From leaving Dhaka to arriving in my placement village, from moving into my ‘apartment’ to starting work, from doing the shopping to not buying anything, it has been quite the week. To describe how I felt in the past week: overwhelmed, frustrated and completely disorientated. To describe how I feel right now: eager, motivated, relieved and relaxed.
I left Dhaka at 9am on the morning of Thursday 03rd March. The journey itself was not particularly eventful and even though the ferry crossing ran smoothly, it was 7pm when we arrived in Satkhira. I’ve added some photos of the trip in a new slideshow. Not that interesting to be honest (I’ve bought a big Nikon camera but haven’t really figured out how to use it properly yet).
On arrival at my organization, Agrogoti Sangstha, I was greeted by about 15people, given flowers and tea. Apart from shaking hands excessively, the funniest thing was that we had to do so with the aid of candles: ‘Welcome to the South West where every evening you will be without power on a regular basis for one hour intervals.’
After some pleasantries I was accompanied to my room/apartment which is on the second floor of the organizations building by half the team. Keen not to be seen as difficult or picky on the first night, I responded on sight with, ‘Oh, very nice, perfect, wow what a wonderful room etc’. To be honest I was never going to say: ‘Grand, yeah, grand but how come the kitchen consists of a hob on the floor and nothing else? Why is there no storage place what so ever in the bedroom? Why is their no actual window in the bathroom window? Ah come on, this is a joke, how the hell can I make tea without a kettle?’ No, I had decided to stay calm and not overreact hours before setting put in the apartment. And besides, I could not possibly complain with (queue the cliché) my colleagues all being extremely nice and helpful.
In fact, this is how it has continued; I have been invited to the executive director’s house for dinner three times, been introduced to key people in the market who will ensure ‘nobody takes advantage of the ignorant foreigner.’ I have been brought on little motor cycle rides around the local area and shown the best places to buy various things. Each evening at least two of them call me up and ask if I am ok. So even though their concern for my welfare is a at times way over the top and mostly a little daft, it is also welcome at well intentioned and is not creating a problem…for the moment ;)
But what did create a problem was the fact that I arrived in a very empty apartment. I had muesli but no fridge. I had bread but no butter; pasta no tomatoes. Then, tomatoes but no salt; salt but no pepper and coffee but dodgy water. I did of course eventually buy water and tomatoes but found my Bangla to be hopeless otherwise. I had a few lunches with staff or in the countryside but struggled to keep it down….rice (by the bucket) with mashed vegetables and extremely spicy meat of which there is more bone that meat….not the most appetising. I had brought some food from Dhaka but when your stomach is turning from the local food and water; and with the heat eating away at your appetite, you find yourself dangerously low on energy.
This is the period of disorientation that I mention above and I cannot think of another time in my life when I’ve felt so helpless.
But let’s not get carried away, fact is you always adapt to the circumstances around you and so it was here also. Three days in and the fridge, cutlery, pots and pans had arrived. By the times of writing, I had bought all the cooking essentials - I even have a toaster and natural yoghurt which means I can finally start eating breakfast (Fresh milk is nigh impossible to find and butter can only be found on the other side of town…logic?). The hob is now even sitting on a table! And I can also begin to eat a little like the locals by picking and choosing ingredients and cooking them to suit my rather uncultivated taste buds. In all, having survived my first week with the help of some wonderful colleagues who insist that I am no longer a foreigner but a bhai (every friend is a bhai here, or brother), I reckon the rest of the year will be a breeze.
Yeah right!
On another note, work seems really interesting. The organization, Agrogoti Sangstha, is a non-governmental organization working in Satkhira district. The District population is around 600,000 people and these are the main beneficiaries of the organizations work. Our (note…change not ‘their’) aim is to establish accountable and transparent local and national governance in order to realize human rights. In other words, AS tries to hold local political and bureaucratic institutions to account for the services which they are constitutionally obliged to provide to the people. They do this by raising awareness among the poorest and most marginalized peoples of their rights, by building local volunteer groups who participate in open budget and other sessions of the local government, and by building the capacity of the local councils and councillors to enable them to discharge their duties more effectively. The organization believes in providing a long term solution to the massive poverty in this country and not just plugging the holes… If all of this is true in practice and if the organization is not actually interested in securing its own survival than dealing with the most pressing issues, then I reckon that VSO will have found the perfect organization for me.
My role will be to use my background in Human Rights to assist with the development of the organizations 5year strategy, to ensure that the development process is participatory and thereafter to build the organization’s capacity to advocate at local, regional and national level for the protection of human rights by ensuring that their actions are dictated by the strategy and not by where the money lies. Otherwise, the ED and Programme Coordinator are good people and smart professionals who seem keen to hear my views on any subject.
So, the disorientation is over and the work finally begins… Exhale and inhale.
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