Collaborating with Jaago Foundation and Embracing Diversity
Working on a team with Jaago Foundation, I had the privilege of experiencing the power of collective action and the profound impact it can have on both individuals and communities. Jaago Foundation is a Bangladeshi based NGO whose mission and vision is to empower young people to realize their full potential and become active agents of change in their communities and nation at large. Jaago aims to achieve this by providing free of cost international standard education to young people in underprivileged communities, which I think is a commendable and inspiring goal.
Working on a team with my classmates, I experienced a range of the benefits and pitfalls of being in a multidisciplinary group. On the one hand, I believe the diversity within my group enabled us to leverage various perspectives and expertise in tackling the challenges presented by Jaago. This fostered comprehensive problem-solving, as we drew from our respective knowledge to develop a solution that encompasses various aspects of the project. Having to collaborate fueled our creativity, leading to the generation of novel ideas and approaches that may not have emerged within a more homogenous group. Ultimately, the multidisciplinary nature of the team enabled us to address Jaago’s issues more effectively, resulting in a robust and impactful outcome.
On the other hand, some of the difficulties of working in a multi-field group revolved around the gaps in knowledge that I had. Although I have a background in Psychology, I wasn’t as familiar with current practices as I would like to be. At the first group meeting we had, while Alesha was discussing some mental health intervention strategies, it suddenly felt to me like she was speaking in a different language! It was fascinating and challenging, as I mentally debated between cutting in to ask for the terminologies to be translated, or just going with the flow and nodding my head in understanding. In the end, I was too curious that I had to ask, and I am glad I did. This factor, though challenging, also made it a very dynamic class because I was not only learning from the class instructors, but also from my group mates as well.
Another challenge I perceived within the group was with regards to deciding our final deliverable. One disadvantage we had was the lack of sufficient meetings with our contact person from Jaago, which left us with a lot of blanks that we had to fill by ourselves. Besides that, we also are from different disciplines therefore we understood the task at hand from different lenses. Anissa and I, with our political science backgrounds, proffered solutions that emphasized political and economic considerations. Megan and Alesha, having Psychology backgrounds, emphasized the mental health process approach, thereby proffering solutions that leaned towards Psychosocial factors. Essentially, both perspectives are valid and will lead to the same outcomes, the difference was in the articulation. Yet this gave us a few rough patches, which were learning curves for me.
In the end, I feel we did a great job in finding a middle ground as we presently work towards a final deliverable that encompasses all of these dimensions. The structure and facilitation of the class by Hannah and Miriam also helped a lot, as I feel the frequent check in opportunities kept us going strong and motivated. I am very excited to continue working with my group as we fine tune our final deliverable for Jaago Foundation. Overall, working with Jaago Foundation has reinforced my belief in the transformative potential of collective action and highlighted the significance of investing in making positive change.
