2 weeks later

[Gulshan Lake in my neighbourhood]

Already 2 weeks has passed since my last post. I’ve been busy and the time has really flown by!

I am becoming more and more familiar with Dhaka city. I have to admit that it is not without its challenges (which are only multiplied as a foreigner). Bangladesh is a densely populated country with 1090 people per square kilometre (Canada’s is 3.2 people per km2). But that’s not really a fair comparaison because most of our population doesn’t live in a large portion of the country’s land (like in the North for example). So let’s compare cities. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has a polupation density of 43,797.3 people per km2, Toronto (our most populated city) is 3,972 people per km2…so safe to say that the fact remains, it’s crowded here!

[Street in Old Dhaka]

With people comes traffic. I live about 10 km from Nijera Kori’s office and I have been taking the bus to get to and from work. These short 10 kilometers take me an hour and a half to traverse during rush hour! I’ll do the quick math for you: at 60 km/h this distance would take just 10 minutes. This traffic naturally causes a lot of air pollution and makes the city feel even hotter than it already is. Actually I have decided to move to another home, one that is closer to where I am working and further from the foreigner-populated “high-security diplomatic zone.” It’s much more interesting to live where the majority of the population does, rather than separating myself from the reality here. I’m looking forward to it!

[Performance to celebrate the birthday of Bangladeshi poet Kazi Nazrul Islam]

Despite the traffic and the people and the pollution, I was still offended when I read on the internet the other day that Dhaka was rated the 3rd worst city to live in the world. The BBC article dates from 2005 but I don’t imagine things have drastically changed since then. Apparently, this is because "many aspects of daily life present challenges"…I am not really living the daily life of most Bangladeshis so I can’t comment on whether this is true or not, but most of the people I’ve met here are very proud of their country and of its peoples’ achievements. I prefer to see this side of the story too.

On that positive note, here’s a cool fact: Bangladesh was one of the first countries to ban plastic bags in 2002. Imagine not seeing ANY plastic bags along the sides of the roads or hanging in trees!

[CNG or baby taxi]

When I initially arrived in Dhaka I was using the CNG (Concentrated Natural Gas) baby taxis to get to and from the NGO’s office. I liken the experience of riding in one of these to what it would feel like to be a character in a race car or karting video game. And like the characters in any video game, I’m participating in a game that someone else is controlling. I’m almost certain the CNG drivers think they’re in a video game too. They certainly seem to be trying to score points for getting to their destinations as fast as possible, while dodging obstacles coming at them from in front, behind, beside (or all three at once) at the very last second. I even hear a video game soundtrack playing in the back of mind when I’m riding in one. Luckily I don’t get motion sickness, and I find it best to take out a book and read rather than following the action on the road. I have had several drivers now laugh out at loud when they look in the rearview mirror and see my expression. However, the thought never seems to cross their mind to then be more cautious or to slow down…

[In the Nijera Kori office with Rose]

After a little over a week, I switched to taking the public bus. Now this would not at all have been possible if my colleagues hadn’t told me which bus to take, where to catch it, where I should get off, when it comes (actually nevermind, there isn’t a schedule…) and how much it costs. But now that I’ve got the hang of it, it makes perfect sense. It’s much cheaper than a CNG and certainly more social. Foreigners don’t take the bus so I do get stared at, but I have also had some nice conversations with fellow passengers. They all pretty much follow the same script:

“What is your country?”
“Canada. What is your country?”
Confused expression “Bangladesh”…

Followed by any combination of “what are you doing here?” “where do you live?” “are you married?” “where is your husband?” “do you have kids?” "do you like Dhaka?"

But I really do enjoy these conversations. I spend my day with Bangladeshis (those working with Nijera Kori) but this gives me an opportunity to meet people who don’t work in the NGO sector, working people that are not at all involved in “development” and who are going to and from work or students heading to and from school. The bus is hot and crowded, and long (as mentioned above!), but I will miss (some parts) of the ride when I move closer to Nijera Kori’s office next week. And for the first time in my life I ran off of a moving bus! That was exciting!

[At the National Theatre]

As you can see, I have adopted the local attire. What I am wearing above is called a shelwar kamiz. It is a long shirt with baggy pants, and a scarf (dopatta). It's the first time I've ever done this on a daily basis, but it certainly has its advantages. First, it allows me to go unnoticed for about 2 seconds longer than normal. Second, it's comfortable. And third, it is well-suited to life here. Take for example the scarf. At first, I thought, "Why a scarf? It's much too hot!" But then I realized its utility. When it is hot (always), the scarf serves as a towel to wipe the sweat from my face. At night when mosquitoes come out, it allows me to cover my arms to prevent bites. When it rains, the scarf can be used as an umbrella. And finally, when I smell something bad on the street, the scarf is used as a mask to block out the odour. All in all, it's fantastic!

[Post-cyclone Aila in Khulna Division]

I was supposed to travel to Khulna (in the South West) to meet with landless groups there but cyclone Aila hit earlier this week, as some of you may have seen on the news. The villages I was planning to visit are severely flooded. People's houses have been destroyed and many crops swept away. It is really devastating. The people there are now waiting for the government to arrive with a machine to remove water from the villages (it's complicated but because of the industrial shrimp industry in that area, raised embankments were built to surround villages, and the villages are essentially sitting in holes in the middle of these so when flooding occurs the water remains trapped inside, stagnant).

[Post-cyclone Aila in Khulna Division]

I have uploaded some pictures that one of Nijera Kori's employees sent from the area. Given this situation, and the fact that people in these areas are extremely preoccupied at the moment, I will instead be traveling North to visit some groups there. Hopefully, the government will step in quickly and people will be resettled soon. Then I might visit a little later in the summer. You can imagine the health issues too. There is a lack of access to clean drinking water, so people get diarrhea. And with this stagnant water, cholera can spread very quickly and dangerously.

[Post-cyclone Aila in Khulna Division]

I will end here. I am leaving Dhaka Monday for 2 weeks and I will be without internet, so look for another blog after that. Khudahafiz from Bangladesh!

Arrival to Dhaka

I guess I will begin this first blog by explaining what I am doing in Bangladesh. But your first question might be, where is Bangladesh anyways? As you can see below it is a small country in Asia, which shares most of its border with India, and the rest with Myanmar (Burma). After WWII this part of the world was divided into India and East and West Pakistan. So until its liberation in 1971 Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan. It is the 4th most densely populated country in the world (after Monaco, Singapore and Malta). The language spoken here is Bangla and the people are primarily Muslim (approx. 83%), followed by Hindu (16%) and then Christian and Buddhist (1% for both). There are over 30 rivers in Bangladesh and about 70% of the land is covered in water during the wet (monsoon) season. It is also a site for cyclones. A serious one hits the country about every three years, causing numerous deaths and displacement. In many ways, it resembles what we associate with Indian culture, however, Bangladesh is far less touristic. In fact, I have seen just a handful of foreigners since my arrival (more on that later).

Now onto what I am doing here. I am doing a fellowship with McGill's Institute for Health and Social Policy. I will be preparing a case study broadly on civic participation and equity, and specifically on how one NGO (non-governmental organization) has supported local poor landless populations to mobilize and demand their rights. The NGO I am working with is Nijera Kori (which in English means "we do it ourselves"). They are unique in Bangladesh, but also globally, for their focus on liberation education or conscientization, meaning they believe that marginalized peoples' learning about their oppression is the most important part of "development" and is the key to equitable social change.

I had my first "cultural" experience on the last leg of my flight here, from Bahrain to Dhaka. I had been waiting in the Bahrain airport for a couple of hours and it was time to head over to my departure gate. I arrived at the gate to find a sea of Bangladeshi men. In fact, I could not see a single woman, nor a single foreigner. This is definitely the first time this has ever happened to me on a flight. I wish I had a picture to show you, but the last thing I wanted to do was to draw more attention to myself at that point. Many Bangladeshi men work overseas, in the Middle East, in other parts of Asia and also in Europe and N. America. In fact, one of Bangladesh's primary sources of revenue is foreign worker remittances. Most of the men on my flight were returning to Bangladesh on holidays or extended visits.

Anyways, I joined the lineup to check-in, and of course everyone is staring at me, this is normal. But it was so openly and obviously (mouths open, eyes focused, fixed concentration on me) that I had to smile. My Lonely Planet guidebook says that visiting Bangladesh is the closest we'll come to achieving celebrity status. I believe it! The man in front of me was very nice and asked me where I am from, what I am doing in Bangladesh etc. In fact, I'm not sure I would have survived the next 1/2 hour without him. Once we had checked in, we joined the rest of the crowd in a small enclosed area waiting to load onto a shuttle bus to the plane. The first shuttle bus arrived and the sea gathered momentum and began to swell and charge towards the bus. The nice man held out his arm to keep me from being trampled. We waited for the next bus, which was a little less crowded. On the bus, everyone was quite concerned about my well-being, making sure I had space for my bag and a pole to hold on to.

I got onto the plane to find someone sitting in my seat, 22F. He showed me his ticket, which read 32F so I directed him to the right place. Then another man came along and showed me his ticket, so I directed him too. And then another showed me his and I realized that many of my fellow travelers couldn't read their tickets. Eventually a flight attendant came to assist me and I took my seat. Shortly thereafter a man came down and sat next to me. He was visibly uncomfortable with being seated so close. A friend of his joined us, and he was much less uncomfortable. In fact his second sentence was to ask for my phone number ;)

The flight attendant came by and asked me if I wanted anything to drink. I hesitated, because I was the only one asked about a beverage, but I said some water would be fine. He came back with the water then left. A few minutes later he returned and told me he had another seat for me. So I followed him and he took me to a pair of empty seats in 1st class! Unbelievable. I know it was totally unfair and I felt bad about the special treatment I was given. But I accepted and tried to enjoy the spacious, quiet comfort of my new seat. Perhaps the right thing to do was to insist that I keep my assigned seat...what would you have done after having already traveled 24 hours without sleep?

One of the cheapest (and most beautiful) types of local transportation, the rickshaw.

Anyways, I arrived in Dhaka at 5am last Wednesday morning. Several people had warned me about the airport scene but it was FAR less chaotic than the airport in Mali! The luggage came out rather smoothly and I had the space to gather my things and gradually make my way to the exit. Finding the driver who was picking me up was a little more challenging but I managed.

The view from my bedroom window

I am staying with a women who is in her 70s. She is the mom of a guy here named Tawfiq, who is the friend of a colleague of mine at McGill (hope that makes sense...). She doesn't speak English, so our dinner conversation has been pretty slim so far. But I am gradually picking up some Bangla words here and there and making an attempt to communicate. English has also seeped into the local language here so she knows a little of my vocabulary too. We also live with a girl hired to clean and cook etc., Morshedaa (she is in the picture further below). She's very sweet and laughs at me a lot.

View of the park from my window

The apartment we share is huge, and probably the nicest place I've ever lived in, in my life! It is in a rich neighbourhood, which is also the diplomatic area. I had no idea when I made arrangements to stay here that this is where I would be living. It has its advantages. It is less noisy than other areas, there is a beautiful park right next door with a walking path, I have a fan and tv...but I have to be honest, I don't feel totally comfortable there.



My bedroom

I find it difficult to deal with the privilege I have as a White, "Western" woman on a daily basis (both in Canada and abroad) and I find that living a privileged lifestyle only magnifies these feelings. I would prefer to stay in a more modest home, with a less wealthy family, but it is difficult to find this as a foreigner here. So I am making the best of where I am now and trying to get around out of my neighbourhood and meet other people as often as possible. Already, I have met some people at Nijera Kori who I think will be good friends!


I have had a few excursions since my arrival, but the highlight was yesterday's trip to the market (it's name is actually new market). It was a bustle of people, shops and vendors, foods and smells! A colleague from Nijera Kori, Rajib, took me. It is rather difficult to get around on my own at this point, without Morshedaa collecting dried chilis

knowing the language or the city. Plus, as a woman, it is always a good idea to be cautious. But I will be able to move around more independently once I learn more Bangla and know where things are. These things take time and I am being patient, even though I would love to just take off exploring on my own!

I will leave it there for now. My experience here as been great so far! Bangladeshis are EXTREMELY kind and genuinely hospitable. They are taking very good care of me. The climate is hot and humid but not unbearable. And the food is delicious! I'll send another update soon. Please send your comments!

Erin

The market