Before Bel took off, we had a chance to visit one of Bangladesh’s rural corners last week: Rajshahi. The pace of life out west is calmer then the rest of the country given its rural nature. An endless agricultural patchwork of lively green and earthy brown rice fields decorated the journey; the festival itself was a subdued affair meant to highlight the importance of Sangthal culture—one of Bangladesh’s many indigenous groups.

See more pictures here.
I was there for working reasons: I’m programming another Web site for one of VSO’s partner organizations. This time around, I definitely felt a total disconnect to be discussing web site programming while sitting in a village without electricity and where the walls of people’s homes are made from mud. If they’ve managed it, they use corrugated tin as a roof—otherwise its straw. The atmosphere of this place was fantastic, but living here? The going could be tough sometimes. Hampered by a lack of education and health care facilities, this village and the thousands like it are the reason that most people in Bangladesh still live on less than $2 USD per day.