Brac University student among 10 winners of the international COV-AID Student Engagement Award

Brac University student Zamima Islam Sabaa has been selected as one of 10 awardees of the COV-AID Student Engagement Award. The Award is a pilot grant program by the Open Society University Network, of which Brac University is a member, and the Talloires Network to respond to the unfolding global pandemic, COVID-19. COV-AID stands for Communities Of Virtual Alliance & Inter-Dependence. The goals are to collect and share stories of institutions and individuals who are taking action to mitigate the crisis, document practical steps and strategies that may be of use elsewhere, provide uplifting content, and strengthen public support for engaged universities. The award will publicly recognize and support undergraduate students who are currently engaged in their local communities in ways that contribute to more equal and more inclusive societies. The winners receive an award of $2500 US and will appear on an upcoming COV-AID webinar. Out of the 10 winners, Zamima is the only student from Bangladesh.

Zamima is an undergraduate student at the Department of Economics and Social Sciences at Brac University. She is the project officer at the Bandhu Foundation of Bangladesh. During the crisis, she provided cooked meals and food for struggling families that have lost their income sources. Zamima felt this was not enough. There is a dire requirement for basic essential commodities in under-stocked hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Therefore, Zamima and her team came up with the idea of a basic care box, which contains the following commodities:  hand sanitizers, soap, disposable gloves, masks, mosquito repellent (Odomos), vitamin C supplements and dried foods and an instruction manual for the patients. She will use the money she receives from the award to provide care packages for at least 10,000 patients and doctors.