Today we also learn a little more about the cast — who are the people putting these podcasts together, and why have we come to Bangladesh? We discuss again, the ethical philosophy of doing relief work yourself, or is it all just pointless, given the current state of affairs in Bangladesh?

Background
Before coming, donors who were friends of Michael Mangano gave $1,000 for us to bring directly to people in need from the cyclone, as something to do while Michael visited Bangladesh for research purposes (and to have a bit of travel fun).

Is this the approach we should use? Should travellers approach local relief organisations and NGOs with the goal of helping Bangladesh get back on its feet? Tune in to the below podcast for more.

Background
Before coming, donors who were friends of Michael Mangano gave $1,000 for us to bring directly to people in need from the cyclone, as something to do while Michael visited Bangladesh for research purposes (and to have a bit of fun).

For the next few days we’ll be podcasting our efforts as we take a boat journey to some Cyclone-struck villages bordering the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a world heritage site. The forest suffered immensely during Cyclone Sidr, and we don’t know we’ll see.

Our first podcast is about what Tourism for Development can mean when it is applied, on the ground, by travellers themselves. Is it the right thing to do? Should travellers cut out all middle men and bring to the help directly to the ground themselves? And also have a lot of fun while they do it?

We ask these questions and more in the following podcast. Please listen for more.

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.

A visitor to the Bangladesh Travel and Tourism Fair 2007 admires the artwork promoting Bangladeshi tourism. In 2006, there were over 200,000 visitor arrivals to Bangladesh, the majority of whom were business, development or diplomatic workers.

7 Sept 2007 – www.mikeyleung.ca

The world’s largest littoral mangrove forest is in danger, say tourism operators of Bangladesh.

“If we continue to destroy the Sundarbans, then we will not have something that attracts tourists,” says Elisabeth Farhni Mansur of Guide Tours. “And we will destroy our only protection from natural disasters that come from the Bay of Bengal.”

The Sundarbans is also the home of the Bengal tiger, the animal that has widely become the mascot of Bangladesh to the outside world. Hasan Arif Rahman, a researcher with the Sundarbans Tiger Project, echoed Mansur’s message.

“As a top level carnivore, the tiger needs a large area to live,” said Rahman. “Because it is prone to habitat interference, poaching and prey depletion, there is a very high mortality rate.”

Mansur stressed the need for more solid research in the forest. As it stands, the Sundarbans is widely known to have depleted in the last 30 years and is under severe pressure from land shortage and uncontrolled economic interests. The area is also one of the biggest drawcards for international tourists, in a nation that is lowest performer only to Bhutan in South Asia in terms of visitor arrivals.

“Conservation is absolutely required for the Sundarbans forest to survive,” said Mansur. “But without conservation based on solid research, the forest will be finished. In order to have an effective conservation we need to know what to protect and how to do so.”

Mansur presented on the subject at the Tourism and Conservation in Sundarban Forest seminar of the Bangladesh Travel and Tourism Fair 2007. The seminar also had presentations from the Sundarbans Tiger Project, the Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project and Guide Tours.

“Unless we understand the tigers and unless we understand their needs, we will not be able to preserve the tigers. We can’t judge any of the management projects unless there is a baseline for measurement. “

Major Zia Uddin, a former freedom fighter who has now worked in the Sundarbans forest for several decades, noted that over 200,000 people are economically dependent on the Sundarbans and need some form of alternative income in order to protect the forest.

“The Sundarbans as you see it today is not the one it used to be. It has been squeezed to a few thousand square kilometers and this is the line we must draw,” he said. He also expressed dismay at the state of enforcement in the forest. “It is so unfortunate that the illegal wood logging, killing of wildlife is not in front of blind eyes, but it is in broad daylight.”

The Sundarbans is also host to several rare and important species, including Bangladesh’s most dangerous snake, the monocellate Cobra. There have also been sightings of other rare species such as clawless otters and elusive barking deer, and several species of dolphin that were, until only very recently, not known to exist in Bangladesh.

“The benefits yielded from tourism should be fairly distributed,” said Professor Md. Anwarul Islam, in a keynote speech addressing participants at the Bangladesh Travel Tourism Fair 2007 (BTTF). “Only then will tourism become participatory, and thus the rights of the local residents will be properly recognized. In this way, tourism will become responsible and sustainable.”

Professor Md. Anwarul Islam presented a position paper on the use of Responsible Travel to fight poverty in Bangladesh. Philip J. DeCosse, Chief of Party of the Nishorgo Support Project, also presented (on left).

6 Sept 2007 – www.mikeyleung.ca

Tourism can be a powerful force in eradicating poverty, says Dhaka University Zoology Professor Anwarul Islam.

“The benefits yielded from tourism should be fairly distributed,” he said, in a keynote speech addressing participants at the Bangladesh Travel Tourism Fair 2007 (BTTF). “Only then will tourism become participatory, and thus the rights of the local residents will be properly recognized. In this way, tourism will become responsible and sustainable.”

The fair was organized by the Tourism Operators Association of Bangladesh in an wide-ranging effort to build and promote Bangladeshi tourism. Tourism has grown widely in the last few years, with more and more private operators setting up shop in the tiny nation. Many local operators expect growth in the domestic market over the next few years.

Philip J. DeCosse, Chief of Party of the Nishorgo Support Project, described the recent growth in the industry as encouraging. He also cautioned that profits must reach the right people in order to create change.

“The statistics for the number of paid visitors to the Sunderbans is up to nearly a million today—huge growth in the last few years,” said DeCosse. “The top 10 percent are earning more and more. What people generally do after making enough money, they want to pay for environment. They may travel just for enjoyment, but they will also pay for nature.”

He cautioned operators to not take advantage of Bangladesh’s few remaining natural areas and the people that live there, as this will be counterproductive to tourism growth.

“When you bring visitors out, you must remember that revenue belongs with the community,” he stressed. “I think the state can also step in and say that when you visit, there will be community structures that directly receiving benefits for their efforts in protecting these areas.”

On Friday, Sept. 14, I’ll be in Cox’s Bazaar, but I won’t just be lazing around the beach. I am proudly participating in International Coastal Cleanup 2007, an event where volunteers around the world will spend a day cleaning beaches worldwide.

At 94 km, Bangladesh has the world’s longest unbroken sea beach, stretching from the southernmost tip of Bangladesh at Teknaf, all the way to Cox’s Bazaar. I’ve read in some places that Cox’s might become some kind of Islamic beach holiday resort, which would be pretty interesting as the site of people swimming fully-clothed has always been a curious one. But given Bangladesh’s Islamic sensibilities, it does make sense.

The event is being hosted by Kewkradong.com, and supported by tourism company Delta Outdoors, one of the most intriguing operators I’ve met in Bangladesh so far. Composed of a small group of passionate adventurers who mostly have full-time jobs elsewhere, Delta Outdoors is extremely unique in that their focus is on Responsible Tourism (RT), something sadly lacking in tourism industry worldwide, but especially in Bangladesh. To me, RT means travelling while being conscious of one’s environmental and cultural impact, and also travelling in a way that brings benefit back to the local communities that support the travel. By simply highlighting RT in their marketing policies, Delta Outdoors already has my respect and support as one of Bangaldesh’s best operators.

Are you interested in participating in the cleanup? If so, please let me know… I would like to organize the logistics and costs over the weekend. We will leave Thursday evening (the 13th) and return Saturday night (15th) by overnight bus.