Today is our second to last day in Tala, Satkhira. On Wednesday we will take a bus back to Dhaka to do some final interviews and research. Since we have been able to collect so many interviews, site visits and general footage of the area and the main issues Uttaran addresses, I will be coming back earlier than I originally thought (probably in another week and a half or two weeks).
Here are some reflections on some of the daily details of living here:
Being the only two guests at the tala center for most of our stay here, we have been able to interact with all of the staff at length. the guards are these kind, grandfatherly men who were freedom fighters in Bangladesh;s liberation war. they sing as they walk us to our room at night. We have recorded their voices, and the librarian, who is a master musician and beautiful singer, on our audio recorder to make a cd of bangladeshi music. Every time i cannot eat a whole plate of food they and the others get concerned and try to make me different foods to eat more. our dear bangla teacher, mintu, recently had a little girl. Mintu is 25, his wife 20. That is the typical age of having children here. Everyone we meet in the towns and villages asks me if i have children. (at 26 i am wayy wayyy late in their timeline).
Shadona, the Tala center;s manager, is the key to all of Uttaran as far as i can tell. I request to visit a certain group or find our more about an issue and the next day we are taken to the site with all relevant people gathered, ready to answer our questions and willing to have camera;s in their faces. A few days ago we finally visited teh Sundarbans. This is the largest mangrove forrest in the world, and a major point of pride for Bangladeshis. Shadona brought her husband and son, who are lovely as well. A giant mangrove forrest is interesting but not so spectacular as one may think...then again we were denied access to the deep forest because of the threat of pirates lurking in them.
One of the most moving site visits for me has been our recent visit to a nearby upzila (town) to the Land Commisoner;s office. I met this gentleman at the Tala center when he was here to present at a two-day workshop on landrights. We went to his office to document more of the actual process of aquiring land for the landless. In his office, 4 or 5 poor, landless people came in to get their paperwork signed and stamped, officially putting a peice of land in their name. It was emotional and beautiful. They own the land completely once this has happened and can use it to assert themselves and pull out of poverty. One man was formally a beggar with nothing in his name. The whole process, filling out an application, sending it to several offices, getting a copy made costs 45 taka (69 taka to a dollar). THis process is a government driven and implemented one; Uttaran helps by going into the landless areas and helping people become aware of thier rights to Kasland (government owned land), often providing them the money and tranportation to the neccessary offices.
I have many mixed feelings right now about leaving this area. I will miss so many of the people here, particularly the ones who have been our friends and caretakers at the center. I;ll miss the drives on bumby roads that look onto endless rice feilds, the occasional marketcenter, and people coming and going at all times, everywhere. I;ll miss drinking coconut milk out of giant green coconuts, taking polaroids of people who then go nuts over them. And still I feel partly ready to move on again, not be a burden to the staff, not to be always accompanied by 3-5 people everywhere i go, monitering everything i do and getting a break from rice and spicy veggies (the nausea has subsided but i am still having a tough time with the food).
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
whatever day it is
Here are a few notes about the past few days:
- Aaron and I showed our shameless American dependency on processed foods when we joyfully discovered a supermarket in Kulna a few days ago. We went back to Kulna to take out more taka from an ATM and so that Aaron could visit a bike shop and buy some Bangladeshi bike parts. At the grocery store we loaded up on peanut butter, salty crackers, bread and even dry pasta and tomatoe sauce to cook for everyone at the Tala center. We left feeling great and holding ice cream bars. (ps I was convinced that no such supermarket existed in the area but Aaron persisted and he was proven correct. my bad)
- A food words about filming a documentary in a foregin coutry. It's hard. It's a challenge despite having total support and insider connections from the organization, a dedicated driver and every day pre-planned for us. Everywhere we go to do interviews of just landscape shots we find ourselves encircled by 20, 30, 2000 bangaldeshi villagers interested in what the weirdo white people are doing. Therefore, not much can be 'spontaneous, natural' behavior. Sometimes, on days like today when we went to an area of landless people, the scene is really chaotic. We try to interview one person but at least 4 start talking as well, cell phones go off, a guy hacks a lugee every 15 minutes, a cow or goat starts moaning, babies cry, kids get restless and start fighting each other...... it gets stressful, but just have to go with it and keep smiling.
- I went for a walk alone the other day and got a taste of how much harder this would be if I didn
t have men around me at all times. Walking along the road, every person on a bicyle or van (a bike with a platform on the back to take more people in) stared at me so long i thought they;d crash. A hoard of young boys came at me and threw all 6 words of english they knew over and over. Every other man I passed yelled out to me, women either looked at me and started giggled or gave me stony looks. Still, it;s all from from a distance. In India, it would be more likely for men to come over and grab at me.
- Aaron will post his debut blog soon so check back soon. He.ll also post a strong of video clips he put together for fun.
- Aaron and I showed our shameless American dependency on processed foods when we joyfully discovered a supermarket in Kulna a few days ago. We went back to Kulna to take out more taka from an ATM and so that Aaron could visit a bike shop and buy some Bangladeshi bike parts. At the grocery store we loaded up on peanut butter, salty crackers, bread and even dry pasta and tomatoe sauce to cook for everyone at the Tala center. We left feeling great and holding ice cream bars. (ps I was convinced that no such supermarket existed in the area but Aaron persisted and he was proven correct. my bad)
- A food words about filming a documentary in a foregin coutry. It's hard. It's a challenge despite having total support and insider connections from the organization, a dedicated driver and every day pre-planned for us. Everywhere we go to do interviews of just landscape shots we find ourselves encircled by 20, 30, 2000 bangaldeshi villagers interested in what the weirdo white people are doing. Therefore, not much can be 'spontaneous, natural' behavior. Sometimes, on days like today when we went to an area of landless people, the scene is really chaotic. We try to interview one person but at least 4 start talking as well, cell phones go off, a guy hacks a lugee every 15 minutes, a cow or goat starts moaning, babies cry, kids get restless and start fighting each other...... it gets stressful, but just have to go with it and keep smiling.
- I went for a walk alone the other day and got a taste of how much harder this would be if I didn
t have men around me at all times. Walking along the road, every person on a bicyle or van (a bike with a platform on the back to take more people in) stared at me so long i thought they;d crash. A hoard of young boys came at me and threw all 6 words of english they knew over and over. Every other man I passed yelled out to me, women either looked at me and started giggled or gave me stony looks. Still, it;s all from from a distance. In India, it would be more likely for men to come over and grab at me.
- Aaron will post his debut blog soon so check back soon. He.ll also post a strong of video clips he put together for fun.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Catching up in Tala, Sathkira
It’s been tough to sit down and have enough time and mental energy to blog again. This will be long but it’ll include more personal thoughts and reactions (mental, emotional and physical) to the past week.
We spent three nights at the Millenium Hotel in Kulna. This was a high class hotel which Uttaran arranged for us (and ended up paying for despite my protests). The complimentary breakfasts and hot showers were a big plus, but we felt rather trapped during our time there. Every morning we would meet our Uttaran contacts at their training center in Kulna and then drive an hour and a half to see and learn about one of Uttaran’s programs in Tala (the area where Uttaran started). Information about each of their programs is below. WE’d drive back around 5pm, get into the hotel at 7pm and then meet them again at the training center for dinner around 9:30pm, though we usually didn’t eat until after 10pm.
Bangladesh food is good and nutrishous. Every meal includes rice, dal (lentils) a vegetable dish, a meat or fish dish, tea and a sweet dessert. I have eaten this kind of food many times before in travels and at home but for some reason I am having a hard time with it here. I am constantly nauseas. I can only eat very small portions at a time because I get so full on the rice. We eat with our right hand, so before and after every meal we wash our hands as is their custom. The fish, which is very fresh and very well prepared here, is usually served whole or at least with the bones in it. I have not been able to eat the intestines and head yet. Aaron has been brave and eaten everything except the head. Bangladeshis always eat everything on their place, I mean EVERYTHING, not a single grain of rice or piece of dal is left, so I feel particularly crappy and very wasteful when I still have small piles of food on my plate when I am finished.
The staff at the hotel was very polite and friendly. However, a funny pattern started with a couple of the young men. A bell boy would help us with our stuff to our room or unlock the door for us and then come in and close the door behind him. He would tell us he is a student, is very poor and wants to practice English with us. Then after a few other lines he asks us for a dollar bill, “It is my dream to have an American dollar.” We comply. After all one US dollar is 69 taka, the local currency, and that can be several meals, clothes, a book, who knows what else.
We were grateful to get away from Kulhna’s busy streets and the hotel when we were finally brought to Uttaran’s main training center/headquarters in Tala upzila, Sathkira district. This is like saying Narberth, Lower Merion district.
The center is beautiful and quiet except for the all-day construction of the ‘hotel’ part where we are staying. One floor is mostly finished, the second floor is being wired and built into rooms, the third floor is yet to be born. Mintu, the hotel manager brings us hot water in the morning to use for bathing (you dump it into another bucket and then pour it over yourself in cupfuls, it’s really nice actually). Mintu also knocks on our door to let us know it’s breakfast time, to tell us something is ready and he is coaching us in Bangla. Aaron’s picking up the words and phrases pretty well. I’m slower but I have about three phrases down which I use constantly so they think I am making an effort… Oh and a fun side-note, Aaron got an authentic Bangladeshi haircut and straight razor shave- photos to come!
As far as being a woman here, it’s seems very manageable. We have been escorted everywhere by Uttaran reps and most think Aaron is my husband (there is no accepted concept of man-woman relations besides siblings or marriage). I get stared at but it’s not aggressive. Most people are just fascinated by us and want to know where we are from, if we like Bangladesh… The women like to take my hand and talk to me though I have no idea what they are saying. They invite me to their homes and want us to visit again. I usually get asked if I have any children.
It’s ok that we wear our western clothes, we’re already total freaks here so a non-traditional shirt or shoes doesn’t matter, but I have to be careful on how I present myself. We got a stern look from Mintu just a few minutes ago because I was drying my underwear on a wood rack outside our room (on a small back porch). That’s a no-no I guess. But it wasn’t drying inside… what to do…
Our Uttaran friends from Kulna and Dhaka had to go back to work the other day so now we are in the hands of Sogar, our new friend and translator. Sogar is a really nice, smiley, short Bangaldeshi who works at one of the Uttaran founded schools for the ultra poor children and outcastes. Sogar grew up ultra poor and an outcaste so his story is quite remarkable. Forbidden to attend any of the public/government run schools because of his status, Sagor was facing a life of endless poverty. Shahidul Islam reached out to him. He enrolled Sagor into the school he had just founded and continued to be his paternal mentor. Sagor had a full education and became a teacher, a very good job that he could not have attained without schooling and without Shahidul’s help.
Our other main contact here is Shadona, the manager of the Tala center. Shadona was in the original documentary. At that time she was a field worker who had been stripped and beaten for reaching out to villagers and trying to help women become aware of their self-worth. She was promoted over the years and encouraged to get a higher education degree by Shahidul. She is definitely the boss here, in a maternal way, keeping all of the mostly male staff in line.
Here is a quick run-down of Uttaran’d various programs and social initiatives that we have visited and begun to document in video and photos.
Women’s Groups
Uttaran has helped form groups of 10-30 women all over the area, teaching them about their rights and capacity of leaving their homes without their husband, on education for their children, or not marrying off their daughters before they turn 18 (girls are still forced to marry as young as 12 sometimes), health and sanitation, and their political power. We met with two of the groups to hear their stories on how Uttaran’s help has improved their lives. As a group, they have exercised their political influence by collectively going to local authorities to report problems.
Schools
While he was still studying in University, Shahidul Islam purchased land (I think under his father’s name) and then gave it back to the community to build a school specifically for children too poor to attend other schools or banned from them. There is now a lower and upper school (primary and college) founded by Shahidul and serving over 700 children.
Waterlogging
Due to environmental damage, natural and man-made, the flooding in this area has gotten worse every year over the past 10 years. Now from about June through October, much of the land in the rural areas is completely waterlogged. People have to use boats to get anywhere. Schools and businesses shut down. Getting food and drinking water becomes much more difficult. This issue involves the water/damn system that India has put into place in recent years to supply more water to its inhabitants, shutting down the water supply to Bangladesh. However, as Zakir, another Uttaran staff member, informed us, Bangladesh is doing a similar thing in the water ways in Nepal. We have some amazing footage about this issue. The problem is growing and no real solution to combat it has arisen.
Landrights
In the Bangladesh constitution the landless people are guaranteed land. The government is responsible for buying unused or abandoned land and then redistributing it to those who have nothing. Having no land denotes the lowest level of poverty, they have no assets and are often evicted or taken advantage of by others. At times, the government has held true to this principle, but without proper enforcement, the land has been brutally taken away by rich people from the landless who received it legally. Uttaran is now focusing its main work on this issue. This is deeply intertwined in local and federal political groups and has been a very tough challenge. While Uttaran has helped the landless receive legal help to claim or reclaim their land, they have paid a huge price. In January 2007, Shahidul Islam was arrested and tortured in connection to this work. His charges were made up (military charged him with terrorist activity and harboring weapons) and he was imprisoned for 7 months. It’s incredible how the organization rallied together and sought out help from outside forces to save him and the NGO. This is no ordinary group of people.
Thanks for bearing with me. More photos coming, as soon as I can download them! (it’s trickey cuz the power and connection go in and out and sometimes get ridiculously slow I just have to shut it all down).
Happy almost inauguration of Obama!
We spent three nights at the Millenium Hotel in Kulna. This was a high class hotel which Uttaran arranged for us (and ended up paying for despite my protests). The complimentary breakfasts and hot showers were a big plus, but we felt rather trapped during our time there. Every morning we would meet our Uttaran contacts at their training center in Kulna and then drive an hour and a half to see and learn about one of Uttaran’s programs in Tala (the area where Uttaran started). Information about each of their programs is below. WE’d drive back around 5pm, get into the hotel at 7pm and then meet them again at the training center for dinner around 9:30pm, though we usually didn’t eat until after 10pm.
Bangladesh food is good and nutrishous. Every meal includes rice, dal (lentils) a vegetable dish, a meat or fish dish, tea and a sweet dessert. I have eaten this kind of food many times before in travels and at home but for some reason I am having a hard time with it here. I am constantly nauseas. I can only eat very small portions at a time because I get so full on the rice. We eat with our right hand, so before and after every meal we wash our hands as is their custom. The fish, which is very fresh and very well prepared here, is usually served whole or at least with the bones in it. I have not been able to eat the intestines and head yet. Aaron has been brave and eaten everything except the head. Bangladeshis always eat everything on their place, I mean EVERYTHING, not a single grain of rice or piece of dal is left, so I feel particularly crappy and very wasteful when I still have small piles of food on my plate when I am finished.
The staff at the hotel was very polite and friendly. However, a funny pattern started with a couple of the young men. A bell boy would help us with our stuff to our room or unlock the door for us and then come in and close the door behind him. He would tell us he is a student, is very poor and wants to practice English with us. Then after a few other lines he asks us for a dollar bill, “It is my dream to have an American dollar.” We comply. After all one US dollar is 69 taka, the local currency, and that can be several meals, clothes, a book, who knows what else.
We were grateful to get away from Kulhna’s busy streets and the hotel when we were finally brought to Uttaran’s main training center/headquarters in Tala upzila, Sathkira district. This is like saying Narberth, Lower Merion district.
The center is beautiful and quiet except for the all-day construction of the ‘hotel’ part where we are staying. One floor is mostly finished, the second floor is being wired and built into rooms, the third floor is yet to be born. Mintu, the hotel manager brings us hot water in the morning to use for bathing (you dump it into another bucket and then pour it over yourself in cupfuls, it’s really nice actually). Mintu also knocks on our door to let us know it’s breakfast time, to tell us something is ready and he is coaching us in Bangla. Aaron’s picking up the words and phrases pretty well. I’m slower but I have about three phrases down which I use constantly so they think I am making an effort… Oh and a fun side-note, Aaron got an authentic Bangladeshi haircut and straight razor shave- photos to come!
As far as being a woman here, it’s seems very manageable. We have been escorted everywhere by Uttaran reps and most think Aaron is my husband (there is no accepted concept of man-woman relations besides siblings or marriage). I get stared at but it’s not aggressive. Most people are just fascinated by us and want to know where we are from, if we like Bangladesh… The women like to take my hand and talk to me though I have no idea what they are saying. They invite me to their homes and want us to visit again. I usually get asked if I have any children.
It’s ok that we wear our western clothes, we’re already total freaks here so a non-traditional shirt or shoes doesn’t matter, but I have to be careful on how I present myself. We got a stern look from Mintu just a few minutes ago because I was drying my underwear on a wood rack outside our room (on a small back porch). That’s a no-no I guess. But it wasn’t drying inside… what to do…
Our Uttaran friends from Kulna and Dhaka had to go back to work the other day so now we are in the hands of Sogar, our new friend and translator. Sogar is a really nice, smiley, short Bangaldeshi who works at one of the Uttaran founded schools for the ultra poor children and outcastes. Sogar grew up ultra poor and an outcaste so his story is quite remarkable. Forbidden to attend any of the public/government run schools because of his status, Sagor was facing a life of endless poverty. Shahidul Islam reached out to him. He enrolled Sagor into the school he had just founded and continued to be his paternal mentor. Sagor had a full education and became a teacher, a very good job that he could not have attained without schooling and without Shahidul’s help.
Our other main contact here is Shadona, the manager of the Tala center. Shadona was in the original documentary. At that time she was a field worker who had been stripped and beaten for reaching out to villagers and trying to help women become aware of their self-worth. She was promoted over the years and encouraged to get a higher education degree by Shahidul. She is definitely the boss here, in a maternal way, keeping all of the mostly male staff in line.
Here is a quick run-down of Uttaran’d various programs and social initiatives that we have visited and begun to document in video and photos.
Women’s Groups
Uttaran has helped form groups of 10-30 women all over the area, teaching them about their rights and capacity of leaving their homes without their husband, on education for their children, or not marrying off their daughters before they turn 18 (girls are still forced to marry as young as 12 sometimes), health and sanitation, and their political power. We met with two of the groups to hear their stories on how Uttaran’s help has improved their lives. As a group, they have exercised their political influence by collectively going to local authorities to report problems.
Schools
While he was still studying in University, Shahidul Islam purchased land (I think under his father’s name) and then gave it back to the community to build a school specifically for children too poor to attend other schools or banned from them. There is now a lower and upper school (primary and college) founded by Shahidul and serving over 700 children.
Waterlogging
Due to environmental damage, natural and man-made, the flooding in this area has gotten worse every year over the past 10 years. Now from about June through October, much of the land in the rural areas is completely waterlogged. People have to use boats to get anywhere. Schools and businesses shut down. Getting food and drinking water becomes much more difficult. This issue involves the water/damn system that India has put into place in recent years to supply more water to its inhabitants, shutting down the water supply to Bangladesh. However, as Zakir, another Uttaran staff member, informed us, Bangladesh is doing a similar thing in the water ways in Nepal. We have some amazing footage about this issue. The problem is growing and no real solution to combat it has arisen.
Landrights
In the Bangladesh constitution the landless people are guaranteed land. The government is responsible for buying unused or abandoned land and then redistributing it to those who have nothing. Having no land denotes the lowest level of poverty, they have no assets and are often evicted or taken advantage of by others. At times, the government has held true to this principle, but without proper enforcement, the land has been brutally taken away by rich people from the landless who received it legally. Uttaran is now focusing its main work on this issue. This is deeply intertwined in local and federal political groups and has been a very tough challenge. While Uttaran has helped the landless receive legal help to claim or reclaim their land, they have paid a huge price. In January 2007, Shahidul Islam was arrested and tortured in connection to this work. His charges were made up (military charged him with terrorist activity and harboring weapons) and he was imprisoned for 7 months. It’s incredible how the organization rallied together and sought out help from outside forces to save him and the NGO. This is no ordinary group of people.
Thanks for bearing with me. More photos coming, as soon as I can download them! (it’s trickey cuz the power and connection go in and out and sometimes get ridiculously slow I just have to shut it all down).
Happy almost inauguration of Obama!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Salam from Khulna
We were escorted by my main Uttaran contact Fatima, an wonderful woman who deals with all the development work of the organization, to Khulna, a town 6 hours south of Dhaka by bus.
Shambu and another Uttaran staff member met us at the station and took us to the Uttaran center in Khulna, a reconverted school. There we had dinner by candlelight (the elecrticity went out). After afew minutes I experienced a major star-struk moment- Shahidul Islam, the founder and director of Uttaran, was there! This was like meeting Obama for me. He is an increbidle person whose work has helped thousands of ultra poor, disadvantaged people asserts their rights and gain assets to overcome poverty.
We are staying at a very nice guest house again that Uttaran has set up for us. Today we go into Sathkira, the birth place of Uttaran, to see a bunch of their programs firsthand and survey the area to determine what we want to focus on for the documentary.
More to come soon, and photos of our new Uttaran friends will be up later today.
Shambu and another Uttaran staff member met us at the station and took us to the Uttaran center in Khulna, a reconverted school. There we had dinner by candlelight (the elecrticity went out). After afew minutes I experienced a major star-struk moment- Shahidul Islam, the founder and director of Uttaran, was there! This was like meeting Obama for me. He is an increbidle person whose work has helped thousands of ultra poor, disadvantaged people asserts their rights and gain assets to overcome poverty.
We are staying at a very nice guest house again that Uttaran has set up for us. Today we go into Sathkira, the birth place of Uttaran, to see a bunch of their programs firsthand and survey the area to determine what we want to focus on for the documentary.
More to come soon, and photos of our new Uttaran friends will be up later today.
Friday, January 9, 2009
First Days in Dhaka
We made it!
Our journey to Bangladesh was astoundingly easy and smooth. (For those who don't know, Aaron Billheimer, another employee at Penn Museum, has accompanied me on this trip and will stay for about a month to help with all the tech issues of the documentary.) Aaron may also post updates to this blog so you may be hearing another perspective on the circumstances at hand.
The whole trip-including the 2.5 hr drive to JFK Airport and the 6.5 hour layover in Qatar- took about 34 hours. It was a miracle that we weren't delirious went we finally arrived in Dhaka. After picking up our luggage and bizarrely going through customs with zero hassles (I was told we would be hounded about all our equipment and would have to do flips to get out of paying taxes on it) we were met at the exit by one of the employees at the hotel we are staying at called the Marino Guest House.
The Marino is very comfortable. I am enjoying my last hot showers before heading south to the villages.
First Impressions of Dhaka and Bangladesh:
The city is busy and loud, but not as much as I was anticipating. Having been in Hanoi, Vietnam and Kathmandu, Nepal, Dhaka seems pretty manageable. There are few stop lights and even fewer rules of driving here; cars just move in and out, narrowly colliding every moment with each other, with rick shaws and with motor bikes. Luckily, we have been driven around the past day and a half by wonderful Adil Hossain. Adil is the brother of my friend Sharmin. Sharmin now lives in Philadelphia and volunteers at Penn Museum. Through Sharmin, Aaron and I have been given royal treatment by her family.
Our first day here, Adil took us to his family's home, a beautiful apartment with balconies overlooking the few green areas of the city. The home is decorated in a peaceful, elegant way. Sharmin, graduate of an architecture program in Dhaka designed much of the family's home. Kudos Sharmin! Will you design my house whenever i have one?
We were fed generous helpings of amazing Bangladeshi food by Adil and his warm parents. ( Adil: "We Bangladeshi's like to eat, food is very important to our lifestyle." And yet, the Bangladeshi's i have seen are in much better phycial health than the average Americans.) Right when dinner began, the exhaution hit me. I was barely able to keep my eyes open and follow conversation. Aaron did great and kept the dialog up while I was led to a spare bedroom to lay down and rest.
Before we left, Adil recieved a call from our hotel saying that another friend had arrived and would wait for us at the hotel. This was Dr. Nafees Rahman. Nafees is my new friend I have been in contact with through the Eisenhower Fellowships, where I worked at my previous job. He graciously booked our hotel and has been another source of great info and support here. Exactly how or why the hotel called Adil's cell phone about this I am not sure, but it reflects the way that Bengladesh culture is very open and personable.
Adil dropped us off, we met Nafees and then passed out.
First Full Day in Dhaka
Yesterday was another packed day. Adil picked us up again and took us all over the city. We had lunch at his family's home again and then his mom came with us to shop for local clothes and to get a cell phone to use while we are in country. Instead of going through all this, I am posting photos from yesterday which are more descriptive and interesting than me yammering on and on. Here is the flickr account with photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34280572@N08/
And don't worry, posts from now on will be less text and more photos. I just wanted to introduce our Bangladesh friends and assure everyone that we are in very good hands. Next post will probably be from Jessore or the Sathkira district down south where the documentary will be filmed.
Salam!
Our journey to Bangladesh was astoundingly easy and smooth. (For those who don't know, Aaron Billheimer, another employee at Penn Museum, has accompanied me on this trip and will stay for about a month to help with all the tech issues of the documentary.) Aaron may also post updates to this blog so you may be hearing another perspective on the circumstances at hand.
The whole trip-including the 2.5 hr drive to JFK Airport and the 6.5 hour layover in Qatar- took about 34 hours. It was a miracle that we weren't delirious went we finally arrived in Dhaka. After picking up our luggage and bizarrely going through customs with zero hassles (I was told we would be hounded about all our equipment and would have to do flips to get out of paying taxes on it) we were met at the exit by one of the employees at the hotel we are staying at called the Marino Guest House.
The Marino is very comfortable. I am enjoying my last hot showers before heading south to the villages.
First Impressions of Dhaka and Bangladesh:
The city is busy and loud, but not as much as I was anticipating. Having been in Hanoi, Vietnam and Kathmandu, Nepal, Dhaka seems pretty manageable. There are few stop lights and even fewer rules of driving here; cars just move in and out, narrowly colliding every moment with each other, with rick shaws and with motor bikes. Luckily, we have been driven around the past day and a half by wonderful Adil Hossain. Adil is the brother of my friend Sharmin. Sharmin now lives in Philadelphia and volunteers at Penn Museum. Through Sharmin, Aaron and I have been given royal treatment by her family.
Our first day here, Adil took us to his family's home, a beautiful apartment with balconies overlooking the few green areas of the city. The home is decorated in a peaceful, elegant way. Sharmin, graduate of an architecture program in Dhaka designed much of the family's home. Kudos Sharmin! Will you design my house whenever i have one?
We were fed generous helpings of amazing Bangladeshi food by Adil and his warm parents. ( Adil: "We Bangladeshi's like to eat, food is very important to our lifestyle." And yet, the Bangladeshi's i have seen are in much better phycial health than the average Americans.) Right when dinner began, the exhaution hit me. I was barely able to keep my eyes open and follow conversation. Aaron did great and kept the dialog up while I was led to a spare bedroom to lay down and rest.
Before we left, Adil recieved a call from our hotel saying that another friend had arrived and would wait for us at the hotel. This was Dr. Nafees Rahman. Nafees is my new friend I have been in contact with through the Eisenhower Fellowships, where I worked at my previous job. He graciously booked our hotel and has been another source of great info and support here. Exactly how or why the hotel called Adil's cell phone about this I am not sure, but it reflects the way that Bengladesh culture is very open and personable.
Adil dropped us off, we met Nafees and then passed out.
First Full Day in Dhaka
Yesterday was another packed day. Adil picked us up again and took us all over the city. We had lunch at his family's home again and then his mom came with us to shop for local clothes and to get a cell phone to use while we are in country. Instead of going through all this, I am posting photos from yesterday which are more descriptive and interesting than me yammering on and on. Here is the flickr account with photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34280572@N08/
And don't worry, posts from now on will be less text and more photos. I just wanted to introduce our Bangladesh friends and assure everyone that we are in very good hands. Next post will probably be from Jessore or the Sathkira district down south where the documentary will be filmed.
Salam!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Introduction to this Project
Background information on this project:
In 1995, a young widow living in rural southwest Bangladesh told documentary filmmakers, "My days of silence are over." After her husband had passed away, Shupjon had experienced abusive treatment from other men in the village since she was no longer tied to a man. She had been mocked, disparaged and then raped. Afraid of further abuse, she remained silent about her trauma, until members of an empowering grassroots NGO called Uttaran reached out to her. With Uttaran's guidance and support, Shupjon finally spoke out against her abusers, pressed charges against the man who raped her and had him put behind bars. Taking further advantage of Uttaran's resources, she founded a cooperative tile factory.
Her story and the story of others empowered by Uttaran's programs are told in the 1996 documentary film created by Oxfam America and directed by Michael Sheridan called “Community.” (clip of this film found here) I am now going to Bangladesh to do a follow-up documentary on Uttaran's work to trace how the lives of individuals like Shupjon have continued to be impacted by the training and financial resources Uttaran offers.
What is Uttaran?
Uttaran, which means 'upliftment' in Bangla, originated from the efforts of students and professors who wanted to stand up for poor women in rural villages of the Satkhira district in southwestern Bangladesh. Many women in rural Bangladesh are considered property of their husbands; any actions they take independently from their spouse is deemed sinful and often responded to with violent punishment. Shaidhul Islam, the founding director of Uttaran, established the organization as an official NGO in 1985. Uttaran's broad goal of working towards social and economic empowerment of poor and disadvantaged people in southwest Bangladesh is implemented in part through educational programs and microfinance initiatives. These efforts offer individuals and groups the opportunity to start their own businesses to pull themselves and their families out of poverty, helping to strengthen their whole community. (Books on this topic: Women and Microcredit in Bangladesh, Aminur Rahman; Reshaping the Holy: Democracy, Development, and Muslim Women in Bangladesh, Elora Shehabuddin; Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the battle against world poverty, Muhammad Yunus)
Why do a documentary on Uttaran?
Uttaran's work is inspirational and can serve as a model for other organizations to follow in fighting global poverty. By doing an updated documentary on Uttaran’s impact on individuals and communities, I can present ground-level insight into how Uttaran’s initiatives are effective and sustainable in fighting poverty. On a more general level, this documentary could contribute to a growing understanding of microfinance in third world countries and how grassroots non-profits operate, the obstacles they face and structures they take on to achieve their goals. On a personal level, this project will help me determine if I want to pursue a career in Visual Anthropology, which involves working on documentaries on cultural and social issues.
In 1995, a young widow living in rural southwest Bangladesh told documentary filmmakers, "My days of silence are over." After her husband had passed away, Shupjon had experienced abusive treatment from other men in the village since she was no longer tied to a man. She had been mocked, disparaged and then raped. Afraid of further abuse, she remained silent about her trauma, until members of an empowering grassroots NGO called Uttaran reached out to her. With Uttaran's guidance and support, Shupjon finally spoke out against her abusers, pressed charges against the man who raped her and had him put behind bars. Taking further advantage of Uttaran's resources, she founded a cooperative tile factory.
Her story and the story of others empowered by Uttaran's programs are told in the 1996 documentary film created by Oxfam America and directed by Michael Sheridan called “Community.” (clip of this film found here) I am now going to Bangladesh to do a follow-up documentary on Uttaran's work to trace how the lives of individuals like Shupjon have continued to be impacted by the training and financial resources Uttaran offers.
What is Uttaran?
Uttaran, which means 'upliftment' in Bangla, originated from the efforts of students and professors who wanted to stand up for poor women in rural villages of the Satkhira district in southwestern Bangladesh. Many women in rural Bangladesh are considered property of their husbands; any actions they take independently from their spouse is deemed sinful and often responded to with violent punishment. Shaidhul Islam, the founding director of Uttaran, established the organization as an official NGO in 1985. Uttaran's broad goal of working towards social and economic empowerment of poor and disadvantaged people in southwest Bangladesh is implemented in part through educational programs and microfinance initiatives. These efforts offer individuals and groups the opportunity to start their own businesses to pull themselves and their families out of poverty, helping to strengthen their whole community. (Books on this topic: Women and Microcredit in Bangladesh, Aminur Rahman; Reshaping the Holy: Democracy, Development, and Muslim Women in Bangladesh, Elora Shehabuddin; Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the battle against world poverty, Muhammad Yunus)
Why do a documentary on Uttaran?
Uttaran's work is inspirational and can serve as a model for other organizations to follow in fighting global poverty. By doing an updated documentary on Uttaran’s impact on individuals and communities, I can present ground-level insight into how Uttaran’s initiatives are effective and sustainable in fighting poverty. On a more general level, this documentary could contribute to a growing understanding of microfinance in third world countries and how grassroots non-profits operate, the obstacles they face and structures they take on to achieve their goals. On a personal level, this project will help me determine if I want to pursue a career in Visual Anthropology, which involves working on documentaries on cultural and social issues.
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