Joel Katz Outreach Blogger 16 June 2010
This is it. Last post for Project TOTO Bangladesh - for me, anyway. Sharna's up tomorrow. It's been both rollicking adventure and inspiring eye-opener, all wrapped up in the tastiest chapati bread imaginable.
But before I get misty-eyed and start bidding all a sad farewell, I'll recap today's activities. It was our last trip to the field, and lots of fun.
Hasan and Amir join us, and our van nudges its way to Madartek in Dhaka's east. We're visiting Development Area (DA) 14. Shouting above the honking traffic, Hasan tells us about the DAs, and that they usually have a life of ten years.
As we creep along, street kids shove fresh roses through the car windows, and we hand them some taka in return.
Hasan continues that as DAs mature, along with the kids, the money can be better spent elsewhere. Sadly there are limited funds, so if the teenagers are in school or skills-trained, AA Bangladesh sees that they're relatively self-sufficient. That's the endgame. Partners, like other community groups, do stay on though to ensure that programs have some support.
Again we're meeting with sponsored kids and CJG teenagers. We've already talked about these initiatives in previous blogs. And as usual we're greeted with passive faces and down-turned eyes. Kids are furiously working away on crayon drawings. With bright saris, and sketches of country scenes and, of course, Brazilian and Argentine flags, the room is awash with colour.
The kids are preparing drawings for their Italian sponsor's biannual reports, so there's plenty of Azzurri flags too.
Next we meet up with the CJG guys. Same as always. Formal intros all round. Q&A session. Faces deadpan. Then cameras come out. Make a few goofy attempts at Bengali, and the giggling starts. Ah - they're kids after all.
CJG teenagers write stories about their life ambitions, to post on their new blog. These kids are aiming high. They want to be doctors, journalists, artists and singers. See them at work, and you don't doubt their potential for a moment. Their drive and energy is staggering.
At their age I just thought about surfing, my mates and girls.
In their stories, one thing is constant. First line is always about how important education is. And CJG, Happy Homes and other AA Bangladesh programs are all about giving disadvantaged kids the opportunity to learn, grow and be creative. They suck up this knowledge like their lives depended on it. And they do.
Posts go up. Drawings are completed. Paparazzi goes nuts and shutters click like ten thousand snapping turtles. Like other DAs we're bowled over by kids' sheer talent.
Lunch break and Hasan has us in fits of laughter as he impersonates himself as a 110 year old. Amir explains to me that a digital watch in a Shakespeare play is an anachronism, not an oxymoron.
Take out the oxy, and that's how I feel.
Head back into main room and the kids have organised a little performance for us. Sure Australia's Got Talent - but Bangladesh has its fair share too.
It's mini-Bollywood come alive. Girls bust out some awesome dance moves. Feet slap out the rhythm on the floor as they swirl around the room. It's hypnotic.
That is until they ask me to join. Captain Klutz declines politely, but before I know it I'm up shaking my booty to Bengali beats. Everything these graceful girls are, I'm not - but doesn't matter. I'm having a ball.
We covered lots of ground on this trip, Sharna and I. In two short weeks we experienced so much, soaking up a vibrant culture as spicy as the hottest Bengali curry. Saw immense poverty and heard stories of hardship, heartbreak and hope. Set up a great blog with the AA Bangladesh guys - some of the finest people I've ever met. Got to work with inspiring kids and young adults. Kids who have very little, but radiate with self-confidence unlike anything I've seen. Switched-on kids. Happy kids. Desperate for knowledge and to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
Like Massum. Squeezed into a prison-sized concrete bunker, he and the other four family members sleep on one tiny bed. But it's clean and safe and much better than when they lived in the slums. Yet his smile could melt an ice cap, and he looks like the world is his for the taking.
That's why AA Bangladesh's work is so important and why these kind of programs must go on. Project TOTO has helped to bring these stories to the world in the hope that more people will get involved - let's see how we go.
Big thanks to Hasan and his AA Bangladesh sponsorship team, the fantastic CJG guys, Mark Chenery, Emily Mulligan and the rest of the AA Australia team for all their amazing support and Project TOTO itself, and of course, Sharna, who was an absolute dream to work with and who has managed to make every little girl in the country go gaga for her.
Graceful Bengali girls and the most awkward man alive. Despite my protests Sharna threatened to put this video up, so thought I'd humiliate myself instead. It was fun, though...
Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site
Postscript: Isn't it nice falling asleep to the soft patter of rain? It is, unless rain's inside your room. Up at 3am, and there's a leak in the bathroom flooding the floor. Perched on bed now in darkness with water lapping below. Hope internet connection doesn't fry me. Entire hotel staff is here, arguing loudly on how to fix the problem. Same guys who work all day. Must be on 24 hour shifts. Tough gig, man.
Don't seem to notice me at all.
So tired, and falling asleep even though a short old guy with long white beard is on his tippy-toes on a chair on my bed. He still can't reach leaking pipes. Everywhere in Bangladesh it's flooding, but not in Dhaka. Only in my room.
Doubtful I'll get any zees tonight...
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