Group photo of the NDBUS graduates, January 9, 2009

Urbis Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh and Graduation Ceremony for NDBUS

January 6-9 2009

In January 2009, members of the Urbis team visited Dhaka, Bangladesh.  During the four-day trip, Craig Matasick, Ashleigh Flesher and Marianne Carliez met with the Urbis team at the Center for Urban Studies (CUS), an organization under the leadership of Professor Nazrul Islam and Salma Shafi.  The purpose of the trip was to conduct a mid-term evaluation of Urbis activities in Dhaka, from the point of view of CUS (our implementing partner) and the beneficiary organization NDBUS, a two million member organization.  DIG and partners visited the program’s target slums, Rayerbazar and Korail, and observed Urbis training sessions, which include advocacy and income generating skills, such as computer and mobile phone repair and sewing.  DIG also participated in a graduation event for around sixty participants of the Urbis-supported NDBUS classes.  The participants informed DIG that the income generating courses endowed them with new skills, which they believe can help them either find new jobs or start their own businesses, as some already have.  Urbis also funded a disaster mitigation course, which enabled participants to learn survival techniques and easy ways to protect their assets in case of a fire or a flood.  The NDBUS Executive Committee President, Abdul Mannan, said that providing these courses has re-energized the organization and has played a unifying role.  For example, elderly men and women had an opportunity to participate in training sessions, which gave them a voice in their community.  NDBUS plans to expand these activities to encompass all of its community-level groups throughout Dhaka city.  During the next phase of the program, Urbis, with the help of CUS, will support the training of trainers for all of these courses, so that NDBUS can ultimately provide the classes for each of its 2 million members.

Participants in the NDBUS computer repair class at the Center for Urban Studies, January 8, 2009