Bangladesh encourages youth to “Be the Change Maker”

Over 230 participants of  Mahali ethnic groups gathered in Bangladesh to dream big for the nation’s future development.

Mahali is an ethnic group in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. 

The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) Bangladesh organized the Mahali Youth Conference at Christo Jyoti Pastoral Centre on March 16-17. 

The conference was held to commemorate the 102nd birthday of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, and National Children’s Day.

The main theme of the Mahali Youth conference is "Be the Change Maker." 

The Youth Conference was organized with the planning and funding of SIL International Bangladesh and in collaboration with the Mahali Indigenous Youth Organization.  The event aims to promote the culture of the small ethnic groups and take them further in education.

The conference's main objectives are to help unite the youth of the Mahali community, create a national platform for them, discuss social issues, increase the participation of youth in the realization of fundamental rights and various effective measures, and engage various civil society groups.

The event also intends to increase the participation of the youth by encouraging cultural activities to bring about positive social change.

Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi was the chief guest.

Bishop Rozario said, " We have a dream behind the youth program. We have to dream of getting to the top. It is good to dream, but it is not good to sleep in a dream."

"The demand for the fulfillment of dreams has to start from one's side. Others will never be able to fulfill that. But others can only help in fulfilling that dream.  So the dreamer has a responsibility to fulfill his dream," said the prelate.  

Cornelius Tudu, the Country Director of SIL Bangladesh, Benjamin Tudu, Research Officer, Cultural Academy, Rajshahi Divisional Minority Ethnic Group, and Santa Maria Costa, Project Leader, SIL Bangladesh, were present on the occasion.

Cornelius Tudu, citing Shah Rukh Khan's dream-fulfillment, said, "Every one of us has some strengths."

"And if we can discover that strong side and stick to that, we want to move forward; only then will we be able to do the best in our lives. We all have our dreams as young men and women," said Cornelius. 

Tudu said that by discovering the strong points of our life and moving forward with that strong point in front of us, you too would one day be able to become an established and large-scale person.

Rajshahi District Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education & ITC) Jaya Maria Pereria was also present.

"In 2041 AD, Bangladesh will become a developing country, and we all have to devote ourselves to building that developing country. So, I believe that through this youth conference, you too will be able to set a goal for yourself. And that goal will not be easy to reach but do not despair,” Jaya Pereria said

Cornelius Tudu said, "What is the strongest aspect of our life? First, we have to find it and work on it to set life goals. Only then will we be able to reach our goal." 

“So, I want to tell everyone that we should cherish, hold on to our dreams and always try to make them come true,” he said.

SIL Bangladesh works to train and build capacity among community volunteers and monitors groups regularly.

SIL Bangladesh assists ethnolinguistic communities in developing a series of ongoing, planned actions that ensure that their language continues to serve their changing social, cultural, political, economic and spiritual needs and goals.

Bangladesh's 41 languages bring a rich diversity to the country and SIL language development and research teams use linguistics, literacy, anthropology and translation to assist communities in their language development.

SIL International has over 80 years of language development experience serving language communities worldwide. As a faith-based nonprofit organization, SIL works alongside language communities as they discover how to harness the power of their language to address challenges and reach their goals.