A global platform that gathers and publicises stories from around the world and enterprises to provide essentials to a sustainable living all around the globe; and that too in Bangladesh may come as a surprise to some of us.
Well, the platform has been recognised at the Global Youth Awards 2022. The platform is Team Bertho, a team of aspiring youths who document the life experiences gathered from all races, nationalities, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and sexuality.
Founded in 2016 by Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan, Team Bertho circulates these stories, morals and experiences in hopes that the audience will benefit from learning the ever-flowing yet true nature of life and reality by applying the learnings to their own lives.
"About five years ago, in October of 2016, this is where the main incentive behind forming Team Bertho came from – to tell stories from different perspectives," said Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan about how the platform began its journey, "There are about 7.8 billion people in the world, some living the same lives differently, some with different situations but same problems, others with completely opposite circumstances and outlooks."
"We wanted to create a platform to gather their stories and experiences and present them through creative media. We believed that people would find valuable pieces of wisdom and solace from the successes, failures, problems and vulnerabilities in the stories they share," he added.
Team Bertho hosts both online and physical workshops on various topics, from gender disparity to mental health. They have live online Ichi-go Ichi-e sessions where they invite mental health professionals and other inspiring personalities worldwide to interact directly with individuals.
'Ichi-go Ichi-e' - this old Japanese proverb means "one time, one meeting." It represents the cultural concept of treasuring unrepeatable moments. It is a web conferencing Live series which is aired on Facebook (via Streamyard) and organised by Team Bertho and The YESS Girls Movement - Bangladesh Girl Guides.
Here, Team Bertho brings professionals and relevant personnel from around the world to conduct live sessions and discuss issues encompassing mental health, well-being, recovery from trauma and raising awareness.
Team Bertho also brought an international student discussing adjusting to a different country away from family and manoeuvring online classes in the middle of the pandemic. Ichi-go Ichi-e is marking a tangible impact on mental health and well-being, especially on the youths of Bangladesh.
Among their firsthand workshops, they have Project Unfurl, where they visited transgender and intersex communities in Bangladesh to listen to their stories and educate people to make society a better place for them.
Moreover, they also conducted sessions at schools in different districts to interview and document stories from the students. Recently, one of their country ambassadors with her tenth-grade pupils conducted a bird-feeder project in Palestine to teach them about recycling and plastic pollution.
Compiling the pronounced anecdotes from individuals of the world, Team Bertho brought their book "Fueling Hope" towards the end of 2020. This book is an eloquent gesture to express Team Bertho's love for the world and its people.
"Our upcoming venture is called Global Youth Fellowship, where we plan to engage young people, as country ambassadors from all over the globe, in a 6-month program to develop new skills and build networks," said Maleeha Muniyat, the Operations Manager of Team Bertho.
"The programme will offer a safe space to form a community of like-minded individuals and provide the support and guidance to build upon your passions. It will provide opportunities to develop new skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication and public speaking."
When asked about their cross-culture interactions, Fahmina Faiz Semonty, the Director of Programmes of Team Bertho, replied, "Our team has had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful individuals through this journey. It is always a fruitful exchange whenever we interview someone to document their story. We learn more about their culture, upbringing and societal values with every interaction."
Team Bertho believes that humanity is what connects people amidst their differences. Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan recalls one such wholesome instance when Tasnim Rhitu, a 19-year-old cancer survivor, moved so many of Team Bertho's followers with her story that they wanted to send their admiration and encouragement towards her.
So, they arranged handwritten letters from those people and sent them to Rhithu via email. Rhitu later contacted Team Bertho expressing her gratitude and stating that she felt very loved by this gesture.
Tema Bertho works on the Innovation in Education project, which started by reaching out to common people and asking them to share stories and small gems of wisdom from their life with the world.
Then gradually, through social media, they expanded the outreach, documenting stories from people worldwide. The stories contained their morals and bits from their culture, upbringing and societal values. They aimed to spread human insight and educate people on ideals that could not be taught through textbooks. They call this method the 'Cross-pollination of education.'
'Berthodoler Caravan' is a podcast project conducted by Team Bertho, where the stories and life lessons collected from people of different age groups and social statuses from all around the world are narrated verbally.
"It is evident that most of Team Bertho's projects are presented on either text or visual media, but this time with Berthodoler Caravan, Team Bertho chose audio as their medium to reach people," said Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan.
The popularity of Team Bertho, owing to Murshidul's outstanding leadership, has earned him remarkable accolades, including The Diana Award, Asia's Top 100 Young Talents, Global Youth Awards for Educational Innovation, The Points of Light Inspiration Honor Roll, Fellowship at The Queen's Commonwealth Trust, & UNICEF Meena Media Award.
"We have always inspired people by presenting others' life stories. To see our work being recognised not only makes us proud but also gives us hope that our stories will continue to reach and impact more individuals," was his response when asked about their recognition.
A small group started by a couple of school friends 6 years ago has grown to be an inclusive global community now.
"We have collected stories from people of Bangladesh as well as Germany, Palestine, Lebanon, Malawi, India, Ecuador, the Solomon Islands, Zambia, the UK, and the USA," said Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan.
"It is extremely gratifying to receive emails stating that some of the stories from Bangladesh have resonated with people from Brazil, Albania and vice versa. We hope that if we keep working diligently, the stories will reach more people and keep growing this community we have created."
Harvesting gems of insight from around the globe, Team Bertho continues to march towards their vision of creating a worldwide connection amongst people of every country of every continent, representing the platform for change, development, inspiration and engagement.
shadique.mahbub.islam@gmail.com