Crowds

I was digging around my photographs from Bangladesh and found this one that a good friend of mine took while a group of us were on a field visit during our first month with VSO. The image is stitched together and accurately show just how many people were around us while our bus back to Dhaka stopped for a quick break. We had walked just a few feet away to take some pictures of the nearby river. I was busy making adjustments to my camera when I turned around to see what must have been fifty or more people starring at us. Crowds like this are common thing no matter what the subject of focus is. Traveling just about anywhere in the developing world requires massive amounts of flexibility...and an equal amount of humor.

Looking Forward while thinking back

Below is an excerpt from an email I wrote the day after my birthday which was celebrated while I was in Dhaka. It was truly one of my top five and one I am looking to see if I can have a variation of while I am overseas this coming year.

...What a birthday it was... [I] went to lunch with friends of mine to a Mexican restaurant. Think Mexican food meets Bangla spices meets US (Chili's) decorations! We then crossed the street and had ice cream at Baskin' Robins. We ate it while watching the TV which was showing Free Willy. Truly bizarre.

After that we took off for a party at the apartment of a United Nations AIDS country coordinator - whose building is across from the Russian Embassy. We (Laura, Megan, and I) were invited to the event. My birthday party was extended that much longer!

The party ended at 11:30 and our group of VSO volunteers made our way, by Rickshaw, a few blocks down to catch a taxi. Two of my friends jumped onto a rickshaw and I joined them. Our driver, once he saw me getting on, said that he wanted me to peddle. So, taking the opportunity to do so, peddled my two friends and the rickshaw driver, down the street. Highlight in my book! The driver, not much older than 14, made jokes the whole time.

I made the ride just fine - accept for two moments where the rickshaw went coo coo and I almost hit a few lamp posts. Our group of six made it to the main intersection to then jump in a tiny four door cab. The floor of the cab was probably only a few inches off the ground....but, with what felt like half my body hanging out the window, I made it safely to my apartment.

As far as birthdays go - this one will for the ages.

The Flux Capacitor

The shortest distance between my new home and my old apartment in Dhaka is 12,272 kilometers. Or expressed in miles its 7625. Or by boat it's 6626 nautical miles. You choose. Either way it's far by any means of expressing distance. I could go into the emotional distance of it all but that's just not my thing.

This morning I dropped five dollars into a coin machine at my local laundry-mat. As the coins dropped down like some low budget slot machine it hit me just how far I am from Dhaka. This feeling has come over me before but for some reason it wasn't until today till I wanted to know just how far I was. My brain could connect the dots better than my eyes could so seeing it on the computer, in actual quantifiable numbers, helped pound in the last nail that I am actually back in my home country.

I left Dhaka on January 31st. It was a Saturday. With the plane racing the sun to see which one of us would hit the mark of the east coast first my mind went to autopilot as what I was experiencing felt like a dream. I still don't know why I left other than to follow a dream. I gave up one to follow another. Doing so was in the simplest terms an act of faith - the space between reaching for one wrung on the monkey bars and the other felt infinite.

But I am here now. I am home. I am taking the time to learn the craft of documentary photography to return to Bangladesh (possibly) and others like it. With this new skill set in hand I aim to photograph images of suffering, hope, destruction, and great achievement. In the act of taking a photo comes with it the possibility to change the way we all think about the world around us. In so doing we can all connect the dots between ourselves and those right next door or dozens of time zones ahead.

Time travel is quite a trip.

My old familiar home

Two weeks and entering my third since I left Bangladesh to begin my switch from volunteer to photojournalist. It's snowing outside and I realize that winter didn't seem real to me until now. My brain is spilt between the snowy scene out my window and that of the one I woke up to every day in Dhaka.

The program I chose to participate in has already proven well worth my time. I plan on talking about it more in future posts but for now I'm still caught between the world I left, the world I am in, and the one I want to enter in to.

Dhaka, so many miles away, still feels like it could be just around the corner.

Moving forward, moving on

Right. Given the title of this entry one can guess, assume, or draw several conclusions all of them near, far, or right on the dot as to what has unfolded over the past few weeks.

The short version is that I left Bangladesh to attend an intensive course in photography/journalism back in my home country. The decision to do so was not easy nor one I took lightly. It was also one that was needed so that I may return to Bangladesh, and other places like it, to better document and report on global issues pertinent to both myself and the world at large.

Prior to leaving Dhaka I had the opportunity to have an Oped piece be published by the Christian Science Monitor. The link to that article is here. It was a great opportunity to say good-bye (for now) to a place I plan on returning to for many years.

The blog will continue on so check-in every Monday as while the location of my writing has changed the subject matter and emphasis of the blog has not.

-From my newest location to yours be well.

A (thought) Development- Part Four: All said and done

IV. The countries population continues to grow by roughly 2% each year. Under current population projections Bangladesh will see its boarders fill to an estimated 190 million people by 2025 and a larger population of 231 million people by 2050. Trying to fathom the first 150 million people already existing in this tiny country is like trying to count a sack of pennies while in the front row of Metallica concert of as 747 lands over your head. It’s just not going to happen. Dhaka is a vibrant pulsating city. The streets are filled with Rickshaws as colorful from the first days of Technicolor movies- saturated and overdone. At night, the only chance to dart around from shop to shop without gaining the attention of dozens of onlookers seeing a foreigner walk down the street, the city changes tone dramatically. Calls for the evenings last prayers from the mosques reverberate off of the buildings. Neon bulbs from the markets become beacons for last minute shopping. One is all of the sudden left with the overwhelming sensation of trying to deal with a day of never ending noises, people insistently asking you “where are you from”, “what is your name”, and dodging traffic.

A (thought) Development - Part Three

III. Dhaka is a vibrant pulsating city. The streets are filled with Rickshaws as colorful from the first days of Technicolor movies- saturated and overdone. At night, the only chance to dart around from shop to shop without gaining the attention of dozens of onlookers seeing a foreigner walk down the street, the city changes tone dramatically. Calls for the evenings last prayers from the mosques reverberate off of the buildings. Neon bulbs from the markets become beacons for last minute shopping. One is all of the sudden left with the overwhelming sensation of trying to deal with a day of never ending noises, people insistently asking you “where are you from”, “what is your name”, and dodging traffic.

A (thought) Development - Part Two

II. So too, the challenge of trying to communicate the scale of what Bangladesh is going through seems at times feeble. It is clearly one worth attempting for how can one become educated if they don’t know what is going on in the world around them? Yet, even those who are in the mix of the international development field can find it difficult at times to grasp what they are seeing is real. I suppose this effect is some sort of a fail-safe so that work in a developing country can go on with as little lapses as possible.

A (thought) Development in four parts

Starting with this post and going on for the next three weeks I will be posting a one-paragraph post focusing on one particular aspect of life as a development volunteer. While previous postings have covered this topic before the aim with this series is to frame the context of volunteering within the confines of a snapshot so to speak. Each paragraph could stand alone, but together they build an image of development work that is both complex and at times quite elusive - as nothing about development work in a foreign country is every clear or easy to understand.

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I. It is just as easy, whether in a place like Bangladesh or comfort of home, to forget that that matters of pandemic environmental degradation, food security, or regional instability are ones the affect us all. It is just too hard to comprehend isn’t? Begin to wrap the mind around such interrelationships and one has the feeling of staring at the night sky for too long – the mind wobbles at the infinity of it all and finally has to stop looking for a moment.

VHS

Rewind.

It is 5:30 in the morning and I am awaken to the first (Fajr) call to prayer. It's getting colder here and I realize, as I hear half a dozen or more azan (calls to prayer) bellowed out by muzazzins all over my neighborhood, I need to buy another blanket to keep me warm. My ears have now woken up just enough to hear an incessant low scratching noise coming from my dresser cabinet. It's been there since I first arrived to my new apartment. I don't know what it is. I don't know where it is within the depths of my cabinet either. But it's there and it's always making the same noise (scratch-scratch, scratch-scratch). I have, on multiple occasions dismantled my dresser to look at what it might be. Quite a funny site I promise you as it typically involves me wearing a headlamp. Only I can't see whatever it is that is making the noise. I've sprayed the inside of the cabinet with all types of over the counter insect repellents - all to no avail. I am sure that all the spraying will in fact lead to me growing a third eyeball. Either way, it's early, I am still very tired, and all I want to do is go back to bed.

Fast forward.

I have now been in Bangladesh for two months. Part of me knows that where I am, what I am experiencing, and seeing is in fact real. Other parts are convinced that the ones that know where I am have in fact gone off the deep end.

Pause.

Those that follow this blog know that I have been fortunate to see parts of Bangladesh that do not reach a tourist bureau employees in-box. For that I am eternally grateful. Most of what I see is so far off radar it would be hard to fully describe other than one coming here and seeing for themselves. Even then you will have your own brain telling you what is real and what is not.

I have been digging more and more into what I am experiencing here through the use of my camera. Out of this activity has come the idea to build a separate site away from my Flickr link. I hope, that through doing so, I can create a different type of opportunity for people to see a country, and greater world, that is both familiar and new to them. More on that later. You can check out some of the ones I am considering using for this project by clicking here.

Stop.

It's Christmas time here in the 'Desh. It will be quite a lot of fun to experience Christmas in my new city. Some how I envision Santa Claus having a difficult time winding his way through the sewer systems as I have never actually seen a chimney here in Dhaka. Perhaps as he is doing so he will be able to return to me my first cell phone.

With that I wish you all a happy holiday!

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.

Rain in October?

A few days ago a tropical storm Rasmi, building strength in the Bay of Bengal, hit landfall in the southern region of Bangladesh. According to Reuters some 15 people were killed and roughly 300 injured. Power and phone lines were disrupted, cropland damaged, and houses left in disarray. River siltation, continual loss of coastline, and overpopulation are already norms in one of world’s most beautiful countries. Now add to the list tropical storms.

Often terms like climate change are attributed for such growing occurrences. Debates are constantly going on around such heated topics. In response, policies are being globally created – some implemented, some just on the books. The biggest fight is over whether or not human beings are adding to this impartial force. If people, such as the ones that live in Bangladesh, are directly suffering because of such forces does it really matter who or what caused global climate change?

Here in the city of Dhaka, hours to the north, it was four days of unusual rain. Many a rickshaw driver was found to be wearing an assortment of plastic bags for hats and rider tarps for covers. Traffic was still jammed; students were still going to class, and shopkeepers selling their goods. Life got on as usual – whatever usual means.

Down a drain (of sorts)

Here in Dhaka, like most of Southeast Asia, the most of toilets are of the squat variety. This takes some getting used to as most travelers from the Western world use the seating/bowl style. Now, normally such matters of preference and comfort levels, and well taking care of personal relief, is best not to be talked about aloud. Why then for such openness?

The other night I was preparing my kitchen to have dinner with some friends of mine that arrived as well to start their life with VSO in Bangladesh. The kitchen ready, plates out, cutting boards, and knife ready, I thought I would take a moment to have a bit of well- relief.

At this point in the story I should mention that I have been keeping the habit of leaving my local, brand new, mobile phone in my shirt pocket. As I stood over my squat toilet something quite serendipitous happened-- my mobile phone slipped out my shirt pocket and fell straight into the drain of the toilet. And no, before you ask, I didn't take care of my private matter after the phone went plunk. Now, unlike a western bowl toilet there was no final safety net of a pool of water to catch my phone, no, no, no, there was nothing to stop my slick plastic phone from making a dive bomb straight down the drain. Swoosh! Gone. It took about 1/2 of a 1/2 of a second for my brain to realize what just happened. I then ran into my room, grabbed my flashlight, and walked back into the bathroom to see just how far the "rabbit hole" went. Yes, before you ask, there was the idea of sticking my hand down there too. Then as suddenly as that not so smart idea entered my brain it left.

I took the most responsible approach and walked downstairs (just one flight) to talk with my buildings security guard. Most apartments have them here in Dhaka. In my broken Bangla and English I explained to him, using hand gestures as well, that my phone fell down the toilet. He then followed me back to my apartment, walked into the bathroom with me, and in his most fluent Bangla and also using hand gestures, told me "mobile shesh" or finished. He then guided me back out of the apartment, around the back of the building and showed me just where the pipes lead to-- the sewer system. Again, "mobile shesh" he said. He then went into asking me if I wanted the mechanics to come tomorrow and take apart the pipes. I said no thank you (in broken Bangla) and proceeded to meet my friends at the head of the road to pick them up for dinner. Very kind of him though.

10 minutes later, and my ego still bruised, I then explained to my friends why they were unable to reach me for the past 1/2 hour. They all seemed quite shocked and a general mood of consoling went over them. Dinner prep went off without a hitch despite my head bobbing down a few times in utter shame and laughter. Being the great friends they are each one told a story equally if not even more embarrassing. Only good friends would do such a thing.

Of all the events to have happened during ones first week in a new country this one wins the prize for me. Fortunately I put aside some extra money for such an "oh, didn't see that happening" event, and better yet, my friend Oliver, who was also at dinner that night, just happened to have new phone he was trying to get rid of as he needed a different one to use to connect to the internet with.

All in all everything worked itself out just fine.

Post-note: From time to time it's fun to play the game with my friends "just where in Dhaka is my phone".

Dhaka, taka, and the maze

I arrived to Dhaka four days ago- safe and sound with all my bags too. My first day consisted of meeting the rest of the new in-coming volunteers, getting lost at night tying to find my apartment (quite funny and at the same time not), and partaking of the VSO Bangladesh training course.

How can I begin to explain Dhaka? The maze of my neighborhood, and the entire city for that matter, is not for the uninhibited or shy. The good thing is that the locals are beyond willing to help give directions when I walk up to them with the blank look of a lost sheep.

I would like to write more but I am still a bit turned around from my twenty hour journey. That, and well, I just arrived and am barely able to take it all in let alone write it down. More later I promise.

Visa in hand!

It has been well over a month since I last posted anything. My apologies. The quick version is my assignment in Dhaka was supposed to start on Sept. 25th. Around the end of August I received an email from the VSO office in Ottawa telling me the the VSO Dhaka office was now going to be closed for the entire month of Ramadan. That said my short trip to Washington DC ended up being a month long trip. Many fun adventures have occurred since while visiting some of my oldest and dearest friends in our nations capital.

All of that being said my Visa application was approved. My passport, now stamped with my two year Visa, is in hand! I leave this Saturday night and will arrive on Monday morning in Dhaka. I imagine the eleven hour time difference will be interesting to get used to.

Just what I will be doing in Bangladesh for the next two years? VSO Canada matched me with the Bangladeshi Non-Governmental Organization Uttaran (which means Upliftment in Bangla). I will be working for Uttaran as an Advocacy and Networking Adviser. As of now I understand my assignment to be focusing on the realm of Organizational Capacity. For a good explanation of just what that is simply click on the following link http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-43616-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html.

Once I arrive I will begin my month long in-country training course. Upon completion of this course I will then begin my assignment for Uttaran.

That is the quick version. Please feel free to send any questions or comments you might have to the following email address: notestofloatingplanet@yahoo.com

Where in the world is Bangladesh?

A quick primer on where I am going:

Geographical location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India.

Map Coordinates: 24 00 N, 90 00 E

The total area of the country: 144,000 sq km (slightly smaller than the US state of Iowa).

Formally known as East Pakistan. Gained independence as a country (Victory Day) from Pakistan on December 16, 1971.

Total Country population: 153,546,901 people (roughly half the population of the United States). 7th largest country in the world.

Capital city: Dhaka, population, 11 million people (est.)

Government: Parliamentary democracy. As of January 11, 2007 under a caretaker government system. New elections are to take place before the end of 2008.

Religion: Primarily Islam. Bangladesh, by it's population size, is the fourth largest Muslim country in the world. An exact number is hard to pinpoint but it's estimated that around 110 to a 114 million people living in Bangladesh are Muslims. The majority of these are Sunni with the remainder Shi'a. The rest of the religious make up of the country is that of Buddhists, Christians, and a very small number of Animists.

Climate: Tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October).

Environmental Concerns (according to various consistent sources): Many people in Bangladesh are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land. Water-borne diseases are commonly found in the surface water. Water pollution is also a problem, especially around fishing areas, from the use of commercial pesticides. The countries ground water is also being contaminated by arsenic being released through naturally occurring aquifer conditions. There are also intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country. Soil degradation and erosion; deforestation; and severe overpopulation growth are as well prevalent.

Geopolitics: Member country of the of the D-8: Also known as Developing-8, which is an arrangement for development cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997. The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation: "To improve member states' position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living."

How did I end up here? Part II

There are many great volunteer organizations out there. Each with their own mission and program needs. VSO just happens to be the one that matched what I was looking for in a volunteer recruitment organization. For those thinking about volunteering internationally, either for a short or long term period, I suggest first writing out a list of what you want to achieve. After that, search the internet using key phrases like "volunteer overseas", "volunteer in x country", "community development", or use some words from your list. Check out VSO as well. Their website is an excellent primer on the ins and outs of the realities of volunteering in a foreign country.

At the same time ask around. Talk to people you know that have been volunteers. They'll be able to offer first hand accounts of what to expect. Meet with organizations that you want to work for some day and ask people there how they got their job. The more you share with people your goals, the more information you will find out. You'll then be able to better narrow or broaden your search based off the feedback you get from these types of interactions.

Get on the phone and set up a time to talk with those already in your goal profession. Informational interviews give you an opportunity to figure out a realistic strategy for future applications. It also gives you a chance to test different interviewing and networking techniques - something every organization values. I learned the value of this first hand. More often than not, those I met with were more than glad to share with me their career paths and suggestions. Once they knew I was not there for a job their guard came down and they were willing to help me out.

Eventually you will find a program you like. If you apply and get rejected ask why. Don't be afraid to call back. Applications get turned down for all kinds of reasons. Don't be offended either if they don't give you an answer. A lot of times you'll never know why, or they are too big of an organization for someone to spend their time talking with rejected applicants. If they do talk to you take detailed notes. This will help you to know what to focus on for the next application. Lastly, typos are a BIG, and an all too common, mistake on applications. Proofread, proofread, proofread.

Figuring out who to volunteer with is a process. The important thing is to trust that the process will lead to a result or series of results. It always does.