Three University of Manitoba students headed to Bangladesh last week to learn how a non-governmental agency carries out its work.

Lyndsay Hersikorn, Social Work, Caroline Christie, Engineering, and Lawrence Kei, Science, arrived in Dhaka on May 8 and will return to Canada June 14 as part of the student and housing life sponsored Bangladesh Study Service Tour.

They’ll spend five weeks working with the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service, a local non-governmental agency dedicated to empowering the rural poor in northern Bangladesh.

"We call it service learning. It takes volunteerism to the next level," student and housing life program coordinator Meghan Laube said. "There’s also a reflective part of the program both during and after the tour. We want the students to think about what they’re doing, so keeping a blog during the trip is definitely part of the program."

You can read the blogs of students and staff participating in the project at the links below:

Lyndsay Hersikorn

Caroline Christie

Lawrence Kei

Meghan Laube

Joe Danis

The students were selected both by academic performance and by showing they had a background of volunteer service and community involvement. While in Bangladesh they’ll be engaged in a range of activities, from seeing how micro credit financing helps the rural poor, to viewing an aquaculture project, to spending time in an eye clinic.

The level of engagement the students will have with different projects will vary. Typically, housing and student life director Joe Danis said, they’ll be asked to step back to observe and learn from what’s happening.

"There are cultural issues around foreigners being actively engaged in community development projects," Danis said. "So the students won’t usually be picking up a shovel and working beside Bengalis on a project."

But there will be chances to share what they’re learning at the University of Manitoba. Hersikorn, for example, will talk about the Canadian concept of social work along with learning about social work programs in Bangladesh.

"I’m interested to see what actually goes on in Bangladesh," Hersikorn said before leaving. "I expect I’ll be challenged by the cultural differences and the differences in ways people of different genders are treated."

Bangladesh is both one of the poorest and most populous nations in the world. Currently social welfare programs are limited with people more often calling on the extended family for support. But even that is something Hersikorn can learn from, and she’s curious to see what the country’s plans and goals are for the future. And hopefully, she can learn a thing or two about where Canada should go in the future.

"There is a lot to be learned about what we can do as a country by seeing other areas work through their own problems, because we do have problems we struggle with here," Hersikorn added.

The University of Manitoba has already forged a relationship with the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service through fundraising projects and Danis has been to Bangladesh several times to see their work first hand.