Home

Thursday 15th December

This day felt like three days in one as our friends at the Hunger Project went all out to show us the true Bangladesh. Four first visit was to Purbasha which is a Hindu village, with some of the most empowered women you are ever likely to meet. Women are taking action to combat the use of a local drug were the men are becoming addicted, impacting on huge issues in the home including hunger and domestic violence. The village had also prepared an amazing piece of drama, which was inspired by some great acting. The drama covered the issue of early marriage and the impact this can have on women’s quality of life.
We then made our way to an adult literacy programme in Kalapur in the Hills and met inspiring women who had taken it upon themselves to educate their community. The reason they had done this was for independence - by educating the community, people are then able to open bank accounts and sign their name on officials documents, and this is very important to them. We also managed to interview some of the villagers. Many of our young people at home take their education for granted and often have a poor attitude towards it and don’t value it. We used this as an opportunity to capture messages for our young people so we can remind them how lucky they are to be able to access education, whilst having a roof over their head, and food in their bellies. We were also told that many of these villagers survive on less than $1 a day= 60 btk.

Throughout the year The Hunger Project collect warm clothes and blankets to give to the poorest people in society. We had the opportunity to visit this project, and were asked to give out blankets to the local people.

After this amazing morning of visits we headed back to the Roseview Hotel and had lunch and got ready for our next visit. Many people had wanted to visit a school, and this next visit to Khadimnagar allowed us to do just that. This SAP project is about keeping children engaged in education and not dropping out early. Many classes have 70 children in them with one teacher, no lighting and very poor educational resources. But their sheer determination to educate their people is astounding and everyone is going above and beyond on a daily basis.

We had the opportunity to speak with the SAP leaders and asked them why they do this and what drives them. Their passion to educate the children was overwhelming. They find it unacceptable that children can’t get the access to education they need and have taken it upon themselves to ensure this happens, including picking the children up to take them to school, as it is a long walk from the village.

The Cultural Evening at Grameen Jonokalyan Community Centre

Bangladeshis really know how to party and show off their cultural talent, and believe me when I say there is no lack of talent! SAP leaders and young people from across the town had come together to be part of this amazing show, and none where fazed by the audience. They gave us some beautiful songs in Bangla and some very graceful dancing, along with lots and lots of other dancing.

We responded with a football keep-up show, a boxing session, singing and a huge London group chant at the end, doing ourselves very proud.

12.30 am we took to the coach and headed for the Victory Day celebrations, were local people were celebrating the end of war and independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1972.

Phil Long
East London Active Citizen, Bangladesh 2011