Sister Valerie A. Taylor
The project was a “placement” project, its main purpose being to provide work and volunteering experience to the young participants.
Welcome to ‘Project Placement’, an action-filled, daylong project organized by the
Physically-challenged Development Foundation (PDF).
It was held on July 15th in Savar, allotting its events to:
• the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP)
• Jahangirnagar University.
Participants were expected to be eager young adults. They participated in teams of four. A registration of 150 taka per person was required.
INTRODUCTION
The project was a “placement” project, its main purpose being to provide work and volunteering experience to the young participants.
The participants in each team was required to carry out simple and basic tasks such as assisting the senior physiotherapists, tending to the physically-challenged patients, or simply accompanying them.
In concurrency with carrying out their facile tasks, the volunteers was given a tour of CRP, be able to observe first-hand how physically-challenged patients are given treatment, participate in this awareness campaign, and last but not least, refine their leadership skills to be able to carry out similar projects on their own.
A ceremony was also held, hosting special guests of various social backgrounds. After the workshops on disability and the importance of youth involvement in society, there was an evaluation symposium in Jahangirnagar University. In this conference, experience, skills and ideas for succeeding projects was shared.
CONCLUSION
The most simple tasks in life seem to be baseless, but they are, in fact, basic. The small steps we are taking now are the foundation of our biggest achievements. We might not discern the changes at the moment, or after a few days, or weeks. But in the proceeding of years we are sure to see conspicuous changes in the way people think, do, and act. We will then be the ones take pride, saying: “We were part of this.”
People who would like to join the celebration of a brighter future; we encouraged them to take part in ‘Project Placement’. This project not only promoted awareness of physical disability, but it also served as a learning experience for future social workers and as an antecedent for a real-life leadership experience.
We were ready to overcome – together.
