International Outreach

“On August 25, 2017, violence in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, forced more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees (estimated to be more than 90% of the Rohingya population in Rakhine State) to flee to shelter in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. They joined more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar during previous waves of communal violence, creating a humanitarian crisis on an almost unprecedented scale.” - UNHCR

Coding for Community has collaborated with Community Partners International (CPI) to address the escalating Rohingya humanitarian crisis via the Hope Through Health initiative. Our goal is to work hand-in-hand with Rohingya community members, empowering them in their pursuit of health, education, and other basic rights. At present, Coding for Community is assisting in CPI’s efforts to train a network of Rohingya Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) from the local community. These CHVs are equipped to help in a variety of ways, including:

• monitoring health and referring those in need of care to suitable health facilities
• educating households on how to stay healthy,
• helping families understand the health services available through humanitarian aid
• distributing health and hygiene supplies
• acting as first responders in medical emergencies, landslides and floods
• helping address the risk and impact of gender-based violence through awareness-raising activities and income generation initiatives for vulnerable women and adolescents

We work with both Community Partners International and the Burmese Rohingya Community of Georgia to train CHVs in health-related protocols, including surveys, training materials, and guidelines. Coding for Community has spearheaded the effort to translate English-based training resources for CHVs into Rohingya, allowing for ease in deployment within the six refugee camps and in the broader Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh community. Our efforts have assisted in facilitating collection and analysis of household information that CHVs collect in the refugee camps via a tablet-based CommCare health app. Simultaneously, our work has strengthened the bond between and amplified aid from Rohingya populations in the United States to their brothers and sisters fleeing communal violence on the other side of the globe.

“Technology touches everyone, everywhere, and I want to be part of that.” - Girls Who Code

Coding for Community has partnered with Devnar Foundation for the Blind
to lead computer education for disadvantaged students at Devnar School for the Blind. As part of our efforts, we have developed and implemented a unique curriculum for training teachers (as well as helped develop guidelines for assisting low-vision and no-vision students) with Java programming. Using software tools such as jGrasp, JAWS, and NVDA, we have prepared the school campus and school faculty for programming to be incorporated in the curriculum in the near future. At the same time, we have explored with the School Director, Mr. Ramakrishna, how to better help in other areas (STEM education, communication, etc.) in the near future.

We are actively seeking opportunities to expand our outreach efforts internationally. Please contact us at info@codingforcommunity.org.