Our friends at UWC Dilijan have featured the students from Bangladesh in their latest newsletter. We are delighted to read about their success and hope more students from Bangladesh go to study in Dilijan. Read their story here.
One inspiring story from UWC Dilijan
Dilijan, 15 July 2022
Building bridges between Bangladesh and Armenia
At UWC Dilijan we have had students from Bangladesh since 2016. Our first student was Anogh Zaman (UWCD’18), who graduated with a BA from Macalester College, Massachusetts, USA and is now a Student Programs Coordinator at Kofi Annan Institution for Global Citizenship.
From a single student in 2016 we now have four current students going into the second year and four incoming students as part of the new 2022-24 cohort. It makes the total number of Bangladeshi students and alumni sixteen, five female and eleven male. Those seeking admissions to UWC school, including UWC Dilijan apply via the UWC National Committee Bangladesh.
All our Bangladeshi students have been outstanding academically and also active participants in the school life, including as core members of the Student Council. (In the main picture L-R: UWCD’22 graduates Zarrin Mahdiyat Ali, Ayman Asif, and Shahib Uddin Prokhor.)
However, the most exciting moment came when Ayman Asif together with Brianna Renatte Titiheruw (UWCD’22, Indonesia) surprised us with a beautiful rendition of “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King.
This May, while at UWC Dilijan our Bangladeshi students gave a tour to Bangladesh-based Arsen Stepanyan, Team Leader, P4D, British Council who was visiting Armenia. Arsen was so taken with our Bangladeshi students that he volunteered to keep up the links and invited them to visit him in Dhaka over the summer, which they did in June, without delay. It was a convivial occasion where our past and present Bangladeshi students had a chance to meet Mr Rashel al Mamun, Bangladesh Country Manager, NATco, who is hoping to visit Armenia some time.
Meanwhile, having heard about the links between Armenia and Bangladesh via UWC Dilijan, the warden of the Armenian Church of Bangladesh in Dhaka, Mr Armen Arslanian, wanted to highlight them in a blog on the church’s website. With the mission of “Looking Forward, Remembering Our Past”, the Armenian Church of Bangladesh has been serving its local community since 1781. Even though at this stage it hardly has any Armenians parishioners around, the church is a centre of activity for the population in its vicinity, from provision of food to healthcare.
L-R: Rashel al Mamun, Bangladesh Country Manager, NATco; Arsen Stepanyan, Team Leader, P4D, British Council; Taufiqul Abrar Khan, UWCD’23; Neehan Rashid, UWCD’23; Zuhair Mahmud, UWCD’23; Ayman Asif, UWCD’22: Zarrin Mahdiyat Ali, UWCD’22
As we are getting ready to embrace our new cohort in August, here is what Nazmus Sakib, one of the four incoming students from Bangladesh shared with us: “Being born in a terrain village of Bangladesh, I learned to love nature along with the people. But my curiosity to know the world and its people just increased as I grew older. I want to have a roller coaster ride in my lifespan through cross-culturalism and adventures… I am really excited about my journey at UWC Dilijan and I hope to gain an experience of a lifetime from it.”
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