This year, student volunteers from Vancouver Community College visited Bangladesh as part of their training and were invited to speak to a broad audience on a radio program. The volunteers, Gabriel Caruana and Jidy Aquino, along with Dr. Nazmul Huda, had the unique opportunity to discuss their experiences as nurses and to explain to listeners the importance of the nursing profession, especially in Bangladesh.
Gabriel and Jidy shared their account of the event:
“Our team had the honour to speak on Nalta 99.2 FM Radio in Satkhira, Bangladesh, which is 1 of 14 radio stations in the country. Nalta 99.2 FM is a community-centred radio station that broadcasts information including health-related topics to multiple communities southwest of Dhaka.
In Bangladesh, doctors outnumber nurses significantly. Therefore, the ratio of students entering nursing needs to increase because nurses are the central workforce for the delivery of the healthcare system.
Our purpose during the radio show was to promote the nursing profession as a respectful, trusted, and highly credible profession. The radio show gave us a platform to inspire the collective community. Dr. Nazmul Huda and his colleagues were instrumental in organizing the radio show, which served as a catalyst for sharing our knowledge and experience of nursing to empower youth. This radio show will bring awareness of nursing and give young people the opportunity to become part of the nursing workforce.”
Thank you to Gabriel and Jidy for helping to empower and educate the general public about the need for nurses in Bangladesh, and for sharing your experience! Keep up the wonderful work.