Things are continuing to progress well both at work and at church. We’re having a busy month so far with lots going on with finalising products for OTL and many meetings and planning for Stop the Traffik. Last week there were some visitors from an organisation in India, who are involved in anti human trafficking work in India, so wanted to meet organisations doing similar work in Bangladesh. Nic was busy sorting out their schedule for their trip and attending various meetings with these visitors. Whilst it was pretty chaotic (especially trying to communicate with local drivers over the phone using a very limited amount of Bangla) the meetings all went well and we managed to form some good relationships.
The other big news on the STOP THE TRAFFIK front is that Cadburys have announced that as of the summer their Dairy Milk range will be "Fairtrade" and therefore "traffik free". This is great news and a wonderful testimony to all the people around the world who have been involved (at whatever level) in getting the big chocolate companies to change their practices. It's so exciting to know that there will be a few less children been exploited in awful conditions on the cocoa farms and a few more people being employed, working in good conditions, being paid enough to feed their families.
Since the last blog posting Andy took a trip up to our factory site in Nilphamari with his design colleague and Ben, the latest addition to the team who is basically the business manager in Nilphamari. He had a great time briefing the new workers, planning production, testing out some new tools and safety equipment (and watching the odd Hindi movie).
On Tuesday 10th March it was a national holiday here, which meant the day off for us. So, in the morning Andy arrived back from Nilphamari having travelled on the overnight train.After a morning coffee with our neighbour we went to meet some young people from church for lunch, including a fieldworker from Australia, whose birthday it was and who was due to leave 2 days later. We then went to play basketball with some of these young people (not so easy in flip flops, 34 C and a Shalwa Kamiz!) After that we went to see a couple from the church, who have recently had a baby - good opportunity for a cuddle with the new arrival.
At the weekend we were privileged to be able to take a trip to Khulna in the south of the country with one of the church members. We went to visit some of his family, old friends and people who are keen to know more about the bible. We left late on Thursday evening, taking the overnight green line bus to the southern city.
Having had some poor bus experiences previously we decided to travel in ‘luxury’ using a slightly posher bus service than we're used to. The bus came complete with air conditioning, blankets, water and no-one being sick! (which Nicola was most relieved about).
We got to a town near Kulna at about 6.45am and were met off the bus by a very excited young lad who had come to receive us. We travelled back to his house on a rickshaw van and were looked after by his family and relatives.
We arrived at this lovely little village nestled away amongst some trees and gardens. This village was actually quite large and kind of divided into little clusters - with one cluster being Christian, one being Hindu and one being Muslim. We were taken to this lad's house, which was also next door to two other houses belonging to his relatives. The house we went to was a relatively large concrete house with a tin lid. The other two were smallr, one room bamboo huts.
The village shared a cow where they got their milk from (enough for 6 families) and there was a shared well where they got their water from. There was also a small vegetable plot where they shared some local produce.
After freshning up we were served a large breakfast of Ruti (Chapati), fried egg, some kind of shredded vegetable curry and fruit as well as a lovely cup of tea, containing very fresh milk.
We were then taken on a tour of the village where we were invited into numerous peoples' houses. By 9.30am we had been to 3 peoples' houses - all of which gave us snacks and tea! As you can imagine we were feeling very full and slightly apprehensive about how our guts would respond to all this different food. As you may have picked up from previous blog postings, food really is the language of love here. People are so hospitable and show their love for you in welcoming you into their homes and feeding you. It was such a privilege to be welcomed by so many peope and to see inside their humble houses.
After our stroll we then had a bit of a rest and went to spend some time with the chap from the church we had travelled down with and his family; in particular his niece, who is suffeirng a lot of personal difficulties with her husband (a very heart wrenching story!). Whilst not wanting to go into too much detail, it is suffice to say that her husband is treating her and her 2 children very badly and due to the nature of this culture it is very difficult for this young lady to see any way out. Hopefully God will show us some way of helping her; there are a couple of doors that have opened already, so we'll push them and see what happens.
We then had a huge lunch (yes, more food!). Following that we had a bit of a rest and then later in the afternoon Andy did a bible talk to a group of young Christians in the local baptist church. It was hugely encouraging to see their enthusiasm and just their desire to know God and understand the scriptures. Some had even travelled over 15km to get there by local transport at their own cost. I'm sure this enthusiasm is largely due to having far less distractions in their lives than we do in the West.
After the bible study we went back for afternoon tea, consisting of warm milk, biscuits, fruit and this kind of home made jelly thing (which was more like really thick jam than jelly). The fresh milk was a real treat, having never drank fresh milk before - we could definitely get used to it and will certainly be looking at the possibility of getting a cow back in the UK.
During the course of the afternoon and evening we met more people and spent time with our church member's family, which was lovely. We shared some dinner with them and then left at about 9.30pm for the night bus, which was due to leave at 10pm.
Before we left we heard on the news that there was a big fire at a large shopping mall in Dhaka. Fortunately there weren't too many casualties because the fire struck the upper floors, which were all offices and being a Friday most of the offices would have been shut. Nonetheless it was pretty frightning for those concerned and pretty much brought the city to a stand still, particularly since it took over 5 hours to put out the blaze.
After a very uneventful journey back we arrived in Dhaka at 6.00am on Saturday morning. We then spent the day doing a bit of shopping, relaixing at the Club and then attending the recently established church in the evvening, which Andy was speaking at. As usual it was bible study by candle light because of the power cuts but very lovely all the same - it made for a very nice atmosphere (even if we had to slightly strain to see our bibles).
The week so far has been fairly quiet at work. The most eventful thing that we've done is to sort out our visas. It was a very strange experience, as experiences go, which involved going to the visa office and speaking to the deputy director there to get clarification on the visa application process. We were most surprised when she informed us that our current visa, despite expiring on 21st March, allows us to stay up to a further 6 months.
Not content with this answer we then took a trip to the Immigration Office at the airport. After speaking to numerous police officers of varying ranks it seemed that the position is as set out by the Deputy Director. So, looks like we're all set for the next few months and have saved ourselves the hastle and expense of re-applying. The only downside is that we can't leave and re-enter the country without applying for a new visa but that's a small price to pay.
We're still somewhat sceptical and probably will be until we board the plane in June but then it's in God's hands, now so really nothing to worry about. Whatever happens it will all work out.
Hope all's well in the UK and the soft light of spring is beginning to dawn. We hear that the first lambs have started to appear in the fields, which are undoubtedly very cute.
We'll write soon.
Love Nic and Andy x
P.S. We'll soon be passwording our blog so please email us asap at the address at the top if you want the password.
Well we're back from our hols and feeling fully refreshed and raring to go.
The past few weeks have been pretty hectic, as you may have spotted from previous postings but after a mad rush to get everything completed before holiday we finally made it to India.
Prior to our departure on 19th February, Nic had a lot of work to complete following on from the anti-trafficking seminar and planning the anti-trafficking strategy for the next few years. Andy was also busy getting some designs finished to be worked on whilst we were away.
Also, at the last minute we became involved in sorting out a new flat for the local church we are involved with. As you may have picked up on from previous blogs, we have been supporting a study group from the church on a Saturday evening. Since the study groups seem to be addressing a certain need the church has decided to form a new church out of this study group, which we're really excited about. The study group, up til now, has been held in one of the members' tiny flats, with us all squeezed into their bedroom (which also serves as a lounge and dining room), so it was decided that the family should relocate to a bigger flat and the church would support them financially in order to enable room for the church to grow.
So, the flat hunting commenced a few weeks ago but right before we left a great flat became available in the right location, so Andy went to view it with another member of the church and the family who will be living there. After a mutual consensus it was agreed that this would be perfect, so it seems that our new church is on the move and ready to begin (how exciting!)
The following day we got up for our early flight to Kolkata. Once in Kolkata we met our driver for the day and headed off to the Bangladesh High Commission to get our visas renewed with tonnes of documents in hand to cover all eventualities. We went to the requisite booth, handed over our forms, had a nice chat with the guy in the booth and then were told we had to have an interview with the Deputy High Commissioner (standard practice apparently). Unfortunately Nic had another meeting to attend, so Andy was flying solo for the interview.
Sadly the interview didn't go as well as expected and our visa application got rejected (DOH!), so we've got until 21st March to figure out another strategy for acquiring a Visa. We think we might try applying in country but watch this space....
Whilst this was going on Nic attended a meeting in Kolkata with an orrganisation involved in the rescue of trafficking survivors and the prosecution of traffickers. It was a really useful meeting and gave a good insight into the laborious process of repatriating survivors to Bangladesh from India. Unfortunately the process of getting the survivors back across the border can be a long traumatic experience. Once the survivor has been found in India with no supporting papers they have to be "detained" whilst they go through a court process to determine that they are Bangladeshi nationals and should be taken back to their country. Gathering the evidence to support their claim that they're Bangladeshis isn't easy in a country where birth registrations are not common place, very few people have passports, the survivors may not remember their previous address (if they were trafficked as an infant) and the parents' full names may not be known. It can take a minimum of 6 months before the survivor is in a position to cross the border, during which time they have had to be detained in a shelter home. Not ideal as you may appreciate and definitely an area that needs improving.
Anyway, all in all a useful meeting - far more productive than the High Commissioner meeting.
Following our meetings we went for a bite to eat at a nearby shopping mall. We were very surprised to see Next, Marks and Spencers, Pumpkin Patch etc in this shopping mall and the majority of people speaking English - far more advanced than Bangaldesh, despite being only next door. There is clearly a lot of wealth in Kolkata and a significant number of educated people, having a good command of English and usually speaking at least another 2 languages (Hindi + Bangla).
After our shopping trip we drove for a couple of hours to our resort in Raichak, which is about 60km south of Kolkata, on the banks of the River Ganges.
The resort was absolutely beautiful - lots of space to relax, swim and totally unwind - just what we needed. Also, as the resort was mostly empty the staff were extremely attentive (to say the least), or maybe they were just bored but they were more or less falling over themselves to open doors for us, fetch a golf buggy to take us somewhere, call us at the end of the day to see if we'd had a nice day. Anyway, whatever the reason it was very nice to be tended to for the week.
So, after 6 days of total relaxation, good food and lovely hot sunshine we flew up to Darjeeling where we spent a couple of days exploring this post-colonial tea region.
It was a total contrast to our previous resort. For starters it was much much colder. So much so that we had to buy hats, gloves, scarves and fleeces on arrival (mainly to compensate for the lack of heating in our hotel but also because it was freezing). The area was well geared to tourists and there was a significant backpacking community up there, passing through on their tour of Asia.
Whilst we were there we: explored the local town, which was far bigger than we were expecting; took a ride on the "toy train", which is the old train which transported wealthy people from Kolkata to Darjeeling to escape the heat in summer; took a tour of various local sights - everything from a Buddhist monastry to the local tea gardens; sampled the wonderful Indian cuisine and of course drank lots and lots of chai (tea) - which was very welcome in the cold weather.
All in all a very nice, relaxing holiday and very enjoyable to see a few different sights of India. However, it was a bit strange to see tourists again - living in a country like Bangladesh tourists really aren't common place as the country isn't geared to tourism, so it was very odd being with tourists again. There was a part of us that felt a bit uncomfortable with it and like we wanted to experience new things that most people don't get to experience (much like we do in Bangladesh) but then we had to remember that tourism has played such a major roll in lifting countries like India out of the severe poverty they were in only a few years ago, so really we shouldn't complain.
It was also odd seeing local people with such great wealth, since it really isn't as common in Bangladesh, although clearly there is wealth around. It seems that India has now become a country of two extremes - the extremely poor and the extremely rich. It's been said to me before that Bangladesh isn't a poor country but it is being kept poor by the minority of those who have wealth. It seems like this is even more true for India, which we find absolutely tragic.
Despite being in India only a short time, we were surprised by how different the cultures and people were from Bangladesh, even though the countries are neighbours. I suppose we naively assumed that there would be a lot of similarities between two countries that used to be the same country. Maybe it's something to do with the difference in religions, maybe it's because Bangladesh is such a young country, or maybe it's to do with the economic gap but whatever it is, it really showed us how wonderfully different and individual God has created us and how there is so much around us that goes into making us the people we are today. Sometimes we ponder where we would be now if we had been born in a country like Bangladesh and how we would view the world. Anyway, these ponderings are getting to be far too philosophical for a simple travel blog, so we'll leave it there.
After our return from Darjeeling we spent a night in Kolkata close to the airport then said goodbye to Andy's folks as we set off back to Dhaka and they spent the day in Kolkata awaiting their long journey back to the UK that evening.
Whilst it was lovely to be on holiday we are very glad to be back in Bangladesh and to be cracking on with work once more and we're looking forward to all the fun and challenges that lie ahead.
Oh, just before we go we should probably mention that there have been some fairly serious political issues here whilst we were away - basically one military group (the Bangladeshi Riffles) opened fire on Army officers, killing up to 100 and then burying them in mass graves. In case you've picked up on this in the English press, the problem is now over with very little impact to the rest of the country. In fact, we're told that people who were living here barely new it was going on, save for the reportings in the press the following mornings. It was all contained within the official army areas (cantonement) in the country, so presented very little threat to the general public. Whilst we are all safe, it was clearly very traumatic for the families of those involved and really shook the country up, so we remember the families and this nation in our prayers and eagerly await the day when peace will reign and the sight of guns, bullet holes and violence will be no more.
It seems like ages since we've done a proper posting, so I guess we've got some catching up to do.
Last time we wrote Nic had just come back from Rajshahi I think. Since then we've had a really good couple of weeks. At work we've both had a really hectic time. Nic's been organising a seminar with STOP THE TRAFFIK for a lot of organisations that are involved in anti-trafficking work in Bangladesh. I'm pleased to say that the seminar went really well; it was well attended and very beneficial from our percpective. And even more amazingly Nic has now learned how to Alt Tab between screens (new-found techno wizz!)
Andy's been kept busy doing a lot of graphic design work for the seminar and despite a lot of rushing around and last minute adjustments then end products look fab!
On 4th February (seems like ages ago now) our house helper invited us to her house in a slum near our office. So, we trotted off after work with our colleague, who also lives in the same slum. As we approached we walked down a cobbled street with open drains on each side and a few small shops. Running alongside this road was the slum houses, which are essentially small bamboo shacks with corregated tin roofs.
We were greeted by our house helper's youngest daughter running up to greet us with a beautiful big grin on her face. Not far behind her was our house helper with her other daughter and some friends. We were showed along a narrow alley to her house, which was one room which just about fitted a double bed in and a book shelf. There was also an upstairs, which her son slept in and which you had to climb a ladder to get to. The walls were very thin bamboo sheets, in fact they were so thin that every so often we could see 2 pairs of little eyes looking through from next door.
As we sat on the bed there were a group of our house helper's friends who were there and we got plied with biscuits, crisps, drink and this really tasty sweet rice Bangladeshi dish (yummm!)
After that we got taken to 2 other peoples' houses and we had to put off other invites. At each house we got given food and drink, which was amazing. We were deeply humbled be peoples' hospitality and generosity. Despite having so little the sense of community and family was amazing and their hospitality was overwhelming.
I'm not sure whether we've mentioned this but somehow over here the locals have decided that Andy bears a striking resemblence to Mr Bean (yes, Mr Bean is known and very popular here), so when we went to the slum this got round so that every house we visited referred to Andy as Mr Bean - they thought it was hilarious!
Anyway, we had a really nice time and were so grateful to be invited.
Then, the next thing to happen here was Andy's parents arrived on Thursday 6th February. They arrived safely, despite all the hussle and bustle and Dhaka airport and so far things have gone well.
A couple of days after they arrived we took them to our church home group, On of the attendees at the home group unfortunately has been quite unwell over the past couple of years, so has stuggled to find work. We commissioned him and his to make us a traditional Bangaldeshi woven stool, which was excellent, so we subsequently asked for a couple of waste paper baskets. Anyway, after home group he invited us to his house to see the progress of our waste paper baskets. This was quite an adventure - particularly for the new comers as we got taken down smaller, darker and narrower alley ways to a small slum area near our home group.
The baskets were excellent - we were so impressed with how skilled he and his wife were, particularly when they're working with such few resources. What a shame that they can't make an income from it. The local church members are trying to offer advice and support to help this couple and we are pitching in where we can.
Anyway, Andy's parents' blog explains in more detail what they have been up to but I guess the main thing that concerns us is that we took them on a trip up to Nilphamari. We made the 8hr train trip up there, stayed a night in the lovely Leprosy Mission Guest House and then visited our factory site and the local village during the day. We had a lovely time meeting the villagers and our team up there and I think we caused a bit of a stir (as you tend to do if you have white skin!), particularly when we were taken to a local market.
We were only in Nilphamari for a couple of days and then Andy and I have been in and out of the office since.
Today we went on a staff trip up the river on a boat. We stopped at a hindu temple and 200 yr old colonial building, which has kind of been left to rot, which is such a shame because it looks like it might have been quite an impressive building in it's day.
We also stopped at a place where people were weaving beautiful saris. The work was absolutely amazing. It was so inctricate that it would take 2 people up to 6 months to make one Sari. I even had a go at a bit of weaving and sat chatting to a happy couple who were married and working together at the loom - how wonderful!
What was a bit upsetting was when we learned that children as young as 9 would work at the place and I guess would work there for many long years after that. The conditions were relatively good but awful that children that young should be working there. I guess when it comes down to a choice of whether to eat or get an education eating comes first.
I think I've waffled on for long enough now.
Thank you to all of you who are keeping up with our blog; it means a lot to us to know that people are following it. We'll post some pics and videos up in the next few days, so keep an eye out for it.
