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A Bay Area high school student's visit to an Agami school

      This past summer, I had a period of a few weeks of free time. I decided that the best use of this time would be to get some practical experience and apply for an internship. Though I had not identified any particular area that I wanted to pursue, I knew I wanted a position where I would be able to make an immediate, lasting impact. Unfortunately, most of the places I found required time commitments that I could not satisfy. Having football summer camps during the first and last months of summer, I simply could not dedicate enough time to the jobs I was finding.

      While the local companies may not have thought so, I knew I had enough time left in my vacation to make a difference somewhere. After consulting my mother, I decided that since she was already planning on going to Bangladesh, I could work for an organization there. Again, many places required more time than I had available; we only planned on being there for about a week. Eventually, I came across Agami, a non profit organization with which my aunt is involved. Agami was excited to work with me, despite the short amount of time I was able to offer.

      My aunt told me about Alok Shishu Shikkhaloy, a school for underprivileged children that would appreciate any interaction with students there and would welcome classroom supplies. Through talks with Agami directors, we learned the specifics of what we could do to help and my project officially began.

      I began a fundraising effort to raise money for school supplies, and awareness for my project. I contacted friends and family whose interest and well-wishes for my endeavor helped me raise $1030 in just a few days. After allocating a portion of this money to spend on stationery, I traveled to a teacher supplies store in San Jose and purchased various items for the children as well as the teachers, such as pencils, stickers, posters and workbooks. Upon hearing about my efforts, the storekeeper also donated more pencils and crayons. I boarded my plane confident that the things I was taking with me would be put to good use.

      Upon arriving in Dhaka, my mother contacted the principal of the school to set up a schedule. The original plan was to purchase a computer with the rest of the money I raised and then go to the school to set it up, meet the children, and distribute the supplies. This gave us a few days to figure out what type of computer we could afford as well as giving us an opportunity to spend time with family and go sight-seeing.

      Unfortunately, it rained during much of this period, preventing us from going out much. Even worse was the fact that the rain caused flooding in the area around the school. While the school itself was not too damaged, people living in the nearby areas were forced to move to the school for shelter. Here in California, we often have stretches of rain that last for days. Never in my life has it gotten so bad that it caused flooding that drove people out of their own homes. In Bangladesh, a fairly moderate storm can cause severe damage. This was one of the most important things I took away from my trip; it was a visible reminder of the reason I started my project in the first place.


      When it finally came time to visit the school, I was starting to wonder what other surprises waited for me during my actual meeting. The first was the path we took to get there; we started on a typical city road that led to a typical dirt road and ended with a muddy walk on foot. This led us to the school, where we first met with the principal, who told us that the students had prepared a few presentations for us, after which we could present our gifts and receipt for their new computer. She led us into their auditorium, a small room that, in America, would generally sit 20 students but amazingly seated 70. We were greeted with a combination of wonder and excitement. After introducing ourselves, we watched recitals of speeches, songs, and poems. These had clearly been rehearsed for some time. We were appreciative of this gesture, as it meant they cared enough to spend their limited school time to practice a routine designed to entertain us. After they finished their performances, I went to the front of the room to display the things I bought back in America. We passed them out to the students and were happy to watch their reactions of joy. As it came time to leave, I presented proof of our trip to the computer store to much applause from the students and staff. Their smiles told me that what I had done for them was truly going to make a difference in their education and, ultimately, their futures.

      Even now, four and a half months after the experience, I feel that my time this summer could not have been better spent. The project I have started has the potential to affect kids in America as well as kids from third-world countries for the rest of their lives. The children we help will get tangible benefits, such as the supplies that I provided to Alok Shishu Shikkhaloy, as well as the knowledge that people far away care about them in this world. Similarly, kids here will gain an understanding of differences in lives of people just like them in a different part of the world. They also have the opportunity to use any free time, no matter how small, to help those who need it. I suppose that is the reason I still look upon my time so fondly: in the middle of a busy summer, with only one week, I made a change for the better in a place that doesn’t receive as much attention as it deserves.

Ejaz Haque

(11th Grade, Harker School)