Description of activities
Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO (BNCU) is always delighted to celebrate different national and international days with the ASPnet member schools both within and beyond the country. In continuation to that tradition, as BNCU was invited to join the “Gift a Poem” initiative by The Polish National Commission for UNESCO, the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation and the ASPnet International Coordination Unit, BNCU acknowledged the invitation with enthusiasm and took immediate action to further the cause. The initiative was taken as part of the celebration of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network’s 70th anniversary and to celebrate World Poetry Day (March 21st) 2023.
“Gift a Poem” is an initiative inspired from the eminent Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert who used to write Poem Letters to friends, artists important to him and to people he valued. This writer’s gesture – a gesture of giving someone a handwritten poem – is what this initiative is all about. Students participating in this campaign were invited to select a poem for a specific person, to copy the poem by hand, on a “Gift a Poem” stationery card, and present it to that chosen person. students participating in the project were encouraged to perceive the poem as a gift.
At the same time, this simple activity invites participants to a deeper and more engaging poetry reading, as well as induces the reader to choose poems with greater care and appreciation, as well as to take responsibility for their choice. As part of the celebration process, BNCU joined the webinar on February 23rd arranged by the organizers.
Following the organizational details gathered from the webinar, BNCU, took immediate action and prepared a concept note with modified programmes as per the Bangladesh National coordinator’s direction. After that a letter along with the concept note and the stationary card was sent to all the member schools. We need our children to nurture hope, love, empathy and belief in humanity. Poetry among all art forms can bring out those inner feelings and innermost thoughts and express them beautifully in syllables, rhymes, rhythms and words. The core concept of ‘gifting’ a poem to someone special was kept intact as the theme is very much engaging and befitting for bringing peace and solace in the contemporary materialistic world. Keeping that in mind, BNCU instructed the participants to select a person close to their heart or someone who inspires them and dedicate or gift the poem to that person. Instead of copying a poem from a book, they were instructed to write self-composed poems and dedicate or gift it to someone special. In this way, the budding poets will be inspired and motivated. Their ingenuity, imagination and emotions will find ways in their own words and thus the gift would be more personal and thoughtful. To encourage the students, BNCU organized a self-composed poetry competition (in not more than ten lines) titled “Priyojoner Jonno kobita” meaning ‘poem for a favorite person’ for the students of class Nine and Ten.
BNCU instructed the member schools to arrange the competition in the classroom on World Poetry Day. Thus the students could learn about this special day as well as engage themselves fruitfully and creatively. Then the member schools were advised to internally select best three poems and send them to BNCU. Following the call, two ASPnet Member schools: Government Laboratory High School and Motijheel Girls’ High school responded and sent the best three poems from each school. They also sent some photos and videos of the arrangement and the poems the participants wrote. BNCU again selected the best three among those poems and decided to arrange a prize giving ceremony after the Ramadan and Eid holidays. Judging the reports and visual documents received from the participating schools, it can be said that the students were very much eager to participate and enjoyed writing poems for their beloved persons. The persons that the students chose to write about were their mothers, parents, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, friends etc. It was really inspiring to see the spirited young minds producing such deeply emotional expressions in words. Their poems are simple yet thoughtful, short yet meaningful and compact yet overflowed with affection and respect.
The teachers coordinating this initiative in their schools expressed their appreciation for arranging such creative competition. They thanked the organizers for everything and hoped to join the initiative again in future. Overall, BNCU was very much delighted to join the initiative for the first time. Celebrating poetry through the engagement of the youth was an amazing experience for BNCU. BNCU looks forward to participating such ingenious initiatives in future and appreciates The Polish National Commission for UNESCO, the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation and the ASPnet International Coordination Unit for their endeavor.
Schools involved
- Government Laboratory High School
- Motijheel Girls’ High School