YES Bangladesh alumni coordinated an eight day long self-defense and confidence building training for 17 young women from seven different educational institution of Mymensingh. It was held from May 10 to 17, 2013 at Mymensingh Press Club and Onnesha International School premises in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A.F.M. Munif Mushfiq Khan (YES ’11) came up with the project idea for his own community. It was the first project that he coordinated after his return from the U.S.

On the opening day, the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Headquarters (who is a woman herself), Ms. Sheema Rani Sarkar was present as a confident woman figure in front of the participants. Day two was all about discussion on Gender and Harassment, which was conducted by a guest speaker from Save the Children. From day three to five, basic offense, self defense and breaking techniques were taught. On day six, Quantum Method introduced meditation and its usage to the participants. Day seven was reserved for the female YES alumni members to inspire the young girls about their stories of achievements as exchange students in the U.S. An inspirational film titled, The Next Karate Kid was shown to the participants later that day. On the closing day, all the participants were certified with the training completion certificates and another prominent woman figure of the community, Professor Rebeka Yasmin (Editor, The Daily Jahan) was present to inspire the young girls. Other YES alumni members and iEARN-BD officials were also present on the following day.

The goals of the training were to create a better understanding about “gender” and “harassment” among the community members and the participants, helping the young girls gain the confidence to fight injustice, teach them to contribute towards the society, teach them meditation to achieve better control over their mind, teach self defense techniques for emergency situations, help preventing emotional breakdowns which often leads to committing suicide and last but not the least creating a unified team who can work together.

We have plans to engage this group of young women in other skill development projects. We might increase the number of participants as well.

The project was a successful one with the help of The American Center, Dhaka, U.S. Embassy, Dhaka, iEARN-BD and YES Alumni Bangladesh.

Watch this video to learn more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buWIsqVBbGk&feature=youtu.be

Article by A.F.M. Munif Mushfiq Khan, YES Bangladesh Alumnus ’11, iEARN Bangladesh Intern