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Hotel Intern from Germany Arrives!

Posted by on March 6th, 2012

Isabel Kasprowiak is a passionate, hard-working hotel student from Germany. She will spend three months in Bangladesh helping us craft an HR policy that aligns with our mission of responsible hospitality.

Isabel Kasprowiak

Isabel Kasprowiak

I am sitting in my Jessore-based office wearing a wonderful pink shalwar kameez (local dress) surrounded by my lovely colleagues who are chatting and laughing. I My name is Isabel Kasprowiak and I am German-Filipino; I was born and raised in Germany. Travelling, experiencing foreign countries, and visiting my Asian relatives has characterized my entire life.

I am a senior in the Saxion Hospitality Business School in Deventer, Netherlands. My study exchange year in Barcelona and my experience working in Bangkok, Ireland, and Spain have instilled in me a diverse understanding of different cultures and people. During my studies I recognized that sustainability is the future of a new, fresh, and innovative hospitality industry. Consequently, the internship with Panigram seemed like a unique opportunity for challenging myself and broadening my horizon. Currently I am working on a sustainable HR strategy for Panigram, and I am actively involved in the recruitment and training process of its staff. The HR strategy will represent Panigram’s mission of being not only environmental, but also socially responsible, consequently we are trying to include as many local staff as possible.

Categories: Interns, Internships, News, Responsible Hospitality, Social Responsibility | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments: 3

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Do You Want to Teach English in Bangladesh?

Posted by on July 20th, 2011

Are you an artist who wishes you had more time to hone your craft? Are you sick of the rat race and are looking for a quiet retreat? Have you just finished a career and want to give back? Is the idea of working on a river next to a pottery village appealing to you? Would you like to have mango trees in your office? If so, come to Panigram! We are currently looking for two instructors to teach our villagers English; friends and couples are encouraged to apply. We will host you in our lovely five bedroom house with a private garden, orchard, and pond in Jessore city. A maid will do your laundry, clean your home, make your bed, and cook three meals a day for you. You will be able to enjoy the beautiful countryside each day as your own rickshawala takes you to and from the project site.

While in Bangladesh you can take an excursion to the nearby Sundarban forest, a world heritage site, and local archaeological sites. You will also have ample opportunities to take boat rides on the river, fish, and bicycle. We are looking for native English speakers who will teach classes 4-5 hours a day, five days a week starting in October 2011.

Click here for more information.

Teach English in Bangladesh

This would be your office...

Categories: Community Outreach, Job Opportunities, News, Responsible Hospitality, Social Responsibility | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments: 5

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English Teacher

Posted by on July 20th, 2011

Job Title: English Teacher

Location: Jessore, Bangladesh

Duration: 3 – 12 months

Job Description:
Are you an artist who wishes you had more time to hone your craft? Are you sick of the rat race and are looking for a quiet retreat? Have you just finished a career and want to give back? Is the idea of working on a river next to a pottery village appealing to you? Would you like to have mango trees in your office? If so, come to Panigram! We are currently looking for two instructors to teach our villagers English; friends and couples are encouraged to apply. We will host you in our lovely five bedroom house with a private garden, orchard, and pond in Jessore city. A maid will do your laundry, clean your home, make your bed, and cook three meals a day for you. You will be able to enjoy the beautiful countryside each day as your own rickshawala takes you to and from the project site.

While in Bangladesh you can take an excursion to the nearby Sundarban forest, a World Heritage site, and local archaeological sites. You will also have ample opportunities to take boat rides on the river, fish, and bicycle. We are looking for native English speakers who will teach classes 4-5 hours a day, five days a week starting in October 2011..

Qualifications:

  • Native English speaker
  • Great with people
  • Adventurous
  • Desire to be completely immersed in another culture

If this appeals to you, please send us a letter explaining who you are, what motivates you to apply, and what teaching methodology you would use. Letters should be address to “Human Resources Manager” and sent to hr@panigram.com.

Categories: Job Opportunities | Tags: , , , , , | Comments: 4

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English Lessons Resume in the Local Village

Posted by on July 17th, 2011

Through our days documenting the village neighboring Panigram, we have come to know many of the local children quite well.  As we walked through the village, they would follow us energetically and inquisitively, watching us sketch, listening to us speak, and examining every little move we made.  The children would point to animals, plants, food, or anything else that might (or might not) interest us, and relay its name to us in Bangla, laughing at our poor pronunciation a few times until we said the word correctly.  In exchange, we would teach them the word in English, which they were so anxious to discover.  These interactions were the first days of our English lessons, which have now officially located to the village school on Friday mornings.

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Categories: Community Outreach, Interns, Internships, News, Photos, Responsible Hospitality, Social Responsibility | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments: 2

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Exploring Bangladeshi Mud Architecture

Posted by on June 29th, 2011

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 »

Categories: Interns, Internships, News, Photos, Resort Design | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments: 2

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Movie Night in the Village!

Posted by on February 2nd, 2011

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.


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Categories: Community Outreach, News, Social Responsibility | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments: Be the first to comment..

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Winter Interns Work on Alternative Energy Project

Posted by on January 23rd, 2011

A couple of months ago a student from Cornell emailed me. She said that she had applied for the summer internship last year at Panigram, but unfortunately was not selected. She said that she really wanted to work for my company and was wondering if she could come do a winter internship with me. I thought that three weeks was too short for an internship, but I was impressed with her initiative, and I always enjoy working with students, so I agreed. Her friend Cat (another Cornell engineering student) decided to join her. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Alternative Energy, Interns, Internships, News, Photos, Responsible Hospitality, Sustainable Design | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments: 1

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