This is Masrur Rahman. I am a college candidate of this year. There are five members in my family. My father works in BRAC Afghanistan and my mother is a house wife. I have two brothers and one of them read in class ten (10) and another one read in standard One (1). I always try doing something for my community. I have got a golden opportunity to go USA on 10 July 2007 to participate a program as a GCEP student. There I will be participated various kind of public services. It will increase my knowledge and I will gain a new experience what will make a positive effect for my community and my country. When I will come back to my country then I will share my experience, ideas, thoughts and views with my family, my classmates, my teachers and my community.

Thank You All

 
Masrur Rahman

College Candidate

Gazipur, Bangladesh

Hi everyone, This is Lazina.

       
It is from Raihanul Amin. I read in Siraj Uddin Sarker Vidyaniketan, grade 10. I live with my family here in Tongi, Gajipur. There are five members in our family. My father is a teacher and my mother is a housewife. I always try my best to work in my community. This has made me encouraged to participate in GCE program and it is a matter of great joy that I am going to visit United Stetes next month, July. I want to gain experience about public services there, how they work, what is the distinction between them and us. After my departure from US I will share my experience, views, ideas with my community, my teachers, my classmates and others. I will try my best to succeed.Thanks,
Raihanul Amin
Siraj Uddin Sarker Vidyaniketan
Tongi, Gajipur,
Bangladesh

I’m KHADIZA AKTER SHILA.I read in Comilla Govt. womens’ College. I’m from Comilla District.I live with my family.My family consists with Eight members.I have three sisters and two brothers.Without one all we are continue our studies.My father is a business man and my mother is a housewife.I love my family so much….& I am also happy to say that I get a scope to visit USA on 10th July 2007.I hope when I will visit USA I will met with a lot of person and also gain a lot of things.And my aim is that after completing my exchange program I will try to my best to share my feelings,experience,ideas with students and community.And I hope that if we share our ideas with others then the program will be able to touch its goal.So,everybody pray for us.
Good Bye.
KHADIJA AKTER SHILA.
COMILLA,BANGLADESH.

GCE Student Exchange 2007USA10 July to 30 July 2007

The upcoming GCE exchange will be taking place from July 10-30 and will involve 8 youth from Bangladesh and Afghanistan. These youth will be coming to Washington, DC and Philadelphia where they will be focusing on civic education and the creation of strong public services. The details are as follows: 

Topic: Civic Education and the Availability of Public Services in the US, Afghanistan and Bangladesh 

Where: Philadelphia and Washington, DC

What:The upcoming GCE exchange will be designed around building student leadership and good governance skills through awareness-raising about the public services available to the students in their communities. As Good Governance is the antitheses of corruption, the focus of this civic education oriented activity is on the role that young people and an active civil society can play in securing better functioning government services through the use of technology.

Pre-departure: Prior to departing for the United States, the students will be taking a survey of the services available to them in each of their communities via a series of activities. The activities will have them do such things as consider the cost of sending a package at a predetermined weight from their local post office, if the prices are published on the wall, are the hours of operation and the names of people in the offices made available, etc. Activities such as these would be done for a number of different services.

In Country: (The arrangement of this is flexible) The students will begin their stay in the US in Philadelphia where they will have an orientation, a full day walking tour of the city with a city and country historian (and former Dean of Rutgers University), visit a number of public services in the US as well as look closely at how the services were developed to become functional institutions. For example, they will be visiting the Post Office where the US Postal rate was first established, the first public hospital to care for the poor, learn about US prison reform, the history of the first city-wide fire and police departments, and a number of other important social services. In addition, the students will be learning about the constitution with its human rights components, and the balance between independent rights and responsibilities at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Apparently the US Constitution has been used as a template for over two-hundred other countries’ constitutions. During their time in Philadelphia they will also have a school visit and homestay. In addition, the students will visit a local university to look both at the process of the registrar, and meet with a representative of a Political Science department to talk about the role of an active civil society in improving and making services publicly accessible. The students will also participate in one day of web development training. The students will then go to Washington, DC where they will make visits to important government offices and attend our own leadership conference. The conference would allow students to develop strong leadership, public speaking, campaigning and organizing skills, as well as see Washington, DC sites, learn about media literacy, work as a group, etc.

Post-exchange:    After the students return to their homes they will be expected to fill in the gaps of their own countries’ public services through the Internet. Students will visit and interview people at a select group of public services in their communities. RI will help them set up free domain names, which we will link to from our site. On that site the students will input information about the service details in their communities. The idea is to make visible certain information that is currently not available to most people, thus inhibiting opportunities for corruption and improving development.   

Tentative Schedule: 

TUESDAY, JULY 10 – ARRIVAL, PHILADELPHIA

Students arrive and check into hotel in Philadelphia 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 – ORIENTATION AND TEAMBUILDING

AM       Orientation

PM       Teambuilding and diversity            Welcome dinner 

THURSDAY, JULY 12 – GOVERNMENT, DEMOCRACY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

AM       Visit to Friends Select School             Roundtable discussion on civil society

PM       Citizen rights vs. responsibilitiesWhat is the role of government vs. role of citizens?Spheres of citizen action: local, national and global 

FRIDAY, JULY 13 – LEADERSHIP AND CIVIC EMPOWERMENT: THE AMERICAN EXAMPLE

Walking tour of Philadelphia with a focus on nation building, civil society and leadership. 

SATURDAY, JULY 14 – REFLECTION

AM       Reflection on program thus far            Role of government and citizens: take-home exercise

PM       Free time SUNDAY, JULY 15 – TRANSFER TO WASHINGTON, DC

Travel to DC and check into new housing 

MONDAY, JULY 16 – CIVIC INVOLVEMENT

AM       Bridging the gap between service, activism and politics

PM       Visit and workshop on civic involvement at the American Red Cross headquarters  

TUESDAY, JULY 17 – COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

AM       Civic involvement through community service            Social entrepreneurship: Ashoka (Bill Drayton/Tia Johnston)

PM       Meeting with community service organizations  

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 – LEADERSHIP

AM       Discussion: Take-home exercise on leadership            Discussion: What makes a leader? Who are the leaders in your community?Elements of leadershipYouth leadership

PM       Roundtable discussion with youth leaders 

THURSDAY, JULY 19 – COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR LEADERS

AM       Public speaking

PM       Visit and interviews at Voice of America or other media organization 

Global Connections and Exchange Program (GCEP)-Bangladesh helps the leaders of tomorrow to develop the knowledge and the skills for an increasingly global world.  Through technology and innovative online projects, GCEP participants gain an understanding of what it means to be a global citizen by working in partnership with their peers in other countries.  The GCEP program focuses on teacher training, civic education, community involvement in schools, use of technology, and cultural exchange to create an ideal training ground for future leaders.  The GCEP-Bangladesh is implemented by Relief International-Schools Online in Bangladesh with generous support from the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the US State Department.  GCE Bangladesh has selected three youth under its student exchange program to travel to the U.S.A. in July 2007. The exchange will focus on the use of technology as a tool for social activism and community development.  This is a combined exchange involving students from Afghanistan and Bangladesh.  The selected youth leaders have demonstrated commitment to community service and social development and have creatively used technology to promote global citizenship.   These students are active participants in GCEP online collaborative projects.

This blogsite is created to give the the GCE exchange students an opportunity to share their thoughts before they travel to USA and after they are back from the exchange visit.