Election Buzz

December 29th is the planned date for the coming national elections. Bangladesh has been under a caretaker government since the winter of 2007. I thought it would be good to give some give some historical context surrounding this coming event. For a comprehensive timeline please click here.

1947- Partition from India - East and West Pakistan were formed.

1952- The language movement, Bangla becomes the official language in East Pakistan.

1970- Elections take place in East Pakistan: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangabandhu or "friend of Bengal"), with the Awami League, gain the majority in Parliament and this victory is then denied by West Pakistanis.

1971- War of Independence. The creation of Bangladesh is achieved at the cost of three million live.

1973- The country of Bangladesh see its worst drought since 1943. Many millions of people die. The country falls into deteriroration of law and order.

1975- Military coup. Sheikh Mujib and his family are killed. Only two of his daughters were able to escape.

1976- General Zia takes over the country and instills a autocratic rule.

1981- Military coup. General Zia is assassinated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

1988- Devastating floods hit the country. In no time the whole country becomes flooded. Thousands of people die.

1991- Devastating cyclone. 100,000 people are killed

1991- The first democratic elections are held since 1971. The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) are elected to run the government.

1996- After five weeks of hartals (strikes) the BNP steps down. New elections are held and the Awami League win.

1998- Worst flood of the century hits Bangladesh. Water comes in gradually, the people are prepared and as a result very few people die.

2000- Opposition party walks out of the parliament. Collaboration between the government and the opposition party is not reached.

2001- Elections take place and a new BNP government comes into power.

2007- State of emergency is called amid violence occurring due to the coming elections.

2007- Cyclone Sidr hits killing thousands and leaving even more struggling to survive.

Eid Mubarak (mid-week) update!

I just posted some pictures from Eid celebrations. It was a full day of photography, eating really great food, and getting to know those in my part of town that much better. You can see all of my pictures by clicking here.

Please note that some pictures from Eid-ul-Azha or the "Festival of Sacrifice" are of animals being sacrificed around my neighborhood. Muslims throughout the world on this holiday commemorate and remember Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ibrahim as an act of obedience to God through the of slaughtering goats and cows. A large portion of the meat is then given to the needy and poor.

The game is afoot

I am constantly mystified by trash. Not by why it exists, but why it can be found in all sorts of places other than where it has historically been placed - the dump. I have never been able to fully understand why we continue to place whatever we deem we no longer need almost immediately on the street, ground, or in our water systems. No matter how much we place in our dumps there is always an infinite amount that ends up everywhere else.

It is easy to see the effects of this phenomenon all over Dhaka. The same can be said for every roadside, town, and village I have passed through or visited here. Trash is everywhere. But why? This isn't just in Bangladesh either. I have seen trash everywhere I have visited on this planet. We are a littering species. We have always been and always will be littering fanatics.

Over the years I have talked with many people about a disconnect some of us have with our planet. Chicken comes from the grocery store, pencils from an office supply store, and gas from a pump. End results are how most of us see the many steps and cycles both natural and man-made products go through to reach our hands. We are thus removed (disconnected) from seeing how much actual time and resources go into to keeping us alive, healthy, and happy. It would be quite difficult for us to see all of these steps. Impossible really.

A clue now arises. Perhaps we litter because we are so far removed from everything. And so in turn don't see a connection between ourselves and our planet. If we did we might not treat every possible space as a trash bin. There are some that can argue this last point quite eloquently. But that lets us off the hook to quickly. There over 6 billion people on this planet and not all of us live with any sort of aforementioned disconnect. Yet littering still occurs.

We have always created waste. It is simply a part of living. Some of it can be broken down naturally and some not. Both are typically stockpiled in large depositories near and sometimes far from our sight. So enters the cycle of producing, consuming, and wasting (ad infinitum). Still, the answer of "why" we litter is not answered. Perhaps there is no why. Perhaps we simply just do.

This does not take away the importance of cleaning up our beaches, oceans, mountains, towns or cities. Nor does it release us of the responsibility to lessen future generations dealing with the environmental and social consequences of our present consuming and wasting— the ripples of our choices and behaviors move far beyond our sight.

Still, look around and you will find more and more of what we waste just sitting there. Perhaps we are simply not capable of seeing littering as a problem. Or, we are unable to truly do anything about it. Or any other complex combination you can think of.

Go back far enough in time and you will find the trash of those that were here before us. Evidence then falls to a hardwired pattern. Yet, even that reasoning let’s us go all too easily.

The mystery continues.

Stale sprite and distant roads

The daily reality of some 400,000 people in southwestern Bangladesh is far different than the one most of us live out. For over half the year dire water-logging, caused by human error, leaves thousands of people's lands and homes underwater. Centuries of river management have left many of Bangladesh's most poor and under-represented to fend for themselves.

Yearly floods affect the businesses, health, education, and livelihoods of six regional sub-districts under the larger Satkira (pronounced Shatkira) and Jessore (Jeshshore) districts. Some help is given. However, assistance is limited in relation to demand.

The first few days of this past week were dedicated towards taking part in a VSO conference on good governance (coincidentally at one of Uttaran's training centers). The rest of my week though was spent learning about the types of communities Uttaran is working with. Two of my days in Khulna were spent driving down countless narrow dirt roads drinking flat soda and taking pictures of camps, towns, and acres and acres of water-damaged land affected by the flooding. My Uttaran counterparts were gracious to give me such a "tour". As one of them so memorably said while driving home one evening "this is Bangladesh".

In some cases the flood waters cover over key transport roads. Often the nearest way around may be some 25 kilometers, down narrower roads, out of the way. Why does such an event happen? The simplest explanation is because of years of national and international river management. Starting near the Bay of Bengal, and moving further inland, are a series of dams, canals, and embankments. Water was, and continues to be, diverted and blocked in strategic places across the southern region of the country. Part of the reasoning is to control the river for safe travel and the other to create more farmland.

Over time though silt, essential to creating and stabilizing land on the coast, is left to deposit on the river banks. As years pass river banks grow higher and the land around it becomes lower. Take into account heavy monsoon rains in the summer and you achieve mass flooding.

To learn more about the history of river management in Bangladesh I suggest you look into the following websites:

World Bank

Banglapedia

Earthday Network

I have uploaded all of my pictures from this past field visit. You can access them either by clicking here or via the right-hand sidebar link FP Pics.

Calling what is happening here an "issue" is unfair. Categorizing and labeling situations like water-logging as "problems"or "issues" is to place them in a vacuum - alone, over there, out of reach. Reality however does not live in a vacuum. Neither does inhumanity or survival.

10 (obvious and not so obvious) things I have observed since coming to Bangladesh

1- Motorcycles will drive on the sidewalks whenever they please

2- Eating with your hands is a great way to live in the moment

3- Poverty and environmental degradation are global problems

4- I wish I had my banjo

5- Bangladesh = resilience

6- Crossing the street is always an adventure

7 -It's important to laugh at yourself

8- The word green was invented here

9- Totally benign looking food can burn your mouth

10- Hang on tight or not at all; it doesn't matter

It should be noted that I am not a fan of these types of lists. This is because they tend to distill amazing moments down to trite paraphrases. I make an exception here because like all rules this one can be broken too.

I like to think of each item on the list above as an individual polariod image - something one can read and then instantly imagine what it might be like in their own eyes.

Diggin' In

My fingers are still stained yellow from lunch yesterday. I have forgotten how much of a challenge it is to eat with just my right hand. Currently my ability to eat rice and dhal is that of a refined mess. As my colleagues and I sat around a large table eating lunch my section was the only one with rice all over the place. Awesome.

I am excited to finally be working with the NGO Uttaran (Uplift). My role, to be further defined by Uttaran and myself, will be that of working on good governance advocacy strategies. This work is focused on the larger context of bringing attention and elevation to two of the countries southwestern districts social in-equality, poverty, and environmental troubles.

To be a part of this type of work is exciting. There will most certainly be infinite opportunities to learn. There will also be even more chances to be challenged, share what I know, and simply take in all that is Bangladesh. For now my fingers are still stained yellow from the curry. Perhaps I need a lesson in how to properly use soap. Or, perhaps it is a sign that Bangladesh is finally getting under my skin.

Last summer I helped out a few times weeding for a local urban farm. I used to love coming home with my hands covered in dirt. Trading dirt for dhal this is one volunteer grateful for the chance to dig in and figure out the rest as I go.

Alphabet Soup

I have been in Bangladesh for a month now! And while I have learned a lot - what types of programs VSO Bangladesh is running, the location of key places (grocery stores, etc), how to negotiate for a taxi, and an introduction to the language, there remains a certain level of uncertainty. This is of course natural. Only here there a few added opportunities for learning.

I like to think of what I am taking on in terms of alphabet soup. Partly because it is 5:30 pm and I am getting hungry. And partly because I also find it a good analogy for what I am experiencing. I am in fact in Dhaka (the soup so to speak). I know that I will be starting my assignment soon and that it will be rewarding. Yet, still unknown (in the form of floating alphabet letters) is what is going to actually happen next. I am glad that I don't know. That sounds funny to say but it is true. For now it is good enough that I am swimming in the soup.

Here, no matter how I feel, Dhaka moves forward...constantly forward. I have begun to see that it is best to simply live each day comfortably in the not-knowing. Comfortable in the soup.

I am hungry. It's time for dinner. Be well.