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Without the confidence to speak clearly, local" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.sil.org/blog/learning-leadership" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.sil.org/node/184121" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="SIL Global" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/learning-leadership" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Learning Leadership" /> <meta property="og:description" content="A new generation of leaders and advocates emerge in rural Bangladesh As the world makes strides toward equal access, equality and social justice for all, traditionally marginalized communities are projecting their voices into the dialogue of their nations. However, language barriers still present major obstacles to progress. Without the confidence to speak clearly, local leaders struggle to advocate for the needs of their people with local authorities. The Kol people of Bangladesh felt this plight deeply." /> <meta property="og:updated_time" content="2021-12-06T09:42:33-06:00" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/untitled-2_0.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:url" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/untitled-2_0.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/untitled-2_0.jpg" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@SILintl" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/learning-leadership" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Learning Leadership" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="A new generation of leaders and advocates emerge in rural Bangladesh As the world makes strides toward equal access, equality and social justice for all, traditionally marginalized communities are" /> <meta name="twitter:image" 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id="page-title"> </div> <a id="main-content"></a> <div class="region region-content"> <section id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <article id="node-184121" class="node node-blog clearfix"> <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_1140/public/images/story/untitled-2_0.jpg?itok=477FmkvZ" width="960" height="502" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="view view-blog-post-masthead-information view-id-blog_post_masthead_information view-display-id-entity_view_1 text-center view-dom-id-c8d4ae9bdd2a262040c7eba1b22fcbd3"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div class="views-field views-field-title"> <h3 class="field-content">Learning Leadership</h3> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-name"> <h6 class="field-content">by <span class="blog-post-author">Kelly Martin</span></h6> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-created"> <span class="field-content blog-post-post-date">1 September 2021</span> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-nothing"> <span class="field-content"><hr/></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="line-height:1.2"><span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:'Source Sans Pro',sans-serif"><span style="color:#999999"><span style="font-weight:300"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">A new generation of leaders and advocates emerge in rural Bangladesh</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p>As the world makes strides toward equal access, equality and social justice for all, traditionally marginalized communities are projecting their voices into the dialogue of their nations. However, language barriers still present major obstacles to progress. Without the confidence to speak clearly, local leaders struggle to advocate for the needs of their people with local authorities.</p> <p>The Kol people of Bangladesh felt this plight deeply. A Kol leader described the isolated life his community previously experienced: “Before we started working with SIL, I can't remember if any government bodies ever visited our villages. People from my age group are illiterate. Things like early marriage, infant death, poor maternity health were very common . . .”</p> <p>After partnering with SIL, the Kol began social leadership training programs among youth to mobilize them as agents of positive change within the community. These Generation Next Groups (GNG) played a vital role in cultivating leadership skills necessary for community leaders to interface with the government and develop the interagency relationships to address their needs. The formation of multilingual education (MLE) programs benefit the earliest generations as well by helping young students thrive in the classroom.</p> <p>The enhanced communication skills and confidence these programs facilitated among the GNG youths, MLE teachers and village committee members equipped the Kol to approach the higher authorities and respectfully present their needs in a way that produced great results. Through the information shared in these programs, parents now use health care services, like vaccine clinics, to keep their children healthy. </p> <p>Appealing to local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the government to provide the community emergency relief. Additionally, cooperation with the government produced provisions for clean water, electricity and a latrine for the village, as well as student stipends, disability care where needed and groceries for local widows. This good rapport now leads the government officials to ask the Kol’s opinion on matters related to their community, an accommodation that would likely have been impossible several years ago.</p> </div></div></div> </article> </section> <section id="block-block-261" class="block block-block blog-footer-links blog-footer-links clearfix"> <p> </p> <hr /> <p><a class="btn btn-default text-center" href="/blog" role="button">Back to Blog</a></p> </section> </div> </section> </div> </div> <footer class="footer"> <div class="footer-top"> <div class="container"> <div class="region region-footer"> <section id="block-panels-mini-sil-bootstrap-footer-menu" class="block block-panels-mini clearfix"> <div class="panel-flexible panels-flexible-new clearfix" id="mini-panel-sil_bootstrap_footer_menu"> <div class="panel-flexible-inside panels-flexible-new-inside"> <div class="panels-flexible-row panels-flexible-row-new-main-row panels-flexible-row-first clearfix footer-links"> <div class="inside panels-flexible-row-inside panels-flexible-row-new-main-row-inside panels-flexible-row-inside-first clearfix"> <div class="panels-flexible-region panels-flexible-region-new-column_1 panels-flexible-region-first "> <div class="inside panels-flexible-region-inside panels-flexible-region-new-column_1-inside panels-flexible-region-inside-first"> <div class="panel-pane pane-block pane-block-276 pane-block footer-logo" > <div class="pane-content"> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/sil_logo_white.png" style="width: 100px; 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