I have been a social activist in my community, and since 2015, I have been involved with social works on so many different issues. In 2017, I got the opportunity to work in PRODIGY (Promoting Democratic Inclusion and Governance through Youth) which is one of the innovative projects of the British Council through which the youth of Bangladesh are working as a bridge between the local government and the citizens.
The social action project that I am directly involved with is called “Citizens Charter for better service”. The purpose of these activities is to raise awareness of the different services provided by the local government and how everyone can access these. I am working closely with local government officials to run activities, and to engage the youth of my community.
Working with PRODIGY for more than a year, I received an opportunity to assume the role of a PRODIGY youth leader and present my work to social activists from different countries of the International Study Visit (ISV) UK programme, which is organised by the British Council every year. This year, ISV's central theme was “Art and Culture”, and 60 per cent of the participants’ work was related to this theme. Twenty-two participants from eight countries, including us two participants from Bangladesh, attended this programme. The ISV UK phase 1 took place between 2 – 8 December 2018 at De Vere Selsdon. Throughout the visit, we learned about social contexts, cultures and the types of work done by other participants in their own countries. Every day was a new learning experience.
The first day was all about exchanging cultural views. While participants discussed their country contexts, facilitators outlined the Active Citizens model and its application to different settings. We represented our own social goals and cultural issues through the various tools of the initiative. Along with my fellow Bangladeshi participant Fayzulla Fayz, we represented Bangladesh.
The next day, we travelled to Central London to meet the local Active Citizens leaders. This was followed by a visit to the UK Parliament, where we met Swansea's Lord Anderson and shared the outline of our activities with him. In return, he shared his experiences with the politics of England. The day ended at a dinner event, where all volunteers presented how their initiatives were influencing social developments.
The next morning, we divided into five teams and assigned to go for community visits. My team and I went to Northumberland, accompanied by a British Council staff member. The host organisation was called 'The Empty Space,' which gave us an in-depth insight into the local community. After some sightseeing, we met up with young leaders from the ‘Colour to the Grey’ project to learn about the project. ‘Colour to the Grey’ is led by young people in South East Northumberland, who use art and activism to create lasting social change where they live. The remaining days of the visit were as informative, enriching and exciting. We visited other projects too: Woodhorn Museum, a coal mining museum of temporary art displays worked on by local community artists; the arts organisation in Blythe called ‘Headway Arts’ that works with people with learning disabilities; a youth club in Blyth called ‘Silx Teen Bar,’ which is the most popular youth participation project in Northumberland; Escape Family Support’s Art Group’ which is a charity that supports people with caring responsibilities for friends/family struggling with alcohol and substance misuse. Throughout these community visits, we learned about many innovative projects surrounding mental health, caring responsibilities for friends/family struggling with alcohol and substance misuse, using of art and culture as means of social inclusion and women empowerment etc.
On the final day of the ISV programme, we reflected on our learnings and began the Cascade Planning exercise, where we drafted a systemic plan to share our experiences with the local Active Citizens in our local communities. This way, the Active Citizens network will be able to benefit from our experiences and further optimise the areas in which we work.
It was a memorable journey for me. I faced some challenges there but was able to overcome them because of the friendly atmosphere of ISV. I learned new and innovative ideas of using arts and culture in Social Action Project and of ways they can work for social awareness. The most fantastic thing I observed that people of every age work as volunteers, something that cannot be seen as much in Bangladesh. I will like to promote the spirit of volunteerism in my country and apply those learnings for social changes.
