Monday 28 November 2011

This is my last day in Bangladesh as I'm flying home tonight. I've been trying to gather my thoughts together after the last few days travelling around the Bangladeshi countryside, which have been very intense, but very worth while.

I've met some wonderful people who have suffered the most appalling hardships. These are often people who after cyclone Sidr or Alia lost absolutely everything - homes, possessions, livelihoods, and in some cases, family - and yet despite this they have found the strength to rebuild their lives. In many cases they have, with the help of the projects which MAF enables through partner organisations, rebuilt their lives for the better, ensuring that their children are receiving an education, which they weren't previously. This was so encouraging and so inspirational to see. I am still so amazed that in the face of such adversity these people had the inner strength to work so hard to make things better.

People here are so friendly, they want to meet you, they want to talk to you, they're happy to share their stories and invite you into their homes. The children in the schools are all tidy and clean, with smiling faces and neatly combed hair, are happy to talk and recite poems and songs they've learnt especially - and so happy to be in school! It's just so lovely to see. And the people that come running out when the plane lands - a sea of vivid vibrant colours. Its all these positive aspects that I'll take home with me.

I've seen first hand how MAF enables partner organisations to work in these remote areas and how utterly vulnerable Bangladesh is to natural disasters and climate change. If there were to be any flooding a lot of the bridges across the thousands of waterways look very vulnerable and liable to be washed away at a moments notice, which would make overland travel virtually impossible.

Despite all the positive changes, there is still so much that needs to be done in Bangladesh. One unofficial statistic quoted to me was that 50% of babies die under one year old! This is a statistic collected by a partner organisation who works particularly with mothers and babies in a particular area of the country. To me this is a staggering statistic, and despite the fact that it's unofficial and for a particular area, it gives an indication of the immense challenges which lie ahead, and how much more still needs to be done.

So, I leave Bangladesh with a really positive feeling, which from my own personal perspective is tinged with some sadness as I am sorry to be leaving! Although I am missing my family and very much looking forward to seeing them again!!

And lastly, but by no means least, I have to finish by saying that none of this would have been possible without the dedicated MAF Bangladesh team, who made this visit possible and made me feel so welcome - and all this on top of their very busy daily schedule - so a HUGE thank you from me!!!

Sunday 27 November 2011

Arrived back in Dhaka yesterday (Thursday) afternoon after a very intensive trip to various southern areas of Bangladesh. I've visited many of MAF's partners projects and its really encouraging to see the work that's being done. I had mixed emotions as we took off on the MAF floatplane from the Shunderbans area of southern Bangladesh to fly back to Dhaka - crowds of children laughing and waving as we took off. Firstly, though, I must say that I was very thankful (and grateful!) that I was flying back to Dhaka and not travelling in a a rickety bus. This flight took about an hour, sitting on comfortable seats and where the MAF crew look after you, instead of a day (at least) on a very uncomfortable, unsafe, unreliable battered bus!

Back to my mixed emotions - part of me feels quite positive, because although the needs remain enormous and there are still huge challenges - particularly in the Shunderbans area which seems to have been largely forgotten by the world, there is some glimmer of hope and there are a lot of extremely good projects, which are all making small steps in the right direction. But there is also a part of me which, from a personal perspective, feels quite sad and empty at leaving. I've met some wonderful people over the course of the past few days, who've been happy to share their stories and experiences with me - even though I'm a complete stranger to them. People who, despite all the horrors that life could possibly throw at them ie losing their homes, all their possessions and their livelihoods, have survived and worked very hard, with some help, to rebuild their lives to make them better for themselves and their children. These people are quite inspirational!

Yesterday, I spoke to one little boy, aged about 9, at a school I visited, who wanted to become a teacher so he could put something back into the community. It isn't the first time I've heard that sentiment over the past few days - I think its so thoughtful and so encouraging for the future of this country.

The children, generally, are just delightful - they have so very little, but they're so pleased to see visitors and followed us around laughing and giggling. They made me laugh because wherever we went it was the same, staring at me, then whispering in huddles, giggling and then seeing if they could get me to say something. As soon as I said 'hello' - there would be more giggles, more huddles. Then they'd get a bit braver and come a little closer and try talking to me. And if they were really brave, then they would touch me - I did wonder if that was part of a dare, or whether they were just trying to see if I was real!

Anyway, back in Dhaka today, the weather is really very nice, albeit quite hot, and the air is much clearer than it was last week! But the harsh realities of everyday life are all around - I saw a little girl today with the most deformed club foot I think I've ever seen, just sitting on the edge of the very dirty, dusty pavement - the traffic just thundering past, and a man who was literally just skin and bone - I don't have the words to describe how shocking that was - I honestly don't know what was holding him together - and I just felt so utterly helpless.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Today, I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning - the haze that had been around for the few days had disappeared.

We left Khulner this morning, first taking a rick-shaw ride down to the river, which was a nice gentle, although slightly bumpy, way to start the day. Even though it was early, Khulner was already alive with people and traffic [and by traffic I mean rick-shaws and electric rick-shaws].

At the river I, and the other passengers waiting to catch the MAF flight, got on a wooden motor boat, which had seen better days and which had just been washed in river water.

This last point may not seem significant, except that the river is extremely dirty and polluted and, looking at the river bank, I suspect that it is full of sewage!!!

So I sat down rather gingerly on the boat. Anyway, having said that the boat trip down the river to meet the MAF plane was extremely pleasant. There were children on the river banks waving as we went by - I'm getting quite good at doing a 'royal' wave! There were also people washing themselves in the river, people washing clothes in the vast expanse of dirty water, as well as cattle drinking water.

When we arrved at the MAF plane meeting point, there were many armed policemen - which was slightly disconcerting to say the least, until we discovered that they were waiting to meet some people from the UN who were travelling with MAF on the incoming flight.

As we sat on the boat under the shade of a tree waiting, out of the cloudless blue sky a silver shape appeared - it really is an amazing spectacle to watch the MAF plane fly in and land so seemingly effortlessly on the river - a spray of water following behind.

So, within the space of an hour I had gone from travelling in the most basic form of transport to the most sophisticated - its just so surreal.

I'm now in Barisal and have had an extremely full day visiting MAF's partner projects - there are some truly amazing things going on this wonderful country, and I've met yet more dedicated and inspirational people.

I need to collect my thoughts on today, before I travel to the Shunderbans area tomorrow.

- Carolyn

Tuesday 22 November 2011

What a day! We stayed in Khulner overnight and have spent the whole day visiting partner projects.

Khulner is the third largest city in Bangladesh after Dakha and Chittagong. It has the largest number of electric cars [tuk-tuks] in Bangladesh. Not sure why. They're quite interesting to travel in - no sides and I clung to one of the roof bars for safety. Best way to describe it is its like travelling on a road in a dodgem!!

Otherwise Khulner is not that dissimilar to Dakha in terms of sights and sounds and smells!

Although there's some very odd statues in the middle of town - giant shrimps! Quite literally!!!

The projects we visited today were just wonderful and truly inspirational - each making a difference to those who are most vulnerable in society.

We went to visit a school and a healthcare project helping Mums and babies. There's far more to these projects than I could possibly write here just now, but amongst all the extreme hardship and heartbreaking stories - I take away from today a message of hope; happy children who've been given the opportunity for a better future, and vulnerable Mums and babies receiving vital help and support.

Monday 21 November 2011

Well, what a journey we had this morning! Set off for Khulner from Patuakhali by bus - yes one of the battered old buses which I've been watching all week!

What an experience!!! As yesterday, the idea was to show me exactly what its like to travel overland if there's no maf plane.

And I really do get the idea!! The bus became more and more packed along the way. There were people vomitting, spitting etc, people carrying live chickens by their legs. The lady sitting to the side of me was sitting so unnecessarily close that i could not move my leg or foot, despite repeated efforts to get her to move. She then decided to fall asleep on me and her whole body weight then fell on my poor legs!!

Only thing i can say is that she must have felt very comfortable sitting with me bearing in mind that i was a foreigner!

The journey was long, tiring and extremely bumpy. Because of the narrowness and state of disrepair of the roads, someone stood in the doorway to act as extra guide to the bus driver.

Everytime the bus stopped beggars would get on and people selling cucumbers [ready to eat]. There was also the car ferry across the river - all of which takes time.

Anyway, we're now safely in Khulner and ready to meet some of maf's partners.

Although it was a long and tiring journey, what i did get to experience was life in rural Bangladesh. Paddy fields galore interspersed with tin shacks, small villages strewn with litter, and so much water everywhere - makes you realise how vulnerable the country is to the frequent natural disasters and climate change.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Well I'm in the far south today about a mile inland from the Bay of Bengal. We flew down on the MAF float plane this morning. What struck me as we flew over the Bangladeshi countryside is not just how flat it is but even though its not the rainy season just how wet everything is.

But this is what makes MAF unique in Bangladesh is the ability to use that network of waterways to help those who would otherwise be completely isolated. And landing on the water was so smooth!

From the plane we were taken a short distance along the river by a very rickety boat [not sure what was holding the boat together?!] to the jetty and then by motorbike to the first project.

I feel that I'm fast becoming an experienced motorbike rider [but only side-saddle though!]

In fact that was very much the pattern of today visiting one project after another by motorbike. The idea was to show us just how hard it is to travel overland. It worked! The 'roads are pot-holed dirt tracks and in one place the road disappeared so we had to carry the bikes across the gap!

By the end of today I was hot, tired, dirty, and had the obligatory headache! So just in case anyone was in any doubt, MAF is much quicker and less tiring and stressful - definately a 'must' way to travel for our partners.

But today has been amazing. There's so much going on all around all the time, that its very difficult to take in and describe - all the different sights and sounds, the bright colours - oh and smells too, a heady mixture of rotting rubbish and smoke from fires and cooking!

The poverty is extreme - think I only saw one properly constructed home in the whole day. The 'houses' were mainly tin shacks with blue and white plastic sheeting for windows.

I've seen and experienced a whole raft of emotions today - but much of it laughter. From the joy of those waiting on the river bank to see the MAF plane land, to school children who'd prepared a special song for us - I've seen so many smiling faces today - its truely humbling.

Friday 18 November 2011

Friday is the equivalent of our Sunday in Bangladesh. So, this morning I went to church with Chad and Cyndi Tilley. The service is held at the American club - which sounds very grand, but essentially the clubs are a haven for expat staff living and working in Bangladesh. Its such a harsh country to be working in and there is nowhere for children to play outside in Dhaka as everyone lives in apartment blocks with no gardens. The clubs offer a little respite from every day life and provide somewhere safe for children to run around outside and burn off their excess energy.

Having spent the morning in the American club, any doubts I had about the realities of life for Bangladeshi's were brought swiftly down to earth this afternoon. I was taken on a tour of Dhaka to see the contrasts - but on a motorbike! And for those of you who may have thought I wasn't adventurous - let me dispel that myth now - as not only was I riding a motorbike (as a passenger), but side-saddle too (its the lady-like way to ride a motorbike)!

In all seriousness its a good way to see 'life' more closely! We rode through a 'settlement'. Falling down shacks, rotting rubbish, children sifting through piles of rubbish, small children collecting tin cans, mums and their tiny babies sitting on slatted boards which run across drainage ditches (at least I think its a drainage ditch - but it could very well have been something else!). Everything's so dirty and smelly, and the air is just thick with pollution.

Five minutes down the road and we rode straight into the garment workers rally - they're on strike at the moment over their working conditions. There was a big rally in Dhaka today and people were parading down the street with banners - much as they do in the UK, except it was a peaceful rally!!

Another five minutes down the road and we rode past the Bangladeshi premier's residence. The white stone wall, perfectly manicured green lawn, lead up to a magnificent building which you could just about make out in the distance. But even in the shadow of such buildings, there were make-shift tin shacks and I saw several people carrying handfuls of dead chickens!

It just brought home again the difference between the have's and have-not's. But I remember so well that the one thing I took home from my last trip was how those with so very little were so happy - its the one thing that stopped me from crying. And I will take the same sentiment away with me this time too - people smiling - greeting me with happy faces. Happy to try and share their limited knowledge of English, putting to shame my complete ignorance of Bangle!

As I reflect on today, I just need to go and check on my new found friend the gecko - who seems to be frequenting my bathroom!! It was a bit of a shock to find this creature in there just now, but as I gather they eat mosquito's I'm quite happy - and if it could tackle the cockroaches too then I'd be very pleased!!

Thursday 17 November 2011

This is definitely the country of very stark contrasts. Walking home last night I walked down a road half of which was completely adorned in beautiful gold lights. The lights were strung across the road forming a very long canopy, and then from top to bottom of a six storey apartment block - it was absolutely stunning. Gold coloured drapes, with gorgeous bouquets of white flowers, had been fitted to the entrance gate to the apartment block. It was utterly stunning. At first I though Christmas had come somewhat early, until I found out that this was a wedding!
This was clearly the wedding of people who had money - from the number of expensive, unbattered (very unusual here) cars parked outside, the guests in their beautiful wedding finery, and, of course, the number of lights adorning the road and building. The electricity bill alone must cost a small fortune!
Contrast this with the rick-shaw drivers, with their battered rick-shaws, which have seen better days and their ragged dirty clothing, and warn faces which tell their own story of poverty and hardship. I know many come from the slums of Dhaka where they live in a cramped one-roomed tin shack, no running water, where raw sewage runs openly straight in front of the doorways of the shacks, where the stench is truly appalling, where disease is rife, and where child mortality is high and life expectancy low.

Makes you think...

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Today I visited the MAF hangar, which is on the edge of Dhaka International airport. On the way to the hangar, we got stuck in a traffic jam - the level crossing barriers were down, and we were waiting for the train to pass through.

Interestingly, the railway line is completely open and anyone can just walk across it - the only place where there is a barrier is across the road which crosses the line. Health and safety issues are definitely not a priority here!

As we were waiting for the train to pass through, I watched the throngs of people milling about - some selling their meagre wares on the pavements, others just seemingly wandering about aimlessly. Amongst these, I spotted a small girl maybe aged about 3 or 4 and a boy, who I suspect was her brother, maybe aged about 6 or 7. They seemed to be on their own. The children were shabbily dressed, with no shoes, but the little girl stood out in particular in her bright pink (but dirty) outfit and her shaven head. Seeing girls with their heads shaven is not an uncommon site in Bangladesh - I understand it has something to do with head lice! These two children were standing on their own, side by side, on the edge of the railway line amongst the piles of rotting rubbish, but with their arms around each other - it just felt so poignant.

The train slowly rolled out of the station - the seemingly endless line of carriages were literally full to capacity, with people standing inside and in the open doorways, hanging out of the side. There were people on the top of every single carriage, either sitting or even lying down, together with their piles of belongings in big what sacks. There were even some people sitting on the tiny ledges on the side of the engine!

Once we eventually crossed the railway line, I suddenly became very aware of the air pollution, even though I was inside a car with the windows closed. The fumes from the traffic were clearly visible outside and it is not unusual to see people wearing masks over their noses and mouths.

On the entrance road to the hangar there were some people repairing the road. All building and road work is very labour intensive and is done by both men and women. I saw one lady carrying what looked like a very large container of cement on her head. She had wrapped a piece of cloth around the top of her head, which gave her a sort of level ‘platform’ on which to place the container.

There has been some building since I last visited the MAF hangar - with 3 new hangars being built adjacent to MAF. These hangars are owned by private individuals/businesses, and in one of them they were even repairing some Bangladeshi army aircraft. Despite the fact that the airfield is secure ie there are security guards at all the entrances to the airport and you need special permission from the Bangladeshi authorities to go to the hangar (which I had!), it did strike me as odd that at an international airport, you could have army aircraft being openly repaired, soldiers wandering about, Bangladeshi airforce planes taking off regularly from the same airstrip, international flights coming and going regularly, and people wandering about the airfield shooting birds! I might add that the birds are a nuisance in this instance - I saw hundreds upon hundreds of birds, which, of course, are a very real danger to aircraft. But where else in the world would this happen...?

We've lost the electricity several times in Dhaka today - so I'm posting this now just in case we lose it again!!

- Carolyn

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Today I'm based in the MAF office in Dhaka working on a couple of projects and gathering information. We had a meeting this morning which went very well - it was good to be able to share information and ideas face-to-face and understand more fully the work of the MAF programme.

Working in the this particular area of Dhaka does cushion you a little from the difficulties, poverty and challenges facing the majority of those living in Bangladesh.

And so, at lunchtime, it was somewhat of a reality check to take a ride in a rick-shaw - its quite an apt name as they look very rickety, although in reality they're very robust to survive the huge potholes! They're quite an experience in their own right - the seats are very narrow and I held on tight as I kept thinking I was going to fall out every time we hit a pot hole!

Within a couple of minutes we're in a different district and the relatively clean streets turn to pavements covered with piles of rubble and rotting rubbish. There's young children in dirty clothing and no shoes standing on street corners - just inches away from the traffic.

There are many half-finished building projects - grey concrete buildings which are several storeys high, but the buildings have no sides - no protection from the elements ie they're just empty shells with no running water, sanitation etc. But, people are living in them, they have made them 'home'.

So many people have so little, and as I buy my sandwich for lunch (something I take for granted), I can't help but feel so guilty as I wonder how many of the people I've passed today will be able to have a proper meal today, let alone lunch?

Monday 14 November 2011

Observations

It might only be six hours ahead of GMT, but somehow the combination of the loss of six hours and a night flight has thrown me somewhat. But it helps that the pace of life outside seems quite slow compared to the UK!!

I'm staying on the first floor of an apartment block. All the buildings around are apartment blocks and are laid out in roads running at right-angles to each other - very much like the American system. This particular area of Dhaka is one of the business districts where a lot of embassy staff, NGO staff and other business personnel live. The main road through the district is manned by security guards, and each of the apartment blocks has its own security gate and is permanently guarded. The security is relatively low key, but its there none-the-less. So, it means that its quite safe for me to walk around on my own - even after dark - but only in this district.

The walk from the apartment, where I'm staying, to the MAF office is just a couple of blocks down the road - about a 5 minute walk along the dusty roads - and is just interrupted by the odd car and the rickshaw's touting for business - and they're very persistent! So, given my slightly sleepy head I'm happy just ambling along the road, just like everyone else! And I can admire the beautiful flowers which adorn the buildings - and even a banana tree - along the way!

Compared to the Folkestone office where I'm based, the MAF Bangladesh office is quite small - but its light and airy and cool (oh bliss!). Today, there's just a few staff in the office, as the MAF aircraft went out early this morning, so the pilot, engineers and ground crew are all either flying or at the MAF hangar working and preparing for its return. The crew have had a busy 24 hours - they did two medevacs yesterday as well!

I should point out that the MAF hangar and the MAF office are in separate locations!

This morning one of our partners came into the MAF office to collect her ticket for her flight. She works for an organisation who have a project in Khulna, south eastern Bangladesh near the Indian border helping vulnerable women and children - it sounds so interesting and I'm very much looking to visiting the project and finding out more next week...

Welcome to hot and sticky Bangladesh!

When I first visited Bangladesh about three years ago, I was completely and utterly overwhelmed by the enormity of it all - the poverty, the dirt, and the indescribable smell. And I wondered when I flew in this morning, whether I'd have the same reaction as I did then?

...My reaction was still the same! It rendered me speechless - completely unable to take it all in.

The crowds of people outside the main airport terminal begging; the women and children in particular begging, literally on the edges of the pavements; the women sweeping the outside lane of a four-lane highway; women washing clothes in the dirty river and hanging the washing on make shift lines; make-shift shelters on the pavements (where people live). There's the overcrowded battered buses (not sure how they don't topple over!); the little three-wheeled, battered tuk-tuk's; the rickshaws some of which are ridden by boys who don't look big enough for their feet to touch the pedals, let alone old enough to be working - all driving bumper-to-bumper (or what's left of their bumper's!) and vying for an ever decreasing piece of the road. I have absolutely no idea how there seem to be relatively few accidents.

The odd thing is that despite this the colours are vivid and vibrant - the bright reds, greens, oranges, yellows and blues of the women's clothing are a stark contrast to the overwhelming poverty.

I'm writing this blog, listening to the hustle and bustle of life outside - its not just the people chattering in Bangla, the cars and the continual beeping of car horns - but its also the unusual bird sounds - quite different from the seagulls of Folkestone!!

-Carolyn