4 Minute Video on Bangladesh

Elaborating on the article The Path Through the Fields posted earlier, The Economist created a short video displaying the health and social gains by Bangladesh despite the slow economic development in the country.

Global Health Worker Shortage

Demonstrated in an interactive graphic by The Guardian, the World Health Organization considers 57 countries to have a critical health worker shortage. View the link below to compare these 57 countries with the UK and the USA in terms of health worker per capita (nurses and doctors), infant mortality, maternal mortality and number of births attended by a skilled birth attendant.
Open the link to view: Global Health Worker Shortage

Article Published in The Economist Highlights Bangaldesh's Social Strengths

Last week The Economist devoted one of its lead editorials and its briefing section to an extended discussion of Bangladesh society. Emphasis was put on the role of NGOs, on the role of women, and on the importance of achieving decent education and health outcomes.

Here are a few quotes from the editorial:

"In the past 20 years, Bangladesh has made extraordinary improvements in almost every indicator of human welfare. The average Bangladeshi can now expect to live four years longer than the average Indian, though Indians are twice as rich. Girls’ education has soared, and the country has hugely reduced the numbers of early deaths of infants, children and mothers. Some of these changes are among the fastest social improvements ever seen. Remarkably, the country has achieved all this even though economic growth, until recently, has been sluggish and income has risen only modestly."

"Bangladesh shows what happens if you take women seriously as agents of development. When the country became independent, population-control policies were all the rage (this was the period of China’s one-child policy and India’s forced sterilisations). Happily lacking the ability to impose such savage restrictions, the government embarked instead upon a programme of voluntary family planning. It was stunningly successful. It not only halved the rate of fertility within a generation, but also increased women’s influence within their own households. For the first time, wives controlled the size of families."

"…the textile industry took off—and four-fifths of its workers are female. Bangladesh was also the home of microcredit, tiny loans for the poorest. By design, these go to women. Thus, over the past two decades women have earned greater influence in the home and more financial autonomy. And, as experience from round the world shows, women spend their money differently from men: typically, on their children’s food, health and education. Child welfare has been underpinned by a quiet revolution in the role of women."

To View the full article, visit: 
The Economist: The Path Through the Fields

Opportunities for Posterity, a Bengali Not-for-Profit Social Welfare Organization, Awards Scholarships and Health Supports to Local Citizens.

On October 28^th, Opportunities for Posterity (OfP) awarded various scholarships and health supports at its office and computer literacy center located in the village of Balagram of Jaldhaka under Nilphamari district, also known as the famine region of Bangladesh. Depending on financial needs, scholarships ranging from 600-3500 taka ($7 - $42Cnd) were given to students as well as Health Supports from 600-1100 taka ($7 to $13Cnd) were given to laborers. OfP’s chairman and founder, Mr. Md Rabiul Islam, was present to distribute the scholarships and to meet the beneficiaries. At the ceremony he introduced the organization by saying, “OfP is running a distinguished program that utilizes local resources through investments in agro-business to benefit the impoverished communities and to promote technology based education and agricultural productivity so as to ensure a better world for posterity. OfP's working priorities include poverty, food & nutrition, education, technology, agriculture & environment, income generation, health services, sanitation and the like”.

In addition, OfP is also funding a rice mill to be completed by December 2012 and a literacy center, which benefits hundreds of families in the area. In the future, the organization hopes to open a Polytechnic Institute to provide access to technical education, free of cost, to thousands of students.

OfP is strengthening community resilience through sustainable programs that use local resources allowing small investments go a long way. To learn more, visit their website at http://www.ofpbd.org/

The Joys and Rewards of Volunteering with IUBAT

Rebecca Campalans, a geriatric nurse with an interest in volunteering abroad, traveled to Dhaka as an instructor in the med/surg course and the nursing research course at IUBAT during the monsoon season earlier this year. She writes, “What was it like? I had a huge learning curve as a first time nursing instructor - I have a new appreciation for all the professors I ever had and who had me as a student!! I was one of those students who asked LOTS of questions!! J  I never knew how much work it took for the instructor to prepare for lecture and clinical time. One of the best experiences I had was the clinical rotation at the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, ICDDR, B.  This is better known as “The Cholera Hospital”. The work the organization does is amazing and my students loved the fast-paced environment.   For my Nursing Research class, I had some great students who had a chance to develop a research proposal for the class. Many of the students showed original thought and innovation in the subject matters selected. I was really impressed and hope to follow their progress as they begin data collection in the coming year.”

She concludes by saying, “I encourage anyone who is interested in pursuing international health, international volunteer work, and/or the nurse educator role, volunteer with the Bangladesh Health Project.  With all its challenges, there was also a lot of laughter, and I would do it again!”

BC Maternity Nurse Shares Experiences from IUBAT

Rachel Thiessen, a maternal child health nurse from BC, visited Bangladesh during the summer semester of 2012. Amidst the heat and dust, she experienced the friendliness and intriguing nature of the colourful city of Dhaka. About her time at IUBAT she writes, "The summer semester focused on abnormal obstetrical situations. Since I have only two years of nursing experience in maternity nursing, this proved to be somewhat of a challenge. Perhaps I underestimated the mountains of work that go into preparing course lectures, assignments, marking, completing clinical evaluations and supervising clinical placements. The eight students in my class surprised me with their verbal English and I was impressed with their ability to communicate with me."

She continues, "IUBAT is on the right path to graduating competent nurses who have the opportunity to change the face of nursing in the future for Bangladesh. And a lot of this is due in large part to having volunteer faculty who come to the university to pass on their knowledge and skills across various nursing practice settings. All in all, despite the day to day challenges, the IUBAT health project is well worth the time invested, both professionally and personally."

IUBAT nursing supporting research

Recently Professor John Richards of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada  and his graduate student Ms Afifa Shahrin completed a study of nutritional status of women from  low-income households in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. John is a founding director of the Bangladesh Health Project and  also a member of IUBAT's overseas advisory committee. Ms.Shahrin, a former instructor in BRAC University and recent graduate of SFU, engaged IUBAT College of Nursing students for some of the surveying. See  http://www.theindependentdigital.com/index.php?opt=view&page=5&date=2012-08-31 for more on this. IUBAT has taken a pioneering role in the country's higher education sector by supporting researchers, practitioners, and academics to undertake  practical research on the policy problems facing Bangladesh (http://www.iubat.edu/cpr/). Several students and faculty from Canadian and US universities have completed research studies through IUBAT, providing College of Nursing students with an excellent exposure to research methods and academic expectations.