The Adhunika Jr. Team participated in the 5th Annual Chatpati Mela on August 13th, 2016. The Mela was full of cultural performances, activities, and contests. Many people came to see the organizations that lined up selling clothes, food, and more for a purpose that will benefit the world in their own way.

The inception of the Skype session workshops, which enables volunteers -friends of Adhunika from Adhunika Foundation- to engage in dialogue involving a multitudinal set of topics with students at Adhunika Women’s Center in Dhaka, took place in the latter part of 2013. The sessions materialized as a result of the desire to interconnect volunteers in the U.S. and participants in Bangladesh. While the initial goal, as requested by the students, was to strengthen their English speaking skills by encouraging them to converse using the language, it has morphed into addressing crucial social issues such as women’s rights to analyzing literature written by 19th century European authors.

Carrying a mixture of curiosity and excitement me & my mother ascended 6 floors to visit the Adhunika Women’s Centre in Azimpur, Dhaka. After instructing my first English lesson through their skype program in March (one of the many services provided by the Adhunika Foundation to Bangladeshi women, along with technological studies), I was more than intrigued by their enthusiastic students and helpful staff. Undoubtedly I was ecstatic when offered the opportunity to visit the Centre and meet some of the inspiring young ladies I had taught.

In a span of seven weeks in November and December 2013, volunteers— friends of Adhunika from Adhunika Foundation (Adhunika USA)—met with students at Adhunika Women’s Center (AWC), Dhaka for the pilot project of Skype session workshops. As per popular request, the purpose of these sessions was to help students practice their English speaking skills during the workshops. Students met with the volunteer facilitators at a specified time and discussed about various topics during the session.

Reflection by Nadia R. Fletcher

How many excuses are there to take a trip to Central Park on a beautiful Sunday morning? The answer, endless! However, there is no reason more rewarding than taking a walk through the beautiful park with thousands of people supporting an amazing cause like the 2012 Susan G. Komen – Greater New York City Race for the Cure.

My first benefit concert with Adhunika was in October 2009. Ten minutes before show time, I was sitting in the entrance hall, right behind where the tickets were being collected, with Faisal Jalal (who had just driven in from Boston), practicing the song I was about to perform for the first time!

I walked up the stairs of a two story brick building in Jackson Heights with an uncertainty as to what I may encounter inside. Today’s workshop was being held in a space provided by another organization called Chhaya CDC. I’ve been volunteering Adhunika Foundation for about three years now. Adhunika’s main focus has been to promote technology usage for Bangladeshi women worldwide in the hopes of bringing about a positive social change to their lives.

Launching of Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign at Sajida Hospital, Keraniganj, Bangladesh, October 22, 2011

I was a bit emotional when the date for launching of the Breast Cancer Awareness event was fixed on October 22, as it marked my sister’s 4th death anniversary. In 2007, on this day my sister Farhana Ahmed took her last breath peacefully, surrounded by all her family members, she was only 41 years old.

Which of the following statements are true?:
1. One in every three women in the world has experienced sexual, physical, emotional or other abuse in her lifetime
2. Domestic violence is primarily a crime against women. In 2003 in the United States, women accounted for 85% of the victims of intimate partner violence and men accounted for approximately 15%

I agreed to write about my experience with cancer for Adhunika’s blog because I wanted to do the right thing. Then I had serious second thoughts. I feel like mine is not a story to tell. It was not much of a ‘battle’. My experience has been nowhere near as painful or as heart-wrenching as that of others.