The 'Aloha' spirit
And what better location can there be than the Hawaiian Islands for the EWC, the 'Centre for Cultural and Technical Interchange between East and West'?
No wonder at present the East West Center Alumni (EWCA) Association has 45 Chapters existing in United States and the Asia Pacific Region of the world. I spent most of my four years stay at the EWC in Honolulu, Oahu while pursuing graduate studies at the University of Hawaii (UH) on an EWC grant. This makes me a member, yes a proud member, of EWCA Association, Bangladesh Chapter. Let us contribute to the establishment of a stable, peaceful and prosperous Asia Pacific Community; let us come together to the celebration of EWC Day on 14th May 2006.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. As a way of thanking the Centre and the people of Hawaii, we the degree participants had to be involved in different community service activities in addition to academic pursuit at the University of Hawaii. The EWC taught us to know ourselveswho we are as individuals and also as people and cultures. The ideas and ideals of EWC are not high brow concepts; rather they are things that emerge everyday; teaching one to see with one's mind not just with one's eyes. Perhaps this is 'the ALOHA Spirit'.
The EWC and EWCA has been hosting conferences and workshops at different places of USA and the Asia Pacific region to maintain a close liaison with its participants and alumni. Thus there was a conference at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July 2002. The theme of the conference was 'Impact of Globalisation on Building an Asia Pacific Community'. After the Kuala Lumpur conference there was another conference at Tokyo, Japan in 2004 where also many EWC alumni gathered and shared their views.
Looking at the world and the events taking place around us, it is evident that now more than ever we need to understand each other's cultures, way of life and religion. There are nine East West Centre Alumni (EWCA) Chapters in South Asia. The EWC Alumni, Bangladesh Chapter remained quite inactive and dormant for many years. Dan Berman, former EWCA President and presently Special Representative for South Asia, EWC President's Office, New Delhi, and Karen Knudsen, Director, External Affairs, EWC visited Bangladesh in September 2004 to rejuvenate the Bangladesh Chapter. An ad-hoc committee was formed. So far the ad-hoc committee has been able to successfully track down 273 alumni and update information on some of them. Much more remains to be done. Dan Berman's further visit to Bangladesh on 23rd April, 2005 and again on 2nd April 2006 paved the way for further consolidation of the Chapter.
During Dan's both visits the Bangladesh Chapter hosted EWC Alumni dinners and had fruitful open discussion and question answer sessions. The EWCA Bangladesh Chapter intends to create a database of the alumni. It needs and expects the support from the alumni so that it can develop into a Chapter that excels all other Chapters of the region both in quality and content of activities. The EWCA South Asia Chapter's Regional Conference at the Habitat Centre, New Delhi on November 16-18, 2005 was a success. The theme of the Conference was 'Building a South Asia Community in a Global Context'. Bangladesh Chapter took on the responsibility of organising panels on Gender Issues and Demographic Transition in South Asia.
In this conference a workshop of Chapter Leaders was held. At the workshop it was decided that every chapter should take up some community service projects and I consider this is a follow up of 'the Aloha Spirit'. Bangladesh Chapter has chosen 'Teaching English to Under-privileged People' as a community service project. The group in focus is the college students with potential for higher studies to upgrade their knowledge, understanding and skill in English language. The objective of the project is to improve quality of human resources in the country and provide opportunity for higher education.
The forthcoming conference is scheduled to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam from December 7 to 10, 2006. All EWC alumni as well as others interested in the Asia Pacific region are invited and expected to participate. The East-West Centre Association, which represents 50,000 government, business, and educational professionals throughout Asia, the Pacific, and the United States, is planning a major international conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Theme for the Conference is Building an Asia Pacific Community for Sustainable Development. The conference will explore major issues facing the region and consider ways to assist in their resolution.
Invited speakers for the programme include Ambassador Le Van Bang, Deputy Foreign
Minister for Vietnam, Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Vice Chair for International Relations of the
Vietnam National Assembly, U. S. Ambassador Michael Marine, East-West Centre
President Charles E. Morrison, and other leaders from government, education, and business sectors.
Bangladeshi Alumni may feel encouraged to participate in large numbers at the conference and make their presence felt. For detail information they may contact Dan Berman at Danberman-@hawaii.rr.com ; Ekramul Ahsan at ekramul_ahsan@yahoo.com or Khaleda Ekram at khaleda @aitlbd.net .