April Showers (In March)

>> 27 Mar 2009

I was just reflecting on what we've done this week, since I last updated the blog and actually I'm not sure there's much to report but I'll give you a brief summary of our activities anyway.

On the work front it's been all systems go in the office and workshop as we're desperately trying to get the designs finalised by our end of March deadline. This week a new toy (I mean very important and essential power tool) arrived, which Andy and his design colleague have been playing with this week. I'm told that's it's actually a really important piece of kit and a massive help in producing a quality finish to the products in a relatively short space of time. It's quite a sight to behold when you go into the workshop though and see it in action. Initially you can't see anything because of the thick cloud of sawdust surrounding the machine (our cleaner is less that impressed with this new acquisition!). Then there's Andy and his colleague stood opposite each other, operating different parts of the machine - both wearing safety googles, gloves, aprons and backwards caps - covered in a thin layer of dust. Very entertaining for us onlookers.

We've also been spending time playing with eggs, milk and beeswax as we concoct various different natural dye and paint recipes - not as easy as you might think!

On the anti-trafficking front we've been trying to locate a girl who was trafficked from a garment factory in Dhaka at the age of about 11 into a brothel in Kolkata. She was rescued by an organisation in Kolkata and then brought back to Bangladesh. She was received by her father and is now married (aged about 16) and working back in the garment industry. We were asked to try and locate her to check on her safety and also to help her get back to Kolkata for a trial against her traffickers. I'm pleased to say that this week we managed to make contact with her and she appears to be safe at least but we are continuing to try to make contact. This week we hope to go and visit her as there's only so much you can get from speaking to someone on the phone. We suspect there's probably a lot she's not telling us about her current home situation, so hopefully we'll get a fuller picture by meeting with her.

Generally work in the office has been a bit hard going because of the really oppressive heat and quantity of power cuts. I think I've explained before about load shedding - how there's not enough power to go round, so the government distribute it to different parts of the city during the day. Where our office is located is classed as a lower priority power area, which means more power cuts for us. We have an IPS system (Like a generator) but it doesn't have a very high capacity and doesn't get enough time to re-charge between power cuts, which means that when we get a power cut we're running on no fans, definitely no AC, no lights etc. So, it can be a bit tough going, especially in the early part of the afternoon. Thankfully, as soon as we get home we can jump straight in the nice cool shower, which is wonderful after a sweaty day in the office!

This week was Independence Day in Bangladesh as the country remembers it's freedom from the control of Pakistan. So, Thursday 26th marked the 39th anniversary of the war of Independence. So, it was a national holiday and a definite feel of celebration in the air. As we walked down the street there was national flags hanging from balconies, people waving flags and wearing headbands with the flag on it. This was an important day for the local people - they are very proud of their independence and of course since it happened relatively recently it is still remembered by many people. When you talk to people you really sense their pride in their country - they are very keen to know what we think of their country and even more delighted when we respond with positive opinions of Bangladesh.

Unfortuantely, like any war, certain wounds have been slow to heal. There is still a deep feeling of hostility towards Pakistan (and for that matter any other country that is seen to support Pakistan). In addition, prior to the war there were Urdu-speaking Pakistanis who settled in Bangladesh. Following the war those that were unable to escape back to their own country got stranded and ended up living in camps across the country. Even today these camps still exist and there is one very close to our office. Because these communities (known as Bihari communities) are not technically Bangladesh nationals they have been denied the basic rights of a Bangladeshi - like education, health care, jobs and are very excluded from society. Over 30 years on they have technically been given citizenship but are still treated as an excluded community. This is one of the sadest oucomes of the 1971 war.

Anyway, since we got a bonus extra day of holiday we took the opportunity to have some people round from the church we go to on Saturday evening. We had the family round, whose house we use for the Saturday church and also the leader of the church we go to on Friday and his wife. As you can imagine, cooking for Bangladeshi's I was a little nervous. After much deliberation we chose to give them a taste of England and cooked the classic Spaghetti Bolognase with roast vegetables and banoffi pie for pudding.

Entertaining in Bangladesh is very strange because all the socialising happens before eating and then everyone leaves as soon as dinner is over - none of this sitting around over a cup of coffe and an After Eight. So, generally the woman spends the whole evening in the kitchen, serves the food, waits until everyone has eaten and then she eats when everyone's left. I fulfilled most of this etiquette but gave up when it came to serving out and waiting til later to eat (my appetite didn't hold out that long!).

We had a very nice evening chatting and playing with the two kids. We were also blessed to only have 1 power cut, rather than the usual 3 that we've been having of late. I think the food went down mostly okay although there was definite uncertainty to begin with - especially when we handed forks around to eat with!

Anyway, today saw the first rains of the season. We were told to expect storms in April, so today we got a taster. It all started yesterday with some very welcome high winds and then early this morning the winds were howling and there was a heavy downpour. Sadly it didn't last very long but it was lovely to have a refreshing breeze blowing through.

We're very much looking forward to some more of that kind of weather because this last week has been pretty toasty that's for sure.

So, I better sign off as it's time for church.

Have a great week and please keep us updated with your news - we love to hear what's going on back home.

Oh, just before I go, thanks to those of you who have requested a password - unfortunately we've had a bif of difficulty putting a password on but as soon as we figure out how to overcome the glitches we'll drop you an email.

Love Nic and Andy

Read more...