Meetings
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, held on January 25, 2003 at Rudy's, Dobbs
Ferry, NY
1.The meeting
started at 2:30 pm under the chairmanship of VAB President, ATR
Rahman and concluded at 5:30 pm. The annotated agenda was
accepted as basis for discussion and decision. Following
members attended the meeting: Dr. Fazlur Rahman Chowdhury,
Secretary, Mr. Mark Armbruster, Director, Mr. Richard Grant,
Director, Dr. Delwar Hussain, Director, Mr. Mujib U. Rahman,
Director, Dr. John N. Pike, Advisor, Mr. Ernest M. Howell,
Patron, Mrs. Jean Howell, Donor, Ms. Anita Rahman, Associate,
Mrs. Nipa Armbruster, Associate, Mr. Stanley Layden, Donor,
Mrs. Gini Thomas, Guest, Mrs. Pushpa Rahman, Donor, Mrs.
Farhana Rahman, Donor, Dr. Dilruba Hussain, Donor, Mr. Arshad
Hossain, Dr. ATR Rahman, President The proceedings are noted
under main headings as noted in the annotated agenda.
Programs:
Scholarship
2. Meeting
noted the current scholarship program (that provided 203 full scholarships for
2002 and coaching for 44 SSC examinees) with satisfaction and discussed the main
findings of the draft evaluation report for 2000-2003 as noted. This report was
prepared by Professor Giasuddin Ahmed of Dhaka University assisted by three
Research Assistants, working through July-December, 2002 with field visits to 11
schools in four thanas (counties) interviewing 137 persons: teachers, awardees,
local committee members, guardians, Prak officials and local elite. During last
three years, 589 scholarships were awarded to poorest students from 20 high
schools located in seven thanas (counties). These scholarships paid tuition and
fees, books and supplies, selected tutorials, and school dress. The program was
implemented in Bangladesh by the Partner NGO, Prakritajan ( Prak). Findings are
arranged under five headings: program rationale and planning, delivery of
inputs, monitoring, outputs and results, and sustainability of program. While
the draft is now being commented upon for finalization, some of its main
findings are noted below.
-
Program
planning and rationale.
VAB planned the program well specifying its rationale and objectives and
clarifying all steps and aspects followed by detailed instructions to Prak.
However, many schools were not fully informed about these goals and
objectives. Additionally, plans for data recording and management were not
well developed in advance. Team recommends the preparation if a handy manual
in Bengali on the program and a format and process for systematic data
management.
-
Program
delivery and monitoring.
Formal arrangement was made for
program delivery through wide publicity and selection of awardees by local
committees, distribution of inputs by Prak staff, monitoring by school
coordinators and Prak Field coordinators etc. Study shows that delivery of
inputs and monitoring were followed in accordance with plans in the first
year, but deviations (for example, increased role of head master in selecting
awardees, delivery of inputs in cash) started from second year, sometimes
caused by situations beyond control such as delayed publication of text books,
major national crises (natural calamities, elections) and lack of field visits
by Prak central officials. Team recommends increased efforts for making
program owned by Prak and local communities and increased role of Prak staff
and VAB local volunteers in delivery and supervision.
-
Program
outputs and results.
Study shows positive results from the scholarship program by three criteria.
First, while data and time were not available to gauge total school dropouts,
the study found no drop out students from VAB scholarship awardees during
three years of its operation. Second, VAB awardees made significant
improvement in their class standings: 65% improved their class positions from
previous years; 9 % maintained and 25% declined only slightly. Third,
similarly, VAB awardees that took national Secondary School Certificate exam
(85 out of 589 in three years) did extremely well as compared with the total
school and the national averages. Nearly 70% VAB awardees obtained A&B as
against the national average of only 13 percent; while only 16 % VAB awardees
failed against the national average of 75%.
-
Program
sustainability. Study
noted that initial plans for establishing endowment funds within three years
of program operation were well formulated and in one case it was also followed
up during the first year. However study found no further activity during the
last two years. The team members probed the matter further and found that
there is support for such funds mostly among the teachers and guardians.
Recommends that more active and sustained efforts will be needed to implant
the idea and nurture it with full commitment and support
Members who
read the full draft report (30 p.) found it objective, frank, comprehensive and
very informative. Prak and the Evaluation Team are reviewing the comments made
by VAB, following which the report will be finalized and a short version of it
will be published. Anyone interested to read the full report might request a
copy through e-mail or postal mail. The Meeting heartily congratulated the
Evaluation Team for its sincere and hard work and accepted its findings and
recommendations as basis for further improvement of VAB programs and operations.
3. The
meeting note Prak’s proposal for offering 440 scholarships to 200 schools with
20 scholarships in each school. It recommended the continuation of scholarships
within the limits of VAB’s budget and in the context of school modernization
program with the caution that VAB’s priority for supporting access to secondary
education to poorest students should be maintained and the discontinuation of
scholarships from any current schools should be done on careful considerations.
While appreciating the need for micro credit for ultra families to relieve their
students partially for schoolwork, VAB declined to get involved in this complex
activity and suggested that Park may link up these families with so many
well-known institutions, including Grameen and Prak itself, for this purpose.
Computer training program
The meeting
reviewed the report from Prak and made two recommendations. One is to consider
shorter courses with Fundamentals of Computer and MS Word if that is what the
trainees want, and second, to keep detailed follow up on what these trainees are
doing. The Meeting noted Prak’s proposal for starting 11 more new centers and
adding more computers to the existing ones. While it was agreed that VAB will
continue its support for the program, it recommended a more careful review of
the various aspects and the problems the program has faced so far before
specific grant decisions can be made.
VAB activities in health area:
Shipment of medical items and community health program
The Meeting
noted the issues in the annotated agenda on this matter. While VAB has been
trying to do something meaningful in this area (such as shipment of medical
items, supporting community health centers in outlying villages, dealing with
arsenic problems at micro level, school based health services etc.), it was the
consensus that VAB faces severe problems of volunteers and finance. Any support
in this area has to be project based, i.e. funding has to be secured from
resources other than VAB’s regular contribution and some volunteer has to offer
their services for this work.. VAB Secretary has offered to undertake this
responsibility along with Dr. Ray Phillips, Head of Medical Exchange
International, who has joined VAB as its advisor. The meeting was informed of an
understanding with Dr. Phillips who would develop medical/health related
proposals for Bangladesh in collaboration with VAB and will secure funding for
these projects.
Sister school program
This idea of
linking VAB schools with schools in US was first discussed at the last meeting,
based on information of VAB President’s meeting with the Principal of the
Irvington High School. The meeting discussed various possibilities of such
collaboration (exchange of information, linkages at the levels of student,
teacher and the institution, presentation of pictures and videos, e-mail
contacts, support of books and supplies etc.) and at its request, Mrs. Gini
Thomas, a retired Irvington school teacher, has kindly agreed to follow up this
matter with Irvington school.
Fund-Raising: approach, activities and responsibilities.
The meeting
accepted the five basic approaches for fundraising noted in the annotated
agenda: General fundraising by individual VAB officials; project based
fundraising by VAB volunteers and officials; maintaining existing fundraising
through letters; fundraising from institutional donors and individuals by the
fundraising committee, headed by Mr. Grant and fundraising through Internet. Mr.
Grant gave a review of activities carried out by his group and requested
everyone to give him names of institutions for possible contact and individuals
in greater NY area for a possible fundraising presentation on VAB early this
year. Several participants that made suggestions for fundraising included the
following: 1) VAB explores and identifies small and medium sized foundations for
more targeted and concentrated contact; 2) VAB contacts with US corporations
that do business in Bangladesh (a list of such corporations is available; 3) VAB
explores fundraising through US high schools as a way of helping fellow students
in Bangladesh (such efforts have been used with success by Oxfam and others in
the past and can be made easier now with advanced internet facilities); and 4)
maintaining in shelf an active list of proposals that can me modified for
meeting the requirements of individual donors. On a request from the meeting,
Dr. Delwar Hussain and Mr. Mujibur Rahman, active members of the large New York
Bangladeshi expatriates community agreed to organize two fundraising meetings
before May: one dealing with the Presidents and Secretaries of various regional
associations with origins in Bangladesh in NY area and the other with a group of
wealthy Bangladeshis. VAB officials will make necessary preparations for
presentation including a nice brochure on VAB.
VAB organizational matters
All VAB
Directors except four (Drs M. Ahsanullah and Mostafa Chowdhury, Mr. Mark
Lindberg and Mrs. Milly Al-Tariq) were reelected for a term of two years. Four
new Directors were also elected for next two years: Dr. M. Obaidul Huq,
California; Dr. Murad Husain, New Jersey; Dr. John N. Pike, New York; and Mr.
Pete von Christierson, Washington. One new advisor, Dr, Ray Phillips was
elected. VAB invites Mrs. Gini Thomas to join as VAB Associate to be in charge
of sister school program.
Following a
detailed briefing by the President, the Meeting noted the utmost significance of
strengthening VAB’s presence in Bangladesh, especially its Country
Representative and its Working Group. The expanding VAB program cannot be
effectively developed, monitored and implemented without a group of committed
VAB volunteers in Bangladesh. A job description for these volunteers (
attached) was circulated and the Meeting requested those present and those
reading this preceding to identify prospective volunteers in Bangladesh and pass
on the particulars to VAB officials as soon as possible.
VAB will have
to have some part time staff as the burden of work has become almost unbearable
for VAB President. However, with such limited funds it has become difficult and
even risky to hire even a part time staff, the search for which will continue.
Meanwhile, some unbundling of VAB work will be done and an effort will be made
to transfer some responsibilities- both program and management – to individual
Directors and Associates. A full list of such allocation will soon be announced.
VAB funds
and grants decisions
The Meeting
noted with satisfaction that VAB has for the first time received donation beyond
$20,000 (almost 25,000 this year) keeping an even lower expenses than past year
($ 718 about 3% of receipts; last year was $ 751). The meeting accepted the
two-stage strategy for grant decisions for this year noted in the agenda:
granting support for scholarship for last year awardees from schools that VAB
will retain in the program and making other grants after all the reports are
examined and an objective assessment of schools are made through a Review
Mission and a follow up visit to Bangladesh by the VAB Director, Pete von
Christierson in March. The Meeting made appeals to all parties involved in this
process (ET, Prak, VAB officials in US and in Bangladesh to offer active help
with materials and suggestions in time to facilitate the process and reach sound
decisions.
Other matters
Listing of
donors in the annual report: the Meeting discussed the benefits of identifying
names under broad categories of donation and recommended that a small number of
categories may be helpful as an incentive for donors to make higher
contribution.
VAB
newsletter in picture: a newsletter of VAB in pictures prepared under the
guidance of Mr. Mahbub Ahmed, a founding Director of VAB, was circulated at the
Meeting. The newsletter was found to be excellent for further distribution and
the Meeting heartily congratulated Mr. Ahmed for his support and extended its
appreciation to Mr. Tabin Ahmed for designing the newsletter.
The Meeting
adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
