April Showers (In March)

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

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Hi everyone,

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.

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What a jolly holiday.

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.

We'll try and write again soon.

Love, the Holiday-makersers x

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