On 4th February 2025, Moner Bondhu organized an event to confer graduation certificates to the 40 student ambassadors and certificates of appreciation to the winners of the reel competition. It began at 4:30 PM with a calming meditation session led by Ms. Kazi Rumana Haque, the lead psychosocial counselor and Head of the mental health program at Moner Bondhu. The session was designed to help guests relax, especially as many had travelled from outside Dhaka to attend the event.

Following the meditation, Ms. Tawhida Shiropa, the founder and CEO of Moner Bondhu, warmly welcomed the audience and their families, and introduced the honourable chief guests Mr. Julien Deur, the Head of the Economic Department of the French Embassy, and the renowned singer and journalist Ms. Elita Karim. 

Ms. Tawhida Shiropa then congratulated the student ambassadors for successfully completing the Mental Health First Aid training and encouraged them to use their newfound skills for the betterment of their communities. A video was played during the event to showcase the work that students have done throughout the ambassador program, such as creating social media awareness posters, designing mental health campaigns and implementing them in their universities with the help of Moner Bondhu. The video further highlighted their experiences during the program, which was overwhelmingly positive. 

Mr. Julien Deur then congratulated the student ambassadors and reel competition winners, and expressed his gratitude for being invited to the event. He commended the efforts of Moner Bondhu in addressing the often overlooked topic of mental health in Bangladesh. Furthermore, he stated that his personal struggles with accessing mental health care in the past deepened his appreciation for this initiative. 

Following this, Ms. Elita Karim, who is a long time supporter of Moner Bondhu and a committed mental health advocate in her own right, echoed similar appreciation for the ambassador program. Specifically, she highlighted how the program helped empower and engage Bangladeshi youth, whose talents are often underutilized. She also praised the students’ openness to battling mental health stigma by pursuing the training, and acknowledged the crucial support the students’ parents provided them. She urged the ambassadors to implement their training to challenge mental health stigma and bring positive changes to their communities.  

Afterwards, Ms. Tawhida Shiropa thanked the Moner Bondhu team, especially Ms. Kazi Rumana Haque, Mr. Sapphire Hossain Khan, and Ms. Nawshaba Hridita for helping to organize the event. Then the chief guests awarded the certificates to the reel competition winners and the Moner Bondhu students ambassadors. 

As official mental health first aid responders, the Moner Bondhu student ambassadors can now embody our motto, “মন ঠিক তো সব ঠিক,” by supporting vulnerable individuals within their communities.

Moner Bondhu Student Ambassadors Cohort 2.0 Program began in April 2024. After a rigorous selection process, 40 excellent, empathetic students from different universities, medical colleges, and engineering institutions across Bangladesh were selected to participate. They received Mental Health First Aid training to become ambassadors and mental health first responders for Moner Bondhu. Their classes started last year in June. Over the months, they have completed ten interactive sessions, where, alongside mental health, they learned about digital literacy, cybersecurity, leadership, gender and inclusion, and more. They also led mental health awareness campaigns in their communities to implement their learning, promoting positive change and mental well-being. 

In addition, Moner Bondhu hosted a competition where participants had to make social media reels on mental health awareness. The top three reels would then be awarded TK. 25,000  for 1st place, TK. 20,000 for 2nd place, and TK. 15,000 for 3rd place