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Surveying Our Villages

Posted by Timothy Chen on July 1st, 2010

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.

Some of the villagers in our host community.

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Looking for a Media Intern

Posted by Kristin Boekhoff on May 9th, 2010

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.

2009 summer interns take a rest break after a hard day of mud construction.

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Buying Land in Bangladesh

Posted by Kristin Boekhoff on April 17th, 2010

Dozens of villagers crowded into the candlelit land registration office to put their fingerprints on the document that would mean a significant amount of income for them and a gorgeous piece of land in southern Bangladesh for me.

An employee at the land registration office working by candle light.

An employee at the land registration office working by candle light.

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