Current Volunteer Experiences at Bangladesh
Mysogyny in the Arab World
Bangladesh Volunteer Alexandra Zimmerman's writes commentary on an article written by Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy entitled, “Why Do They Hate Us?” published in Foreign Policy’s first-ever Sex Issue. Read Alexandra's article on Policymic here!
From Bangladesh to Exeter
It was an exciting day in the AUW cafeteria when news arrived that two of AUW's pre-undergraduate students were accepted to Phillips Exeter Academy in New England: Mercy-an 18-year old from Bangladesh and Kritika, an 18-year old from India. 
Emma Hiza, a Bangladesh volunteer and Phillips Exeter alum writes, "No amount of hyperbole can accurately describe what an amazing opportunity this is for them. When Mercy leaves for America in June, it will be the first time she has ever left her home country or been on an airplane. For Kritika, it will be the continuation of a life long financial and social struggle for her education. Today in the cafeteria, rather than the jealousy one might expect from the others who applied and were not selected, the students congratulate their peers and sincerely believe that they will “make AUW proud.”"
Emma created a blog for Mercy and Kritika to post photos and stories for their friends and family at home and to do a small amount of fundraising before the girls depart. View the website here!
The Vagina Monologues comes to Chittagong
Lauren Villa, a 2011 Volunteer reflects on AUW students' performance of The Vagina Monologues and speaks to female empowerment and bravery in Bangladesh on Pink Pangea.
"Watching students swarm to the performers after the show, I realized that the case for investing in girls’ education is strong. Anecdotally, watching the Vagina Monologues at a women’s university in a country like Bangladesh may seem cliché. But if you had been in that audience you would dedicate every moment you had to the future of a university like this one. I could feel the impact of women’s education manifested in the real strength of that performance. I myself, do not posses the courage and bravado it has to perform the monologues in front of my peers and instructors. And I was not the only one in the audience moved by their performance. Afterwards, a student in my Access composition class (1st years at the university) came up to me beaming. She exclaimed, 'I am finally proud to be a girl instead of a boy. I get it now.'" Read the full article on Pink Pangea
Time, Poetry and Textiles
"Indeed, some of my favorite moments in this place have been selecting fabric and designing my own clothing, seeing the outfits of many of my students, and just going places to look and feel these textiles—lightweight, intricately embroidered and flowing from the arms of shop workers when they pull them out of the tight floor to ceiling stacks."
You can read more about Year Long Bangladesh volunteer, Alicia Case, in her blog where she muses about her renewed dedication to teaching, the passage of time, preparing for her upcoming trek to Nepal, writing and reading poetry and purchasing textiles. These are just a few topics among many others that make up her life in Chittagong.