Kar ghor eta? Rahna ghor kothay? Ke ekhane thake?
Whose room is this? Where is the kitchen? Who stays here?
A woman outside of her mud home in one of the villages near the Panigram site.
Over the last couple weeks, we three interns explored a village near the Panigram site to learn about the Bangladeshi homestead. Read the rest of this entry »
Now, after almost two weeks of settling into our humble abode in Jessore, we interns, have become quite adjusted to our new lifestyle abroad. We eat our egg and ruti in the morning before our hour-long autorickshaw ride to the project site; a ride which often makes me think of getting pulled down bumpy sidewalks as a child in my little red metal wagon. Here, though, the sidewalk is eight feet wider and trucks stacked twenty feet high with local goods like hay, bricks, or goats (though not usually all three together…) fight at top speeds for the extra sliver of road beside me.
Millie waits for our driver Rafik in the autorickshaw.
I decided to initiate a movie night in the village for a variety of reasons. First, it is a fun way to start teaching the people in the area (particularly the kids) English, as all of our movies will be English-language films. Second, it creates a great venue for broadcasting some of the public health messages that Panigram wants to disseminate to the community. And finally, it provides us with an opportunity to better connect with the people in the neighborhood.
I assigned our Social Program Coordinator, Josie, the task of making movie night happen. It wasn’t an easy assignment because there is no power in our area and I had no idea how to set up, much less create, a large, outdoor movie theater. I still don’t know how she did it, but Josie managed to acquire and test all of the equipment that we needed, including a small generator!
Because improving the public health is one of Panigram’s prime social initiatives, we decided to show a small film on the importance of hand washing at the beginning of the movie. Josie wrote, produced, filmed, and edited the clip. She also created a small clip with some vocabulary from the movie in English and Bangla.
As our first movie night came, many people in the community came to watch us set up in the school yard we arranged to use as our outdoor movie theater. Having never seen the projector in action, I was a bit nervous during the setup process, but Bipul and Josie seemed to know what they were doing as they hooked up the appropriate devices and cables.
Josie Vertz sets up the projector for Panigram's first movie night.
Josie Vertz, the latest Panigram Resort intern, has arrived in Bangladesh! She will be spending the next 6-9 months developing some of Panigram’s socially responsible initiatives.
Josie Vertz
Josie Vertz
Born and raised in Berkeley, California, I did not stray too far from my roots receiving a BA in music, specifically vocal/opera performance, from the University of California, Berkeley. While pursuing my passion for music I stumbled upon the education abroad program; for me the logical place to study was Italy—the birthplace of opera. This immersion experience sparked an interest in an in-depth exploration of culture and it opened up a new passion.
After graduating in 2008, I accepted a position at Salesforce.com, Inc. located in San Francisco. I was impressed by the company’s philanthropic model. During my two year stint in the corporation, I found a home within the humanitarian sphere of the company. I was an active member of the Foundation’s Time Council, a group organized to allocate the funds earmarked for donation and volunteer events. As a member of the committee, I worked directly with outside non-profit organizations to champion and execute community volunteer events. Through this work I cultivated a strong sense of social awareness and a desire to give back.
As my rekindled passion in culture grew and I explored all the places in the world where I might go, I was drawn to Panigram. The images of a lush natural landscape and a company that was fully committed to social responsibility—the improvement of the people and community within the villages surrounding the resort—called to me. This opportunity seemed to satisfy my urge to experience an entirely foreign culture and my desire to contribute to something greater than myself. During my time here I am working on the implementation and expansion of the social initiatives Panigram has envisioned for the local community. Personally, I also hope to explore the musical culture of Bangladesh.
The past month of work has been an eye-opening experience for me as I explore Panigram’s surrounding towns with my fellow interns. My project for this summer is to collect baseline demographic data on these villages in order to better understand the community’s current condition—and its most pressing needs. Since the Bangladeshi government has no demographic information (and not even any maps of the area), it’s up to us to do what in the United States would include census administration, map-making, and social outreach. What our team is working on right now is the surveying: we visit villagers’ homes and go through a list of basic questions about household size, income, health, work, and education. By obtaining a snapshot of the community’s current state, we hope to gauge Panigram’s impact in future years by comparing today’s data to subsequent years’.
Some of the villagers in our host community.
I am looking for a summer intern who can help us create a “reality TV show” about building Panigram Resort. Interns will use a high definition video camera and film editing software to create short 10 minute episodes about the intern experience and developing Panigram Resort that we can post each week on our blog and on YouTube.
If you or anyone you know is interested, please apply! The internship will run from June 1, 2010 to July 31, 2010.
Here are the details:
Responsibilities:
The summer intern will be responsible for writing two blog entries per week documenting the progress of the construction of Panigram Resort and the summer intern experience in Bangladesh. The intern will also be responsible for creating a ten minute “reality TV show” each week about the challenges (and rewards) of creating a resort in Bangladesh. Each show will be posted on both YouTube and on the Panigram Resort blog as a way of getting people exciting about the project. The intern will film the show with a digital video camera (which will be provided) and edit the raw footage into an interesting 10 minute episode.
Requirements:
I am looking for intrepid students who thrive in challenging environments, are looking for an adventure, and work well with all different types of people. The student must be fluent in English, have fantastic writing skills and experience with film editing/ videography. (Knowledge of Bengali is also a plus.) The candidate must be in excellent health and must not have any chronic medical conditions as access to medical facilities will be limited. The environment will be challenging — both culturally and physically — but our past interns have found the experience to be extremely rewarding. All students will be required to learn some basic Bengali when they arrive so that they will be able to communicate with the villagers.
Logistics:
Students will be responsible for their own transportation to and from Bangladesh, but once in country we will provide interns with housing, meals, transportation within Bangladesh, and a Bangladeshi salary/ living stipend of 10,000 Tk/ month. Please submit a resume, writing sample, and cover letter explaining your qualifications and why you are interested in the position to Kristin Boekhoff at kboekhoff@panigram.com.
2009 summer interns take a rest break after a hard day of mud construction.
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Kristin Boekhoff
Owner, Panigram Resort
kboekhoff@panigram.com
Mikey Leung
Designer and Web Guru, Panigram.com
mikey@panigram.com
