I want to be a banker. I want to work on micro-credit to help underprivileged people in our community. Before I joined the EDGE club, I didn’t have a proper career plan for myself. I used to think that, maybe, I will be married off and very soon after, I will become a mother, and that’s it,'' said Rumana, one of the participants.
EDGE (English and Digital for Girls’ Education) is a project jointly implemented by the British Council and BRAC’s Adolescent Development Programme (ADP). The project, initiated in 2012 in Bangladesh, has provided adolescent girls with access to 21st Century Skills from marginalised rural areas. Since 2015, EDGE has been replicated in India and Nepal.
The British Council organised a one-day creative workshop on 26 June 2016 for the project beneficiaries in Sylhet. The workshop was facilitated by Richard Crooks, a professional artist in the UK and a former school teacher. The workshop was aimed to showcase the impact of the project on the lives of the EDGE girls through artwork.
In the first session of the workshop, the girls shared their ambitions and also the impact of EDGE in their lives. They spoke about their aspirations of being a teacher, a banker and even being a lawyer. One of the participants, Rumana said, ‘‘I want to be a banker. I want to work on micro-credit to help underprivileged people in our community. Before I joined the EDGE club, I didn’t have a proper career plan for myself. I used to think that, maybe, I will be married off and very soon after, I will become a mother, and that’s it.''The other girls had almost similar stories to share.
In the second session, Richard helped the girls to reflect their thoughts through art in a very creative and an interactive session. The girls were thoroughly engaged and excited with the artwork they produced at the end of the day.