Bridges, Not Borders with Bangladesh and Nepal held Successfully
And so on 16th February, the Bridges, Not Borders event between Bangladesh and Nepal comes to an end. Starting in the last week of January 2022, a group of young people from Bangladesh and Nepal got together on a virtual meeting to get an on-hand experience about each other’s culture right from the natives! The bridge between Bangladeshi and Nepalese youth included them breaking the ice on Day 1 in order to set the stage for the next days. On Day 2, both Bangladeshi and Nepali teens were assigned a certain element of culture and nationality that they wished to uphold and represent. Youth from Nepal and Bangladesh respectively took each other through an immersive experience of culture by describing their nation’s history, culture, festivals, fashion, and the culinary variations that they have through verbal and visual presentation. The third day was the last day of such a warm exchange between these two cultures. However, these youth managed to look past the borders of their nations and be united in their love of creative artwork and hobbies. Almost all the participants have prepared a little showcase of their favorite hobbies, interests, and talents. Ranging from dance performance, digital artwork exhibition to poem recitation – with a chance to appreciate each other’s talents and find mutual interest in each other’s work. No matter how divided the world is in the current era, moments like these that the youth of Bangladesh and Nepal got to witness set off a ripple effect that not only allows them to be a better global citizen but also embrace each other’s differences.
Bridges, Not Borders with Nepal and Bangladesh Begins
On the eventful day of 28th January 2022, the youth of Nepal and Bangladesh got a unique and never-foreseen opportunity to bridge a new friendship with youth like them – living miles away. Bridges, Not Borders is one of the flagship programs of the youth-based organization Reflective Teens – whose goal is to look across the borders of different nations and allow the youth of this country to know the culture, history, and people of other countries right from the people themselves. This cross-cultural program facilitated by Reflective Teens through Bridges, Not Borders allows the youth of Bangladesh to directly interact with the youth of other countries – this time, with the Nepali youth. The Day 1 of the Bridges, Not Borders program took off on 28th January 2022 with 5 young souls each from Nepal and Bangladesh. Day 1 started off with a warm and graceful orientation session, followed by an introductory icebreaking session where our participants each describes a little bit about themselves and their passion and hobbies. After the participants got a bit well acquainted with each other, they were assigned the task of presenting different aspects of their country to their fellow foreign friends on Day 2. The participants were taught to make a presentation through a brief workshop. Afterward, each of the participants chose a topic to present on Day 2 of the event. Finally, at the end of the session, we arranged a little game to end Day 1 with a spark. We arranged a game called “2 Truths and 1 Lie” where each participant would get to share 2 truths and 1 lie about them which the other participants had to guess. It was an ecstatic moment as the participants rolled around in laughter and excitement as they played the game. The session sadly had to come to an end but we all managed to take a group photo to commemorate such a joyful time. Asif Zubayer, Program Coordinator, Bridges Not Borders