December 16, 2009

2009: Year in review - A message from the president
Dr. Babu Rahman, President

Dear Friends of Agami,

As 2009 draws to a close, we can either sit back and reflect on our accomplishments, or, we can lean forward and figure out how to do even more!

This year we really took our work to new levels. We had a banner year in terms of projects, volunteers, marketing and fundraising. And we have a lot more in the works.

In 2009, we were able to continue funding our projects at their current level. What's even more encouraging is that we have added 3 new projects to our plate. Two of these projects highlight new project coordinators. This is exciting news for us since these coordinators have been with Agami in other functions, but have now chosen to accept a higher level of responsibility and start managing projects. If you wish to be part of our dynamic team, please feel free to contact Agami and help in any way you can. 

In recognition of the Web 2.0 transition, we completely revamped our website this year, adding tweeting, blogging and other functionality that the tech-savvy will find valuable. We have also refreshed the content, and will continue to do so as more becomes available. The biggest success story of the year for us was our annual fundraiser held in May. It was a smashing success, raising over $49k in donations and pledges. I'm happy to say that we have collected all of the pledges, thanks to the diligent work of our volunteers. The money has already been earmarked for projects, and we are going about the business of reviewing projects and awarding funding. 

One new program that we are particularly proud to inaugurate is our internship program, which will be discussed in a separate story. 

As we gear up for another year, we are reviewing our processes and programs, and updating them. We must constantly update and renew ourselves so that we are best positioned to grow and adjust to the increasing donations and ever-growing needs of the projects. While many of our initial projects were carefully chosen to help us refine our processes and define our identity, we are now in a stage of growth and maturity, which is allowing us to take on wider and bigger challenges. We are undertaking projects that demand education curriculum design, encompass larger aspects of disaster relief, and truly impact large segments of society in a very profound way. Through all of this growth, rest assured that our mission focus remains rock solid: promoting basic education of underprivileged children in Bangladesh. 

Thank you, and I look forward to your support in 2010 and beyond!

Yours truly,

Babu S. Rahman

President, Agami

Agami holds its project review meeting  ›
Dr. Mahmudul Hassan, Vice President 

Agami’s project review meeting was held on November 14, 2009 in the community room of the Evergreen Public Library in San Jose. With the recent growth in number and scope of projects, Agami management wanted to include the community, donors and sympathizers in the meeting to increase the organization’s accountability and transparency. As such, the four-hour session was attended by Agami’s Board of Directors, project coordinators, volunteers and a few key donors.     Read more....

Let There Be Light - Agami introduces solar lanterns for the poor students in Bangladesh ›
Dr. Sabir Majumder, Secretary

Agami is proudly introducing the solar light project for the students in all Agami's school projects in Bangladesh. The organization has partnered with One Million Lights ( www.onemillionlights.org ) in implementing this rather ambitious project in Bangladesh. This project has been called "Let There Be Light" in the spirit of the famous unfinished movie of the same name by the film maker Zahir Raihan who was killed during the 1971 liberation war.

65% of Bangladesh’s population does not have access to modern power supply and, thus, their entire livelihood at night is still dependent upon old fashion Kupees or lanterns, using environmentally unfriendly energy sources such as kerosene. Although solar photovoltaic-based rural household power generation is getting significant attention in Bangladesh, most of the rural population cannot even afford the low-end integrated solar home system. This is where Agami comes in. Read more...

A Bay Area high school student's visit to an Agami school ›
Ejaz Haque, 11th grade, Harker High 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. Read more ...

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