Sharna Bremner Outreach Blogger 8 July 2010
Throwing two Aussies into a country where they don’t speak a word of the language, with a somewhat lofty goal of connecting the world with some poverty-stricken slum dwellers could have been a recipe for disaster. Lucky for us, it was the opposite.
As I sit here at home in chilly Adelaide, bundled up in my Snuggie (yes, I’m a Snuggie person. And I’m not ashamed to admit it), the only sound I can hear is my dog’s snores.
The loud and chaotic streets of humid Dhaka seem a lifetime ago.
In our whirlwind two week quest in Bangladesh, we met amazing people, learnt more than we probably expected to, made lifelong friends, ate great food and managed to achieve some outstanding things.
Our time in Bangladesh began with Joel and me aimlessly wandering the streets of Dhaka. We saw the stark contrasts that “third-world” cities have to offer, as people in Mercedes and BMW’s drove past disabled beggars on the street.We met the incredible team at ActionAid Bangladesh, heard their visions and dreams, and began to whittle away on their specky new blog.
We found small pleasures in our daily lives, despite being surrounded by heart-breaking poverty.
I had a moment of terror when I was very nearly crushed to death at a 1Goal: Education for All soccer game.
For the shortest of moments, and in the strangest of circumstances, I became a celebrity.
We met inspiring people who are doing their best to help others. From our visit to Happy Home, to the Community Outreach Group in DA16, and the participants of all of the Community Journalist Groups, I consistently found myself in awe of the determination, enthusiasm and hope people harbour.
Best of all, we achieved our goal. Working alongside our new-found friends at AABangladesh, we created a hybrid creature, which now has a life of its own. The ActionAid Bangladesh blog is more of a website. It’s something that we can all be proud of. We created twitter and facebook pages and watched in amazement as the number of followers increased every minute. We saw comments posted on the CJG blogs. Even better, we saw the reactions of the CJG members to the comments. Smiles that were bright enough to light up a small town.
If I’m being entirely honest, I entered the draw for Project TOTO on a whim. As a final year university student, I’m somewhat of a CV "padder". You’ll find us everywhere around uni campuses. We’re the people who know they need the experience now to get a job when we’ve graduated and are willing to do anything that will look good on a résumé. I didn’t actually consider what Project TOTO was and what it aimed to achieve. For me, twitter, blogging and facebook were simply a procrastination tool.
Again, I can admit I was wrong. The power of the internet and social media is truly astonishing. They are tools that really aren’t utilised to their full ability in the fight against poverty.
In the end, this experience not only taught me more than my three years studying Development Studies at university, for me, it raised more questions than it answered.
We met girls at one of the Happy Homes who work longer and harder at the ages of 14 and 15 than your average CEO. They get up at the crack of dawn, help out with the younger kids at the home, go to school and do skills training such as sewing lessons, and then help out at the home a little more before going to bed just before midnight.
When I heard stories such as these, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was all too much for someone so young. Does training kids of these ages encourage child labour? Or does it give the girls valuable skills for future employment?
Does focusing on women in development lead to the feminisation of poverty, placing further burdens on females or widening the gender gap?
Yep, my time in Bangladesh brought out a feminist streak in me that had previously been dormant. It wasn’t because I felt that women were oppressed in Bangladesh, but because I noticed that women in poverty really do seem to suffer more.
It really is easy to become disillusioned with aid and development work. The issue of poverty is so widespread, complex and overwhelming. There are so many symptoms that it’s almost impossible to find a cure.
But the one thing that I will take from my Project TOTO experience is the belief that aid does work.
The benefits of sponsoring a child are immeasurable. Education is appreciated, essential and undeniably the greatest gift we in luckier countries can give to those less fortunate.
A monetary donation, no matter how big or small, might just be the catalyst for improving a life.
Yes, people do need food and health care but I saw first-hand the irrefutable importance of being heard. When it comes to fighting poverty, having a voice might mean something as significant as policy-makers reading that a community needs a well, or a toilet or it could be as simple as simply knowing that someone, anyone, is listening to what you have to say.
So while my adventure has come to a close, I won’t question the longevity or effectiveness of Project TOTO or ActionAid Bangladesh’s blog. I believe it will last, and I believe it will be a success.
Just as Joel’s blogs have been filled with food metaphors, mine seem to have been infused with musical influences so I’ll let another song sum up my final thoughts on the incredible power of Project TOTO...
Don’t stop believin’....Hold on to that feelin’....
Oh, Journey (and more recently, the kids from Glee), I couldn’t have said it better myself.
And just a quick PS -
I want to say a huge thank you to the team at ActionAid Australia for allowing me to go on this amazing journey, especially when there were so many other incredible nominees in the running. A big shout out needs to go especially to Mark and Emily for all of their help, support and encouragement.
To my Bangla Brother, Joel, cheers for being a great travel buddy, so much fun to work with and for keeping me laughing.
Lara and Jo, thank you both so much for spending time with us in Dhaka! It was much appreciated! Best of luck for the rest of your time in Bangladesh!
Oh, and I’d better thank my Mum for looking after my dog while I was away! She was grateful and so was I. And to my Mum’s friends for looking after her while she was looking after my dog...
To everyone at ActionAid Bangladesh – we couldn’t have asked for a better team to be working with. Hasan, Amir and Towfik, thank you for the laughs, the translations and showing us an amazing time!!
To the Community Journalist Groups – Thank you all so much for sharing your stories with us! Keep up the good work and keep in touch!
And last, but certainly not least, I need to send out a big HUGE thank you to each and every person who read the blogs, commented, donated to the cause, helped with the fundraising, sent messages of support and encouraged me!
