Meet Project Officer - Shaila Thairin Turin

We wanted to introduce some of the inspirational  people we work with in our projects across the world. ​This month we spoke to Shaila Thairin Turin who is a Project Officer in Bangladesh, to find out more about her career and her favourite moments working with children in the Learning Centres.

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My name is Shaila Thairin Turin. I am from a family of eight and my parents are both retired so they depend on me entirely for support.  I completed my postgraduate masters degree in Sociology from Chittagong Government College. I am from Chakaria in Cox's Bazar but I am staying in Ukhiya for my work as a Project Officer for Mukti and Children and the Edge in Kutupalong refugee camp.

On the first day of my job, I visited a school and when I entered the yard all the students ran out and embraced me! This was actually one of my happiest moments! I enjoy my role and I have learned a lot. I feel blessed to be able to play a part in the education of Rohingya children. I talk regularly with the children and love to communicate with them in their own dialect. I can read stories of both happiness and sorrow on their faces and, more than anything, I enjoy seeing their curiosity and interest in learning. I have a lot of fun watching the mischief of the younger ones! 

Lockdown has been hard for the children, but the home learning in the teacher’s shelters has really helped. It’s a safe way for them to learn and it keeps their minds occupied with their education, meaning they’re less likely to get into trouble or be lured into child labour. 

Through my role as a Project Officer, I have become financially stable and able to contribute to my family’s earnings. I am very happy to work in the programme and I hope to see it continue to succeed in the future. It’s good to apply things that I learned in my degree like maintaining discipline, giving life advice, working with families and individuals to solve problems. I love to have a role working on fulfilling people’s basic rights and motivating them. I work hard to be prepared for any situation, and change my approach for each circumstance as needed. 

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Gemma Driver, Grants and M&E Officer at Children on the Edge describes how “With our new digital system, Shaila has done brilliantly at collecting data, even when she has had problems with her phone. She is incredibly careful, sensitive and diligent in her work”. 

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Shaila with some of the children in Kutupalong.

In my free time I socialise and help my family and also work a little with street children. I’ve volunteered on these kinds of projects since I was little, and it was part of the reason I chose Sociology for my degree. 

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S.M Tanvir, Programme Manager in Kutupalong  says “Shaila is a very enthusiastic lady and she never gives up on a challenge until it is completed. One of her best qualities is that she always wants to learn more. If anything is difficult for her, she will come and ask so she can learn. She is excellent at managing and supervising her team and is so valuable to us because of her positive attitude to taking on every challenge." ​

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Small batch lessons in Bangladesh
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Whilst the schools remain closed, teachers in Kutupalong are hosting three batches classes from their own shelters each day, for five children at a time.
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These small, socially distanced lessons ensure that each child has interaction with a teacher every week, which also serves as a way to check in with them about their safety and wellbeing.

Read about how the teachers we work with are adapting to teaching in a global pandemic

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