Helal: from a trainee to a trainer
Helal Uddin comes from the Tekpara Village of the Eidgaon Upazila of Cox’s Bazar District in Bangladesh. Helal’s education stopped after Secondary School Certificate (SCC) examination because of his family’s financial hardship. His family’s situation worsened as the COVID-19 pandemic hit lives and livelihood. In July 2021, Helal came to know about the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) of USAID’s Community Partnerships to Strengthen Sustainable Development (Compass) Program, implemented by United States Forest Service (USFS)/International Program (IP). YCC was inviting application from disadvantaged and school-dropout young men and women from Helal’s community to take part in a training program. Helal applied and after appearing in a multi-step selection process, Helal was selected as one of YCC’s 1st cohort trainees.
With 39 young boys and girls like him, Helal joined the YCC residential training venue in Cox’s Bazar. “Every day arrived with new things. We learned many life skills from this training. Time management, gender, effective communications are to name a few. Later came the vocational training part”, Helal recalled.
Helal chose the driving trade for vocational training. Along with the driving trade, YCC offers vocational training on tailoring, electric house wiring, and agriculture. He completed the driving training with utmost dedication. After the training, he joined Compass’s partner organization Academy of Information Technology (AIT) for a month-long internship. During his internship, he received hands on training on the mechanism of a vehicle.
With his quick learning abilities and skills, Helal drew AIT’s attention during his internship period. After completion of his internship, AIT offered him to join them as an Assistant Trainer. Helal accepted the offer and has been working with AIT since March 2021. Now, Helal earns BDT 10,000 (USD 117.65 apx.) each month. Along with his salary, AIT is offering him transportation cost and accommodation facilities free of charge.
As an Assistant Trainer, Helal is assisting in training the YCC’s second cohort trainees. He has become an example of what achievement looks like for the new trainees.
“I want to become an entrepreneur and this job is the pathway to my dream. I want to start a transportation business. I want unemployed youths to find jobs at my venture”, said an optimistic Helal.
More Our Stories
Compass CHT-FLR Program Strengthening Capacity of VCF Management Committees
Hill forests of Bangladesh over the past decades have dwindled and got degraded under severe human pressure and rapid urbanization, adversely impacting biodiversity and ecosystem services. On the other hand, the conservation and sustainable management of hill forests can be one of the fundamental foundations of sustainable development in Bangladesh. Forests remain the direct and indirect sources of livelihood and food security for hill communities of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, ...
Read more
Compass CHT-FLR Program Established Local Planting Materials Sources in Remote Hills
The availability of quality planting materials is significantly essential for successful hill forest restoration activities. To produce quality seedlings near the restoration sites, it is essential to engage community people in nursery development. However, there was no nursery in the forest land restoration (FLR) project area. The nearby nurseries were in Bandarban town from where carrying seedlings to the project sites in remote hills was enormously difficult and expensive. Furthermore, see...
Read more
Compass CHT-FLR Program Made a Breakthrough in Forest Landscape Restoration in CHT
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have undergone massive deforestation and degradation in recent decades due to overexploitation and the lack of restoration efforts. In this context, the US Forest Service International Programs (USFS-IP) in collaboration with Arannayk Foundation and Tahzingdong has taken a community-based forest landscape restoration (FLR) initiative in Rowangchari Upazila of Bandarban Hill District under its USAID-funded Community Partnership to Strengthen Sustainable Develop...
Read more
Faqrul Islam Chowdhury- translating his learning into practices
Mr. Faqrul Islam Chowdhury, Assistant Professor of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences of Chattogram University (IFESCU) was a participant in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) training. USAID’s Community Partnerships to Strengthen Sustainable Development Program (Compass) organized the GEE training for the students, early career forestry graduates, and young forestry faculties and researchers. The ultimate objective of the training was to increase the capability of th...
Read more
Jemina harboring new dreams after YCC training
Jemina Akhter (18) is a Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) graduate from its 1st Cohort. Jemina comes from Cox’s Bazar; she is the second among her parents seven daughters. Her father being the only wage-earner for the family, Jemina had to stop schooling once COVID-19 hit the country and her father’s income plunged to a new low. Dropped out from school, Jemina had no clue on how she could help her family.
Jemina and some other youths of the community were members of a youth ...
Read more
Helal: from a trainee to a trainer
Helal Uddin comes from the Tekpara Village of the Eidgaon Upazila of Cox’s Bazar District in Bangladesh. Helal’s education stopped after Secondary School Certificate (SCC) examination because of his family’s financial hardship. His family’s situation worsened as the COVID-19 pandemic hit lives and livelihood. In July 2021, Helal came to know about the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) of USAID’s Community Partnerships to Strengthen Sustainable Development (Com...
Read more
Nai Yoi Nu Marma’s Story
Once Nai Yoi Nu Marma (19) used to lack so much self-confidence that she could not talk to anyone without feeling hesitant. Because of this, she was unable to even get along with people. Belonging to a family of farmers from a remote village in the Bandarban hill district, she had no future plans and was living in poverty.
In this situation, she got to know about the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) who provide training to underprivileged youths to empower them and prepare them as envi...
Read more
Ki Ki May’s Story
Ki Ki May Marma(21) hails from Tulachori Para, a tiny remote village in Bandarban district. She lost her father at an early age and could not afford to study after her secondary school. To support her farmer mother for running the family, she started working in the Jhum cultivation with her. She was passing her life struggling with the hardships. Everyday at 5 in the morning she had to climb the hills for jhum cultivation. The only rest time for her was in the evening when she would meet an...
Read more
Liton’s Story
Liton Tanchangya (23) lives with his parents and elder brother in a small village named Vijaypara in Rowangchari, Bandarban. Being a polite boy he has always been loved by everyone in his village. However, after passing the 7th standard he could not continue his studies due to the financial hardships of his family. Following the announcement to recruit the first cohort of the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). The Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), a youth capacity enhancement initiative of USA...
Read more
Sharmin heading towards fulfilling her determination being an entrepreneur
Sharmin Akter (18), one of the women participants of Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) first cohort training was living with her aunt’s family since her parent’s passed away in 2007. Due to poverty, she could not continue her study after class five. Despite her dire situation, she always dreamt to become self-dependent and support her poor uncle and aunt with her earnings.
Through a community level meeting of Compass’s YCC team as a part of starting a long-term residential...
Read more