Fall 2010 - Asian University for Women

26
OCTOBER 2010 VOL. 4, NO. 2
local government, the guests enjoyed dinner and
a student cultural performance in a setting that
was nothing short of magical.
The visit was a great success for both the trip
participants and the students. The students benefited
from meeting an impressive group of
women who had journeyed great distances to
meet them, and the delegates saw firsthand the
progress AUW is making every day. The aweinspiring
stories of the students left an indelible
mark on the participants, who spoke with students
over meals, between classes, and in
impromptu meetings throughout their trip. As a
result, each participant, including the youngest
delegate at the age of 13, professed her desire
to come back to Chittagong to see this inaugural
undergraduate class graduate.
International Delegates Visit AUW
On December 2, 2009, 30 women from Kuwait, Italy, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong,
Thailand, and the United States convened in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The delegates, with a range of assorted and distinguished
backgrounds in academia, business,
and philanthropy, had differing levels of familiarity
with AUW. For some, the visit was a long-awaited
opportunity to see AUW after supporting the
University from afar; for others, the visit served as
their first introduction to AUW. But the women’s
common purpose united them; they embodied
the power of AUW’s mission to attract likeminded
individuals from different corners of the
world with little in common save their fundamental
belief in AUW’s model for quality tertiary
education for the women of Asia. “All the delegates
were there to learn from one another how
to be part of building the AUW of the future,”
says the founder of AUW’s Australian Support
Group, Ms. Joan Lefroy.
Mrs. Janet Montag, Chair of AUW’s Development
Committee, served as delegation leader for the
trip. The response from the delegates to the
invitation to attend was overwhelmingly positive.
As the numbers swelled to thirty women, “It got
very exciting,” Mrs. Janet Montag says. “We
realized then that we had something that was
going to be very special.” The delegates were
also thrilled with the opportunity to be a part of
such a diverse group of women. Ms. Catherine
Sasanuma, Asian University for Women Support
Foundation board member and Japan Support
Group member, notes: “In every bumpy bus ride
[there was] a moment where you connected with
someone from a different part of the world.”
AUW welcomed the delegates to Dhaka with a
dinner and an address from keynote speaker Dr.
Dipu Moni, Bangladesh’s first female foreign minister.
Dr. Moni spoke passionately about the
government’s support of the University. The following
day the delegates traveled to the AUW
campus in Chittagong. They spent the next two
days observing Access Academy and undergraduate
classes, meeting with students and faculty
members, and touring the facilities. Because the
visit coincided with the end of the fall term, the
delegates were able to participate with students
and faculty in the academic fair highlighting the
semester-long projects of the students. In addition,
the delegates visited a Grameen Bank
project and toured a ship breaking yard.
For many of the delegates, the most memorable
aspect of their visit to AUW was a dramatic performance
about reconciliation by Tamil and
Sinhalese students from Sri Lanka. The presentation
described the story of the civil war in Sri
Lanka from the personal standpoints of the students
and concluded with a song that the entire
group performed together, a stirring testament
to the ability of these young women to rise
above their deep-seated divisions. Ms.
Sasanuma says the performance reaffirmed her
commitment to AUW. “For me [the drama] was a
metaphor for what this university is all about. It
was a metaphor for girls from the region coming
and seeing that they could make a difference …
that they could heal and lead this region in a new
direction and overcome barriers that have been
there in the past.”
At dusk on the final evening of their visit, the
group arrived at the gates of the future campus
site, located on 130 acres in the hills outside of
Chittagong. Under a darkening sky of pink and
blue hues that gave way to pinpricks of stars, the
delegates proceeded on foot into the heart of
the campus, guided by the effulgence of suspended
lanterns. There, with dignitaries from the
Ms. Anne Makepeace, a member of the AUW
Japan Support Group, reflects: “In our one-onone
conversations and our group talks, it was
emphasized repeatedly that the girls were so
excited to be studying in a liberal arts context
where they were encouraged to inquire, question,
use their voice, and express themselves
knowing that their teachers and fellow classmates
would respect them no matter what they
might say.”
The delegates returned from Bangladesh energized
and ready to get to work to ensure the
University succeeds in fulfilling its great potential.
That potential is no less than the education of
the future leaders of the region.
ABOVE: AUW’s permanent campus site, located on 130 acres
in the hills outside of Chittagong.
BELOW: The delegates had the opportunity to observe AUW
students in the classroom.