To increase students’/staffs’ creativity in different area Nari Jibon Project had established an English & Bangla blog in May 2007. Blogging is also a part of all of our course curriculums. Though the blogging activities were started many years ago in other countries but in Bangladesh it is started in the year 2005. Through working on blog we have got to know that the Blog is a new way of learning, knowing the recent events, ideas and thoughts through website. We also have got to know that bloggging is actually a web based diary where any one can write about them, their feelings, aspiration, and thoughts on different topics of home and abroad. It will give our own voice on the web. Blog is the way to share our ideas thoughts with others. People can organize their thoughts through blog. Blogging means working with many different media with emphasis on more writing.
We wrote in our proposal that we seek to introduce girls and women to English, Bangla, Photo and Video Blogging at the Nari Jibon Project, by incorporating blogging assignments into existing English, Computer, and Bangla classes. By integrating blogging in classes and students’ everyday experiences, we can train up new bloggers. Students include young women, university students, re-entry housewives, and workers (garment, sex, domestic, office) and returning migrants, all with the common desire for more skills. This project would expand non-elite girls and women’s access to the internet and blogging. Students can train others in blogging, writing, researching, and generating audio-visual content with cameras, and video-making.
We think that we are on the right track. Students/staffs are writing in the blog to increase their writing skills. They are getting training regularly. To write in blog; they are reading daily news papers; magazine, different books and advanced students (computer/English students) and staffs are browsing different website/links to get the things/idea to write more. (They are given the address/link of some website, blog including Nari Jibon blog and in these ways students/staffs are learning more things which are increasing their knowledge, writing skills and are broadening their confident level. So we can say through working with Rising Voice on blogging since July 2007 our students and staffs are acquiring more knowledge on blogging and also increasing their skills that are the objective of the blog activities.
What we have done so far:
Since we started our blogging activities with RV we are continuing to arrange workshop and weekly training programs on blog. Staffs, new and old students are getting training on blogging. We arranged a big workshop/training program on 13.07.07. And according to our proposal we will arrange another workshop after four months of first work shop. Our regular training program/meeting will also continue. We have given our time table and to do list in RV wiki up to December 2007 and we are doing the things accordingly. According to the to-do list we were supposed to post at least four articles per week in the initial months but we have been posting more than four articles per week in an average. We are hoping to post more in the up coming months. We have submitted budget for six months expenses and we have been maintaining the accounts separately.
Workshop/ training program: Before July we arranged general discussion on blogging activities several times but since July we have arranged one big workshop on blogging (13.07.07). We also have arranged another seven meeting/ training program to improve blogging activities (13.07.07, 26.07.07, 04.08.07, 11.08.07, 21.08.07, 01.09.07, 15.09.07 and 22.09.07). We also are submitting our blogging activities/progress reports regularly to Rising Voice.
Executive Director of Nari Jibon project Prof. Kathryn B. Ward has given podcast interview in RV.
We have posted 78 articles both in English and Bangla since the beginning of our blogging activities on 9th May 2007.
Total post: 78
Total English post: 60
Interview: 12x
Article: 29
Bloggers profile: 6 staffs and 6 students
Pictures post: 5
Video post: 2
On workshop post-1
Total Bangla post: 16
Article: 8
Interview: 5x
Poem: 3
What we are hoping to do in next month:
Training: We are hoping to arrange another training program in this month and three in next month. We will arrange another big workshop on first week of November.
Posting: We also are hoping to post at least 30 (including some interview) articles within next month though Nari Jibon office will remain closed for about one week in next month on account of Eid-ul-ftre (A Muslim religious festival).
We have 21articles in hand from students and staffs. We are hoping to get some more in this week. We will post those soon after editing.
Some of our staffs (Taslima, Sujan and Mohtarimun Naher Bipa) are translating citizen media introduction guide in Bangla and we are hoping to send it on Monday (01.10.07).
Purchase of equipments:
We were supposed to buy some equipments ( uninterruptible power supply (UPS), three digital camera, two video camera, Computer memory and graphics upgrade before but as we did not get RV fund in time we could not buy those. Few days ago we have got six months fund from RV. According to our budget (that we submitted to RV) we are trying to buy those things. In the mean time price of the said equipments are relatively increased though we are trying to buy those within our budgeted amount. We are checking price in different markets. We already have given advance for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and hoping to get it on Saturday (27.09.07). We are hopping to buy all the equipments within first week of next months to enrich our blogging activities.