The Blog

Adhunika blog is launched with a mission to share knowledge among women from every walk of life. Sometime it would be in the form of sharing experience to find a feasible solution of a problem; sometime it would be in the form of professional consultation, which Adhunika group will arrange for its bloggers. Nevertheless, the intent of this blog always remains the same - to help and empower women through a common web-based platform.

We have chosen English as our language for now. The reasons are:

1. Proficiency in a second language is always good, especially proficiency in English, since can’t do without it in today’s world.
 
2. If our topic interests you then here is your opportunity to enhance your English skill by reading and commenting on the issues we discuss.

3. Using English we can include a broader audience including the next generation who are non resident Bangladeshi.  4. Last but not least inclusion of Bangla is in our long term goal, currently we don’t have the resources to do all of it at the same time.
 
Meet the bloggers: 

Guest Blogger:

Faika Farzana: Hello from New York! Hi, I am Faika and I will be working on the Graduate School and Professional Training section having completed this process only recently. I just graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in International Affairs. Professionally, I am interested in working with women’s issues in the post conflict setting in the aftermath of war or natural disasters. I am passionate about finding ways and means to empower women having grown up with a strong mother for a role model and realising the varied avenues for growth that are available to us as Bangladeshi women. Thank you for joining me on this wonderful journey!

email: faika AT adhunika dot org 

Khursheed Erfan Ahmed: Ms. Ahmed is a Counselor ( Diploma in TA/NLP) based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is one of the founding members of Ain O Salish Kendra. a Human rights and legal aid organization started in 1986 by twelve eminent lawyers and development workers. She has initiated women’s cooperatives in slum habitations and artisans group. She commits herself to remove human conflict and emotional distress.

Naina Shehzeen Ahmad: Welcome to the Adhunika Blog. This is Naina, I was born and brought up in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I came to the US in the fall of 1999 to go to college in Cambridge, MA. I graduated with a B.S in Biology and in Chemical Engineering, with a Biomedical Engineering minor, in June 2003, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and with a Masters degree in Biomedical and Biological Sciences from the Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Cambridge. Currently I am working as a consultant with the Life Sciences Division of Simon-Kucher and Partners, a global strategy and marketing consulting firm. 

Throughout my college years, and to date, I try to stay in touch with prospective students and applicants, providing general advice and guidance to help alleviate some of the uncertainty and anxiety of applying to US colleges. My involvement with the Education section in the Adhunika Blog will be a natural extension.
 
The success of the blog will be greatly determined by how active you, our readers, are. So come back often, and participate in the discussions. We envision this to be an enriching mentoring experience for us, as well as a fun forum for all of us to share our thoughts and ideas.
email: naina AT adhunika dot org    

Community Bloggers:

Ferdous Oneza | Ishret Shimu | Nadia Huq | Nazia Hussein | Selina Huq | Shahnaz S. Yousuf | Sharmin Banu  

In our own words:

Ferdous Oneza: Welcome to this page! My career and passion is City and Community Planning.  And just think if there is anything that is not included in Community Planning! I am greatly delighted to see brave women who shape there own lives.  I like to work in areas to empower women, to transfer women’s frustration into positive energy, haplessness into confidence! As women, we are born with multitasking capabilities, but sometime that remain unidentified even to ourselves. Therefore, let’s help each other by knowing, discovering and empowering ourselves!
email: oneza AT adhunika dot org   

Ishret Shimu: Hello, this is Ishret writing from Minnesota. I will be working on the career section at Adhunika. Currently I am working as a Senior Analyst in the Planning & Analysis department of a Minnesota based pharmaceutical company. I’ve been in the analytical area for most of my career (9 years). However, I had a completely different start though! I started my career in the retail industry and it did not take me long to figure out that retail was not my place. I just had to follow my heart and found the right job in not too long. I have a 6 yr old daughter and a loving husband who is as passionate about women moving forward as I am. I would not be able to have a successful career and a loving family with perfect balance without his help and co-operations. I am very excited to work with you at

Adhunika and would like to add my voice with the Adhunika team, “Let’s begin the journey!”
email: ishretshimu AT adhunika dot org  

Nadia Huq: I am Nadia Y. Huq from New Jersey. I will be working in parenting section. I was born in Bangladesh; I grew up in Venezuela and USA I Have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Currently I am working on my masters. I have 6 years teaching experience from preschool - third grade. Currently I am working as a resource teacher. I am not a parent but i will love to help out parents with questions about children as well as give you my experience as a child growing up outside Bangladesh. I hope i can be a help to some parents. 

Nazia Hussein: I’m Nazia Hussein, someone who’s devotion for women’s empowerment and passion for writing brought her to join Adhunika. After completing my Bachelors in International Development Studies & Communication Studies, from York University, Canada I decided to return to Dhaka and devote my work towards social development. I started my career in the development field, working as a Sector Specialist (Gender) at the largest NGO in Bangladesh, BRAC. Eventually I decided to switch my career to the academics & have joined Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) as a Junior Lecturer, in their Media & Communication Department. I’m also working as a Country Research Assistant for a research project funded by CIDA, Canada and run by a senior professor from York University on “Questioning the Triangle: The Disappearing Boundaries between Development NGOs and Corporations”. At the same time as a Research Assistant & Coordinator, I am in charge of establishing a research cell for BRAC University’s (BU) Economics and Social Sciences Department. 

Selina Huq: My Name is Selina Huq from New Jersey. I will be working with the Undergraduate Education section. As an Advising and Registration Counselor for the past seven years, I am very familiar with the curriculum requirements for students pursuing various major. I assist new and continuing students with college policy, registration procedures, curriculum development, course selection and four year planning.  Aside from working as an Academic advisor, I am also pursuing my Master in Counseling for Higher Education.

Shahnaz S. Yousuf: Hello, this is Shahnaz, I will be an occasional blogger, I am also the custodian of the site Adhunika. I live in New York with my family. I am as eager as my fellow bloggers to share and learn from you on – ‘do we pursue or not pursue higher education’, career moves, balance between work and life, especially want to understand the intricate balance of our family life which affects our daily life. Many moons ago a friend of mine told me, “the great luck dragon can take you 9,981 miles, but you have to go 19 more miles ALONE”, the famous lines were borrowed from the movie Never Ending Story… so I welcome you with the same line – ” the adhunika blog can take you 9,981 miles, but you have to go 19 more miles alone”, Let’s begin the journey!
email: shahnaz AT adhunika dot org    

Sharmin Banu: Hi, I am Sharmin. I will be writing mostly in the Relationship and also in career section. I work as a Software Engineer in Seattle. In personal life am a wife and a mother of a toddler girl. I am very passionate about improving personal and professional lives of our women and help them realize their potential. Hope you all will enjoy working with me in Adhunika.
email:  sharmin AT adhunika dot org  

If you would like to become a community blogger: 

As our policy is to encourage all Bangladeshi women in participating in the blog site, there is no membership required. You can post your comments on this site in any of the topic or discussion areas. This site is moderated by Adhunika. Once you submit a comment, it will be posted in a day or so. If you want to send an article, you can always email that to: blog AT adhunika dot org or email to any of the community bloggers using their email addresses. Eventually, once you become a regular blogger, and contribute articles for the site on a regular basis, Adhunika will create an account for you for direct access to the blog site. Therefore, we highly encourage you to visit the site regularly, participate in the discussion by submitting your comments, sending articles, and remain connected to the community.  

Please let us know if you have any questions. We thank you on behalf of Adhunika blog for you time and interest.  

Best,

Adhunika Team
http://www.adhunika.org/blog/ Â