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Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide Book Launch party, 1 Oct, Dhaka, click poster to see full size

It was a long road to get here, one of the biggest challenges I have taken on in my life and one that I now feel very proud of. More importantly, I fully believe my guide is important for the wonderful people of Bangladesh — some of the kindest and most hospitable people our planet has to offer. It is my hope that more people visit Bangladesh to see the reality behind the veil, the truth behind Bangladesh’s horrible headlines.

Today I’d like to offer some of my friends and contacts the chance to purchase a signed copy of the guidebook, which I will send from London when I visit the Bradt Travel Guides office on 21 September.

One of the wonderful things I learned about Islam during my stay in Bangladesh is the concept of Zakat — which means giving alms to the poor. A good Muslim is supposed to donate 10 percent of his earnings to support widows, orphans and the poor,

After getting inspired by the book Three Cups of Tea, I decided want to take this chance to raise some funds for the Jaago Foundation, a Dhaka-based charity that Belinda and I have chosen to support with all of our book’s launch activities. The foundation supports the education of slum children in Rayer Bazaar, one of Dhaka’s poorest neighbourhoods.

Here’s a Jaago promotional video:

From Jaago’s website:

Basic sponsorship cost per child is a minimum of BDT 12,000 (US$180) annually, or you may pay installments of BDT 1000 monthly BDT 3000 quarterly or BDT 6000 half yearly (The amount of the sponsorship is increased from BDT 500 to BDT 1000 monthly). You also have the option to sponsor a project. The money received at our headquarters is forwarded for the betterment of the children. Eid and/or birthday money can be sent via headquarters.

My goal is to sponsor as many children as possible with my book-selling drive, so if you’ve been thinking of buying a book, there is no better time than now to help me support a few underprivileged children at the same time. But it would be ideal if I can get 60 books sold at USD$25.99 each, I will be able to support two children for an entire year of education.

You can use the button below to donate to the project and buy a book at the same time. Please add your shipping address if you’d like me to send you a signed copy of the book.

After you click the donation button, you’ll need to enter in the donation amount. The best price I can offer for the book is $20.00USD, which includes shipping to anywhere in the world. The listed price for the book is $25.99USD and although you can pick up the book more cheaply at Amazon, it won’t be signed and you won’t be supporting a good cause like Jaago.

So if you’re ready, please click the donation button and enter an amount of $25.99USD (if you donate more I’ll use the extra funds to support Jaago). You’ll be able to add your shipping details at Paypal.

Even if you’re not interested in buying a book, this is a chance to donate to the project, one that I have felt is extremely worthwhile and run by people who I trust very much.

Thanks for your help in advance!

Note: if you’re in Dhaka and receiving this message you’ll have a chance to support Jaago by coming to the book launch on 1 October at the Australian High Commission. Click here to learn more.

The documentary talks about the lives of a group of women inside a brothel in Patuakhali, a town situated in the Barisal district of Bangladesh. She recently did an interview with the Calgary Eyeopener, whom I used to work for at CBC a long time ago..

And perhaps some of you might be interested in hearing that interview. Here’s the link. You’ll need realplayer to listen to it (annoying I know, but what can you do).

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These villagers are moving a small shop to another location. See more pictures here.

Caught by surprise

Cyclone Sidr tore through Bangladesh late on the evening of November 15th, three days before I was scheduled to return to begin work on the Bradt Bangladesh project. At first, Bel and I weren’t aware of how bad the devastation would be. But as my phone started ringing from news agencies around the world, the true depth of the disaster began to emerge.

On Nov. 20, four days after the cyclone struck, I was sent by Indonesian radio program Asia Calling to cover the disaster from the ground. What I saw was a gradually increasing picture of devastation. Sixty-foot trees were upended and tossed into nearby houses. Village homes, most of which are constructed from bamboo and corrugated tin, were simply blown over or tossed about like tumbleweed. Those situated in the coastal or river areas were also the victims of a tidal surge, which at some places was said to be over 12 or even 20 feet tall.

I can’t imagine the terror these people must have felt for that one, very long evening. One man I met, Alamgir Hossain, said that he and his children took refuge in a tree after a huge tidal surge destroyed their home. After the night had passed, they found themselves 20 feeet above the ground.

Many inhabitants were able to make it to one of Bangladesh’s numerous cyclone shelters. As a result of these shelters, not as many have perished in this cyclone as have in previous disasters. But because Bangladesh’s infrastructure, health and education systems lag far behind, people who live in the cyclone’s path had their homes and livelihoods destroyed, with no safety net to help them recover.

Sundarbans hit

The disaster also calls the Sundarbans one of its victims. As the world’s largest littoral mangrove forest, the Sundarbans is Bangladesh’s prime tourist attraction. Early reports have said that over a quarter of the forest was damaged. Although I have yet to confirm that report, it is well known that several local fishing villages in and around the Sundarbans were badly hit as they bore the brunt of the storm, including Dublar Char, an island on the southern edge of the forest.

As a result of the above, Guide Tours, one of Bangladesh’s most established and best tour operators, has embarked on a relief effort to aid the people of the Sundarbans. They will be using their company boats to deliver immediate aid and long-term assistance to victims located in the Sundarbans. I have republished their relief appeal at Joybangla.info and now ask you, my friends, contacts and previous donors, to consider committing some of your resources to their efforts. Please read their appeal, and if you cannot donate this time, please do forward the message to others.

In a more ideal world, a disaster like this wouldn’t strike a country like Bangladesh twice in one year. Nonetheless, our responsibility to aid those who are suffering cannot be denied. It is my hope that one day the people here will be able to protect themselves from the ravages of a disaster like this.

Why support the Guide Tours’ relief effort?

As we (Bel and I) move in to the role of travel journalists and promoters of Bangladeshi tourism, we have consistently found Guide Tours to provide the most consistent and high level of service for travellers to the Sundarbans, both international and domestic. As we also believe in the majestic beauty of the Sundarbans and its preservation, we believe that our relief efforts, however small, should go towards the preservation of the World Heritage-listed forest whose presence, by slowing the tidal surge of Cyclone Sidr, also saved lives.

If you would like to learn more, please listen to my radio reports, using the below player, or read about Guide Tours’ relief appeal. Otherwise, please read this excellent editorial about the disaster written by a media colleague, Zafar Sobhan. Finally, you can read a previous article of mine on the Sundarbans here.

Every donation helps!

Guide Tours has indicated the following when it comes to usage of the donations:
For your information:
1 US$ = 3-4 Liters of Safe Drinking Water
10 US$ = 20 Kilo of Rice or 10 Kilo of Lentils
100 US$ = one day ship fuel required for transport

***

What will happen with the funds raised?

In order to facilitate donations, we (Belinda Meggitt and Mikey Leung) are accepting funds on behalf of Guide Tours via online payment gateway Paypal. You will need your credit card to donate. Simply click the “Make a Donation” button below and follow the instructions. You will need to register for a PayPal account in order to donate. On Nov. 30, we will pass what we have raised so far to Guide Tours, and on Dec. 7, we will conclude our fundraising and then wire these funds directly to Guide Tours for long-term restoration work in the Sundarbans.

Otherwise you can wire funds to Guide Tours directly using the following info:

Name of the account:
The Guide Tours Ltd.

Name of the Bank:
Standard Chartered Bank
Dhaka. 2, Dilkusha c/a, P.O.Box-169, Dhaka-1000
Swift Code Number: SCBLBDDX
Account number: 01-1104772-01
Comment: Cyclone Relief

For those of you who sent me messages of concern, my apologies for not letting you know about my status sooner! Thanks, it’s good to know people think of you when stuff like this happens.

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Yes, a slightly unrelated photo, but I love it still. More at Flickr.

Where would you live in Dhaka if you could live anywhere you wanted? I want you to vote. Bee (pictured above) and I have been flat hunting in Dhaka’s numerous neighbourhoods.

At first we first strolled around in Lalmatia, and then peered into Dhanmondi from a rickshaw. We padded around Banani and did a cursory search of Gulshan. I even visited friends’ places in New Eskaton, Niketan and Mogh Bazar. We might make a decision tomorrow, but I need your opinion first. It’s a smart idea to ask you, my audience, what you think. I can’t believe I haven’t done it until now.

And what’s more important is that I’ve got a challenge. I will take this as a binding vote on where Bel and I should live. That’s right. If enough votes get together, and I get a strong opinion from my audience, I will follow that choice and write about it.

My favourite so far, is a flat we found in Banani DOHS, and if I had to choose now I would give it my vote. I first went to the neighbourhood with A a few months ago. She told me that it was hard to find flats in this area—but I remember distinctly liking it. There was atmosphere here, a quiet community that was upscale for Dhaka but not filled to the gills with expats and the bars and everything else. For instance, the construction is mostly finished in Old DOHS, where as in Lalmatia they’re always banging away in here. Are there other reasons it’s good/bad that I don’t know about?

We hung out with her friends and I had a blast. Their apartment was gorgeous, homely, and filled with the warmth of old friendship, even though I was new. We talked for hours. They were extraordinarily welcoming, and I made myself at home so quickly I crashed there for the night. In other words, complete strangers didn’t mind if I, the abrasive drunkard that I can be sometimes, went a little overboard? No, we had a great time, in fact. I hope I see those guys again some time.

My friend, I am having a great time in Bangladesh. Why?

I have now spent my 11 months in Lalmatia, and I am so close to it that I currently enjoy its 128 kbps connection in a wireless heaven—always during off hours in the office, of course. I wrote a previous article about how much I loved this neighbourhood and the charms it had. If I could stay, I would.

But that commute, that commute absolutely kills me. The pollution in this city is staggering. Everybody knows it. And they tell me it’s better than it used to be because of CNGs? That’s impressive. It must have been horrible before. The thing is, Bel has a job up there, and not a bad one either!!!

So, the commute she’s been doing has been manageable so far, but Allah, my mountain lungs need a little fresh air. That’s why I want to live near, but not in the expat “bubble” as it so famously known. I need to live near there so I don’t have to commute. Our health absolutely requires it.

That’s why I want to know what people think of Old DOHS. Is Baridhara DOHS a better idea? I know it is on price, but is it on value? The flat I’ve seen right now is a four-bedroom flat, charging 26,000 Tk per month, including service charge. We also looked at a furnished flat in Banani at 38,000 Tk. It’s just too expensive too.

Rezwan? Andrew? Julie? Do you guys have a better idea than I do about this? Probably! Am I absolutely nuts to move to the bubble? Or am I fighting too much to stay out of it?

Oh and one more thing.

I want to open a Dhaka Bed and Breakfast at the flat we found. The place had four bedrooms, and an enormous patio out front. It was open, airy and light coloured, not dark and hidden like Bengali restaurants. I could envision having both guests and friends in, with extraordinary service and a most delicious and healthy breakfast to start your day. The prices, just enough for us to break even, will be somewhere in the neighbourhood of $40-$50 dollars, cheaper, I might add, than the rates you expect at Lake Castle Hotel in Gulshan, and that’s $75. (Where all the UN people stay. It’s pretty damn nice. But we will offer more value AND make something utterly unique for Dhaka).

In my next installment, I’ll tell you why I think it’s a great business idea for Dhaka, and I don’t do it, somebody should!!! But first.. maybe you could tell me what you think of Old DOHS? Does it seem like an off-beat choice to you?

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

I’ve been organizing my photos at Larry into easier to browse groups. All the VSO photos are in one place, and I’ve also grouped the travel photography in to one place. I’ve been pretty lucky to see as much as I have in the past few years… I invite you to browse the pictures for more.

Greetings from a hot and steamy land—and not in a very sexy way (sorry for the misleading headline). Bathing in my own perspiration is not really my idea of fun.

I’m in Parbatipur, a backwater town of Northwestern Bangladesh whose only claim to fame is that is a major railway junction for the surrounding area (ie, I’m in the middle of nowhere, by most standards). Other than the railway station there is a multi-acre fisheries facility, and a few hundred mud and tin homes spread around the innumerable fields. The pace is much slower here, truly timeless. Instead of the rot and the floods of a wet Dhaka day, I walk past goats and cows and furry little sheep on my way to work.

Even after nine months, I am still completely amazed how life here is often lived at the mercy of some extraordinarily violent weather. In Canada, I grew up under the dry extremes of -30ºC to +30ºC temperatures, but in Bangladesh the extreme is of the “soaking wet” variety.

Most of you know of Bangladesh because of its incredible flooding rather than say, its extremely friendly culture or its beautiful rural landscapes. Some of you maybe even heard about mudslides that killed 130 people two weeks ago in Chittagong. But what most of you may not know is why this flooding happens: during the monsoon season, airborne moisture from the Bay of Bengal accumulates as it heads northward towards the wall that is the Himalayan mountain range. The buildup results in great droves of driving rain, sometimes arriving horizontally when backed by monsoonal winds. All of it causes serious havoc to human inhabitants below.

During a monsoonal rain, life comes to an absolute standstill, especially in Bangladesh’s crowded cities. Because of a lack of a decent drainage systems (which is a result of a lack of planning, which in turn is a result of bad governance), Dhaka’s broad avenues become incredible rivers littered with stopped vehicles, whose engines cannot tolerate the sometimes waist-high waters.

Fortunately, I’m not mired in that mess at the moment. I’m enjoying the calmer confines of Northwest Bangladesh, also known as Golden Bengal, for some more ICT development work—this time I’m installing a WordPress-based website for Gram Bikash Kendra, or ‘Village Development Center,’ whose work it is to assist in the development of the poorest people of the northwest, including the indigenous people of the area.

While they’re training indigenous farmers on the intricacies of pig and rabbit-raising, I’m busy training them to use the features of WordPress’ content-management system. Like I’ve said before my work doesn’t suffer from a lack of idiosyncracies, but it still does suffer from a serious lack of electricity! I will post a link to the site when it comes online.