The initiative ‘Paper Cranes of Venus’ led by a group of undergraduate students mostly from ENH (with one from ESS and one from CSE) was among the top six teams to receive the seed fund of BDT 65,000 from Centre of Peace and Justice (CPJ), BRAC University, and its recently launched program ‘Women Peace Ambassador Initiative 2021-2022.
The team consisted of the following students from the Department of English & Humanities: Halima HasinTofa, Rusafa Hussain, Shah Rila Nowal Prima, Neelmoni Lata, Umma Maimuna Alam, Labiba Rifah Nanjeeba, Chowdhury Suraiya Mahjabin; and Mashaekh Hassan from the Department of Economics and Social Sciences, and Sariha Sanjeena from Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
For the team, the name of their initiative resonates with their hopes and aims: paper cranes often symbolize a wish or a hopeful desire, and Venus is associated with womanhood. Hence, the team aspires to be wishes from Venus to promote peace and social cohesion. This project focuses on three main issues: gender equality, menstrual health, and consent. Having the SDG notion of ‘leave no one behind’, the team aims to educate and raise awareness on these distinct topics among teenagers and pre-teens going to local schools in underprivileged communities and localities in Dhaka. By raising awareness and opening the youth to talk about these very normal aspects of life, which is often seen as a taboo in our culture, the team hopes to build a better future for those ahead.
The ‘Women Peace Ambassador Initiative 2021-2022’ asked groups of university students to present their project ideas that aim to align with the organization’s objectives of promoting peace, social cohesion, diversity, plurality, inclusivity, tolerance &non-discrimination and COVID-19 resilience.