It is with pleasure and pride that I am finally wrapping up my time as a VSO volunteer in one of VSO’s most difficult countries. What do I have to say?

Thank Allah it’s over.

While it is true I do say that with a sense of great relief, I also say it without an ounce of regret. As a volunteer, I have truly tested my own selflessness, and with my $250 USD per month salary (which is enough to live on quite comfortably—can you imagine it?), I can safely say that I have contributed my heart and soul—two prized possessions that are free of the economic realities in which the minority world (aka western world) currently toils away.

It has not been easy. Bangladesh–no wait, just Dhaka—is noisy, chaotic, polluted and disgusting. This city is by far one of the worst I have ever experienced and I’m sure its pollutants will be firmly lodged in me for years to come. I recall that in my earliest days, I arrived to a Dhaka that I perceived to be absolutely flooded with beggars. Because it was Ramadan, Dhaka’s streets were filled with countryside migrants searching for the giving that is dictated under the direction of Islam. It is debatable whether this giving is sustainable, but that’s another issue. I came to understand what poverty really meant.

Poverty is more complicated than the needy woman’s face. It has underlying causes and effects—forces that are in our power to change, but the change is slow. It is not for a lack of industriousness that so many people in Bangladesh suffer, nor is it a lack of creativity, ingenuity or even passion. No, it is for a choice of opportunity that Bangladeshis hunger—and that is something that still is in my power to change. I’ve since chosen tourism as a means to do that.

Why?

Because outside Dhaka, I’ve discovered something pure and unexplored. I’ve experienced how the torrential monsoon rains also brings a dearth of delicious and cheap mangos. I’ve learned to see beauty in Bangladesh’s brutality. Most importantly, I’ve found a place—whom some have lovingly referred to as the “Armpit of India” (just look at a map to see what I mean)—that will forge me into the travel writer I’ve dreamt of becoming. My road was meant to the frontiers of travel.

But back to development. I have also learned that our extraordinary wealth in the West, far removed as it may seem, is completely tied to the current world economic model. My understanding is limited in this regard, so please correct me if I am wrong, but I do firmly believe that financial policies that benefit the West come at great cost and disparity to the majority world. In other words, our extraordinary wealth comes with staggering human cost, and we in North America grow fat with the innumerable desires our lifestyle provides. Certainly, the fault belongs with no one. However, responsibility for the relentless pursuit of change lies with us all.

Working in development has also raised similarly thorny issues in my heart. On one hand I have now witnessed the expenditure of millions of dollars, all in the name of change, progress and development. But because development is not firmly regulated by principles of efficiency and profit, I have witnessed some mightily poor execution of development projects (not naming names here, but let me say that VSO’s ethos is far better than some other organizations I have come across). The bottom line is this: the inefficiency of our enterprise is absolutely staggering. But that’s the nature of the beast.

At the level of my own work, I have discovered that the digital divide is in fact a widening chasm: ICT knowledge among development organizations, both international AND local, lags farther and farther behind. For the great majority of my time in Bangladesh, I feel like I’ve been been putting out ICT fires, far more than I’ve created systemic and long-lasting change.

But on the other hand, looking outside ICT, I have now been imbued with a sense of how unjust our world truly is, and how the people who work in this field are motivated by passion, creativity and the desire for change. This force is significant, and steadfastly opposed the pursuit of the almighty taka/dollar/baht/kuai.

I feel, in the deepest reaches of my heart, that poverty is a disgusting dark blight on our humanity that I simply cannot ignore. I urge any of you reading this far to look deeper at your own lives for what is truly important, and consider an experience like mine one day. It has been a journey I will never forget, despite the misgivings I expressed earlier.

To you, I say the following: let your idealism get you here, and as it inevitably fades, let your passion maintain you through the experience. The change I’ve felt in me has been great, despite the fact the change has not always been mirrored in the environment around me. But it’s coming.

My future is uncertain for the time being, but perhaps in next month’s update, things will be clearer. I have decided to pursue what I will call, for now at least, “tourism development.” My vision is a form of travel that highly stresses the positive impact it has on preserving unique cultures and protecting precious environments, both of which are often left to decay under the corrosive effects of corruption.

My invitation to visit is still open. Please, *please* do not let the international headlines (gee, let me see here: floods, poverty, riots, corruption) sway you from the fact that tourism is valuable force for change in our world. The great majority of you have travelled with me before, and you must know that I wouldn’t live here it there wasn’t something positive, fun and enjoyable (plus tasty and alcoholic!) about being here in Bangladesh. Just tell me if/when you can come, and I promise you an intense and eye-opening experience few in the world today claim to have.

Until next time,
Mikey