United Nations Volunteers 
~ Golam Rabbany Hiru

It takes courage and dedication for a Masters degree holder in statistics to give up the comforts of home for a rural village posting. SALILA GADKARI, from Maharashtra, has been a UNV Field Worker in Comilla since October 1998, working with a rural youth programme in Laksam Upazila and living with less than she grew up with in India.

Salila, who also has an advanced diploma in computer operations, started her voluntary work in 1992 with "Indian Institute of Youth Welfare", a National level NGO of India. She worked there as a project coordinator and as a research associate to bring change in the life of rural youth of Naghpur, India.  In Laksam, Salila is a UNV field worker for the project titled " Pro-active Involvement of Rural Youth in Participatory Development" which is implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Her work involves helping the local youth clubs develop their organizations and programme management skills.  She also helps rural women change their social behavior and economic conditions through participatory approaches.

Salila's co-UNV from West Bengal, India is 31-year-old Khatun Ambia.  Following university, Khatun worked in Calcutta for Nehru Yuva Kendra (under the Indian Ministry of Youth and Sports) for 1995-8 before coming to Bangladesh.  Khatun speaks Bengali and specializes in vocational training.  She offers the Laksam village women jobs skills such as wool knitting, tailoring, poultry farming, and typing. She also coaches primary education teachers to improve their classroom work. Both Salila and Khatun have many opportunities to encourage adolescents and women to make better individual decisions about health issues, sanitation, nutrition, and personal hygiene. 

How challenging and sacrificing are their tasks in rural Bangladesh, considering that Salila and Khatun both come from different social, cultural and linguistic background and grew up in a city? Coping well with lots of problems like food, accommodation, electricity, sanitation and water (the area is arsenic affected) is only possible for volunteer like Salila and Khatun, who are grateful for each others support. 

The two volunteers will go back to India in October 2001 after contributing three years in the Bangladesh UNV.  Khatun and Salila's work provides an example of volunteering and their lives carry a message for every one to volunteer some of his/her time for the betterment of humanity. 

UNV program notes:  Recruitment of capable volunteers is often through regional workshops such as the two-day interviews and written exams in 1997 at Naghpur where Salila was selected.  Host government clearance is required and the candidates' papers are processed through the Bonn, Germany headquarters of the UN Voluntary organization.  Currently Bangladesh hosts 20 international UNV Field workers working in villages.  UNDP projects also utilize UNV technical specialists.  Shaila Khan of UNDP receives requests for UNV slots from NGOs and the Government of Bangladesh.  UNVs in rural settings are provided housing and furniture by their host villages with an adequate monthly living allowance from the UN.  Specialists receive higher monthly living allowances to cover housing and expenses.