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End of Training

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Our training finally finished and we’re now on our placements. The final week of training was run by CDVS (Centre for Disaster and Vulnerability Studies) from Dhaka University. It focused on development and particularly on participatory tools we could use in the community.
It also made clear how important the issue of sustainability is. This isn’t just some project where the Westerners go dig a well and that’s that. We work with the community to ensure they are part of the decision-making process and are empowered to advocate for change in their own community once we’re gone. If something is installed, such as a water filtration system, at least one community member will be trained in how to maintain it properly and fix it if it is broken so they can show others and won’t have to rely on external sources for maintenance.
It’s been great working with the local volunteers so far. Not just because they’re all really nice, even if some are a bit shy at the moment, but it’s also prevented us from developing paternalistic attitudes towards the communities we’ll be working in. They’re all young people from the area and want to be part of improving their own villages since they’re the ones who live there.
We’re all a bit sad to be splitting up now after two weeks intensive training and living so close to each other but I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in and getting on with the work in the community.
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