.m.
-Brief of Micro credit and Yoga-Meditation from experts  and Bangladesh Ambassadors for Peace members  at IRFF Bangladesh Office in the afternoon.

July 12
-Visit Peace Micro-Finance  and Goat rearing programs run by IRFF-Bangladesh in the afternoon and shared their  testimony and success. The micro-credit and goat rearing members welcomed the service team in their houses and offered their cow’s milk, vegetable products and dry foods to the service team members.

July 13
Visit village mosque and Orphanage at around 5:30 p.m. and passed a fruitful time until evening. Mosque and Orphanage head gave sermons on basic Islam to the project participants. IRFF service tour coordinator Paul Byrne in her speech in the mosque compound told about the importance about the  harmony of Muslim and Christianity and focused the  objectives of American students to serve Bangladesh through a small exemplary works like Discover True Friends Service Tour, 2007. Later participants distributed cookies to the orphans and visited center place of the mosque. The local school girls gave the scarfs to the American female service participants for entering the mosque compound.

July 14
Distribution new loan to 20 members for the 2nd time  and giving awards to most successful loan receivers were arranged through a ceremony from 4-30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Two microfinance members and one goat rearing members received special awards for their remarkable success. The peace goat rearing member who received award has made 15 goats from a IRFF donated goats and it changed her life style. She is grateful to IRFF. The service tour participants were impressed by the income generating activities of the  peace micro-finance members.

July 15
Visiting  at Ambassador’s for Peace Members house in the afternoon and see a children school and a slum area of Moghbazar in Dhaka city where Women’s Federation for World peace, a partner NGO of IRFF-Bangladesh,  is organizing a micro-credit program. Ambassador for Peace member also entertained a cultural program in her house.

July 16
River cruise in a Bangladesh traditional  river in the afternoon time  and see the river sites until evening. Some of the school children also took part in this cruise that made more enjoyable environment.

July 17

Snake Play
- The service tour team enjoyed the traditional Snake Play of Cobra performed by two snake charmer at around 2:30 p.m.

Scholarships
-10 Scholarship members were introduced to Service team who will receive scholarship from next January. The scholarship fees will cover the expenses of  tuition fees, uniform, shoes, books and all needed supplies.

Soccer Match
-One hour long  soccer match between IRFF school team and Service Tour team took place at around 3:30 p.m. where the local community from all walks either man and women gathered in the field. Service Tour team won the match by penalty shoot out. Later captain of the Friendship Service Tour Team, Paul Byrne, presented the soccer ball to the captain of the  school team and thanked them for good play.

Wearing Traditional Dress
-The female participants wore the Bangladesh traditional women’s dress Sari and put Hena on their hands in the afternoon.

Tree Plantation
-Asia Field coordinator Mr. Katsumi Date,  Assist Executive Director of IRFF-USA  Mr. Paul and Director  of IRFF-Nepal planted three trees in the IRFF school compound at around 5 p.m.

Closing Ceremony
-The closing ceremony was taken place at the side of  Jaigeer Peace Center, the new extension building made by the Service Tour Participants. The school children came to attend the closing ceremony and say good bye to the team members. The always cheerful mind of the children also became a little gloomy as they loved the every team members very much  in this short time. Some of the school children were offering the garland /neck band  made from Bangladesh national flower Shapla (Water Lily) during this time.

Date(s): 2006-2008 and will continue in a rolling process.
Location City(s): Singair, Manikganj (25 km from capital Dhaka), Bangladesh
Project Coordinators: Mr. Tetsuya Amano,  Md. Humayun Kabir
E-mail: truefy@bangla.net Tel: 880-2-9117514, 880-2-9130294

Number of Project Participants:
Names of Project Leaders or the key people for future references:
1. Md. Humayun Kabir, e-mail: anhkabir@dhaka.net
2. Akmol Hossain Mollah, Headmaster, Jaigeer School

6.Brief Report of the project with pictures:

IRFF officials first gave the Application form to expected beneficiaries in the middle of June and before that they selected the capable good village women with a survey. It was easy as our two primary schools were running in that areas and our reputation is excellent.

Peace Micro-finance Project started its real journey on July 10, 2006 with the loan disbursed to 20 Peace village women. They have taken the credit for-
a) farming,  b)village grocery shop, c) Goat, Chicken-duck and cow raising,
d)Sewing machine and handicraft and e) Fruit and Vegetable selling business.

Every peace women(credit-receivers) received US$ 57.14 (4,000 Taka). and they will return  with US$7.14 (500 Tk.) more as service charge. Every month they will return US$ 5.35(375 Taka) and within 12 payment they will pay back  the money. After one year, a ceremony will take place where IRFF officials will award the successful credit receivers. The loan receivers divided into 4 groups namely Lily, Belly, Palash and Rose, the popular flowers of Bangladesh and five persons is consist of one group.

During the distribution day(June 10), it was like a joyful ceremony. IRFF official and schoolteachers interviewed the loan receivers: Listen about their family, children, and future goal and the reason behind the taking loan. After distributing the loan, the loan receivers and some of their family members gathered in a room. IRFF Managing Director Md. Humayun Kabir introduced “True Mother” to the village women and told them our True mother has given this donation for their welfare. He also  lectured in the light of Divine Principle on Mind-Body unity. After that, the loan receiving Peace Women tried to sing the Bengali version of Urie So Wonun Tongil song. They liked the song and it was decided that this song will be their official “meeting song” in future. In the credit returning beautiful book what every loan receivers received, the slogans-“Living for the sake of others” and “Unity save the people” was written in Bengali and they liked the returning book(pass book). The credit distributing meeting of the 20  Village Peace Women(loan receivers) was concluding with strong determined pledging to establish real peace in their family and society. IRFF officials and Teachers and loan receivers prayed for their success in the income generating works through our loans.

7. Self Evaluation Method:

1) Poverty is the most distress factor which adversely affects poor people especially the women in Bangladesh. The women of Bangladesh live in such an economic and social condition which make them fully one sided dependent on the male members of the family especially to their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons for their living. So, IRFF-Peace Micro finance project will help some of the women of our project areas for self income generating and changing their life. Though the project is small scale, it has a big target  of making a model “Peaceful community.”

2) Only cash/ material help can not give the village women a peaceful happy life.  Inner guidance is necessary. In every two months, IRFF officials will meet with the loan receivers and will provide Divine Principle education to increase their inner light. After one year, there will be an award ceremony for few valued Village Peace Women selected through their honesty and progress of works. It will make the other villagers to feel to become a good person.

3) All of the loan receivers’ children are studying in our school. Because of the poverty the under aged girl students sometimes have take care the household  works with mother and the male students have to help their father in the farming land. Out income generating program will help them to send their sons and daughter to school.

8. Comments, suggestions, requests etc.

-The starting of the Peace Micro finance Project is delayed as IRFF-Bangladesh receive the donation lately. 1st it goes to IRFF-Thailand, then Japan and it was received at last  by Bangladesh one months before.

-IRFF-Bangladesh is requesting the IRFF-Field Coordinator, International Executive Director and others to visit sometimes Bangladesh and inspect our projects and thus  encourage us.

1. Name of Project: Improve poor farmer’s income by utilizing existing resources to develop local goat herd

2. Date(s): May 2007 – Sept 2007

3. Location: Nga Hoang hamlet, Yen Gia village, Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province

4. Project Co-ordinators:
- Center for Raising the Intellectual Standards of People (CRISOP), Vietnam Association for Promoting Education. Email: defoset@hn.vnn.vn, Tel/Fax: 84 – 4 – 8684787
- Yen Gia People’s Comittee, Que Vo, Bac Ninh; Tel: 84 – 241 – 864718

5. Number of Project Participants
* Names of key people for future reference:
1. Bui Khac Cu, CRISOP Director; Email: defoset@hn.vnn.vn
2. Nguyen Thieu Hoa, Project Officer; Email: thieuhoa407@yahoo.com
3. Vu Ngoc Khoan, Chairman of Yen Gia Farmers’ Association

SUMMARY REPORT OF THE PROJECT

1. Name of Project: Improve poor farmer’s income by utilizing existing resources to develop local goat herd

2. Date(s): June – Sept 2006 (3 rd quarter 2006)

3. Location: Xuan Truong, Nam Dinh province      Nation: Vietnam

4. Project Co-ordinators:
- Center for Raising the Intellectual Standards of People (CRISOP), Vietnam Association for Promoting Education. Email: defoset@hn.vnn.vn, Tel/Fax: 84 – 4 – 8684787
- Xuan Truong District Agricultural Promotion Station. Tel: 84 – 350 – 753037, Fax: 84 – 035 – 886840

5. Number of Project Participants
Names of Project Leaders or the key people for future reference:
1. Bui Khac Cu, CRISOP Director               Email: defoset@hn.vnn.vn
2. Nguyen Thieu Hoa, CRISOP Secretary     Email: thieuhoa407@yahoo.com
3. Pham Duc Van, Vice Chief of Xuan Truong Agricultural Promotion Station
4. Mr. Tran Tung, Technical Officer, Xuan Truong Agricultural Promotion

6. Brief Report of the Project
15 June 2006: Xuan Truong Agricultural Promoting Station organized the Goat Hand – over Ceremony to 4 households of  Xuan Thuong and Xuan Tan Village. Each family was delivered 9 female and 1 male goat.

10 August 2006: Ms. Delia Janavasundara and Mr. Kasumi Date, together with one CRISOP officer had one day visiting the locality where the project has been implemented. We personally went to each family to see their living situation and their goat houses in Xuan Tan and Xuan Thuong villages, and then going to the filed to see the goats breeding. Generally the project was put into effect.

25 August: The Agricultural Station organized a small workshop informing the appearance of smallpox disease in the goat herb in the sourrounding district, namely Ninh Binh  and Thanh Hoa province. These are provinces have villages and districts share the same border with Xuan Thuong and Xuan Tan village. The Station recommended the household some preventive measures and also emphasized that until now there is no variola vaccine for goat in Vietnam.

In summary, that the project is effectively implemented, the total number of the goat herb is 40 of which 36 are female. This time approximately 30% of the female are pregnant for the first time (11/36). These goats are expected to have their first babied in November or December of this year.

Reported by: Ms. Nguyen Thieu Hoa, CRISOP Secretary
24 October 2006

IRFF – Asian field coordinator Katsumi visited Hanoi with Mrs.Delia ( IRFF – Thailand ) Feb.19-21. IRFF will work with local government through VIPASED to rise up the economic condition of poor farmer, monthly income averagely 07$ per month. The organization VIPASED(Vietnam Association for Promoting and Supporting Educational Development) is leaded by Dr.Tran Xuan Nhi and former Vice Minister of Education of Vietnam has thousands members and stockholders local development organizations all over the country.