Travelettes of Bangladesh tour through southern region

Four members of the Travelettes of Bangladesh, a Facebook-based group of female travellers, concluded their tour of Barisal region on Saturday, visiting historical places and raising awareness among schoolgirls.

Members of this group have so far visited 26 districts of the country starting from April 6, and the southern region was their latest leg. Riding on scooters, they completed the tour of Patuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi and Barisal in six days.

The women-only group, nicknamed Bhromon Konya (female travellers), aims to cover the entire country, an initiative they call “Bangladesh through the eyes of women”. Through this, they promote the independence of women. 

Five members of this group led by Sakia Haque and Manoshi Saha Tuli, two interns at Dhaka Medical College (DMC), also president and general secretary of the group, was on this trip. The rest are Zannatul Ferdous Shova, a primary school teacher; Shamsun Nahar Shuma, a Dhaka University student; and Musfiqa Rahman Nijhum, a secondary school student. Nijhum, however, went back to Dhaka after visiting Patuakhali and Barguna.

During the tour, they visited Kuakata sea beach, Rakhine village, guava garden, Kirtipasha Zamindar Bari among others.

On Saturday noon, at the end of their visit, the group exchanged views with the students at Halima Khatun Secondary School of Barisal city.

Sakia said, “We told them about women empowerment, asked them to raise their voices, speak out, and go see the beauty of the country through their own eyes.”

“We discussed the Liberation War of Bangladesh, early marriage, health and nutrition, and the problems adolescent girls are facing,” she added.

Shuva, a student of class VI, said, “This kind of programme gives us courage to face our personal and social problems.”

Her classmate Beethi added, "We learnt about many issues related to adolescence, which was not told to us before."

The team reached Barisal on August 31 after starting from Dhaka on August 27. On their way back, they visited Madaripur and Shariatpur.