Understanding Bangladesh

Of rural bankers and 'phone ladies'

Checking in with those who read the blog and answering questions as we go.

We were out of town for a few days and are catching up. We were posed with a blog question about the "phone ladies." So far we have not ran into any "phone ladies" in the countryside, but we did investigate extensively the works of the Grameen Bank and Grameen Phone.

In Bangla, Grameen roughly means "rural," and the Grameen Bank offers micro-credit loans to individuals to finance projects that a regular bank would not fund due to the extremely low amount of money needed to fund the project.

Grameen Phone works in the same way. A "phone lady" is given a cell phone in a rural area, called a "district" and is given a small stipend of about 2 Taka per call (about 5 to 7 cents). The "phone lady" is given the phone and minutes to, basically to sell. This also gives the woman a chance for some sense of economic independence.

Grameen phone was also recently heavily invested in by a Norweigen phone company, who owns about 40 percent of the company, but was able to maintain the “Grameen” brand name. As we have traveled we have seen billboard, upon billboard, hats, shirts, taxi ads, and etc. advertising Grameen Phone.

We will let you know if we run into any "phone ladies" and describe the process when and if we see it. Thank you for the question and if there are other bloggers with more questions, please ask, we will be here through the first part of August.

Close quarters in traffic

In an earlier segment, under the discussion topic of traffic … which can be hair raising at times, calm on the highway, and a real tight fit as seen in this photo.

In Dhaka the bus we were riding in navigates through the city and coordinates with the van driver to solve a jam between two vehicles on a small city street.

There are many hazards that exist due to transportation and the continuous flow of people.

In drives there is a great deal of honking, hand signals, and even some close quarter face-to-face disagreements when the traffic outcome was not to one party's liking, however, this situation turned out just fine with both drivers working together to pass one another on a small side street.

Counting their blessings, and fearing cricket loss

College students are the same wherever you go! That was the theme as we spent the better part of two days at Dhaka University. The first day, as in this picture, we were introduced as visiting teachers trying to learn as much about a country in a month as we could. It may seem impossible, but I personally think that whatever we can take back to our students in the states will benefit them tremendously.

What we are seeing here every day is a country that is full of hard working happy people with a tremendous appreciation of life and the attitude that they are going to make the most out of their day as possible. Such is life in Bangladesh.

In our capacity as ambassadors, we have been stared at glared at, waved at, and even laughed at and have taken the all of the reactions in stride. In a nut shell that is the life of the people in Bangladesh. The people here, despite what we would term extreme poverty and overcrowded conditions are as happy with their lives as anyone.

As I spoke with many students at DU, I believe that the people of Bangladesh can and will contribute as much as they can with all of the energy and experience they can gather. The people of this country, like many others, accept what has been handed to them and they do the best they can to make it work.
We have seen it every day so far and yes, like the young kids playing in the monsoon rains, Bangladesh will make the best of what has been thrown at her. No sense cursing at the rain, you are only wasting your voice. As we learned the other day staring at an overturned bus, appreciate what you have been given, it could get much worse.

In another note: In the past year the favorite sporting team of Bangladesh, the national cricket team known as the Tigers, provided the people of their country with great promise by shoring up their team with many great players and advancing far into the final rounds of the World Cup. This year, amid the deal making, and all of the promise, the Tigers are on the verge of being swept by the Sri Lanka. (A national crisis from what I hear from the people!)

From the look of things, it kind of reminds me of my constant hope every spring of my hometown Cubs. Well, I do not know the fate of the Cubs at this point in the summer, but here’s toping their seasons turns out better that the Bangladesh National Tigers.

George Kuhter is the eighth grade social studies teacher at South Tama Middle School in Toledo.

Rain, rain, gone away

This time of year is the monsoon season and after only seeing rain once since we have been here we wondered if it would ever return or if we would see the beginnings of a drought.

Yesterday the umbrellas were not for the rain, but for the sun. We have got the sunburns to prove it.

Today we got our answer as a small shower brewed all day and then only sprinkled as we pulled into our new town of Rajshahi. The locals and their crops are still waiting for the monsoon.

Out and about, on the streets

By Anne Hoeper, Davenport, Iowa

Maureen and I (“the chosen”) got off to a good start today. We had a tasty and relaxing breakfast before getting ready to check out of La Vinci. We are going to head to Rajshahi for four nights. When we returned to our room, I took a suitcase to the reception area for them to hold on to until we return. As I entered the room, I noticed immediately that Maureen was wearing different clothes. It turns out that the one Kay lent her (which she had already worn to breakfast) were pajamas. It made since to that they were pajamas because they tie differently and there is no scarf. OK that’s just one more fun thing for us to remember.

Last night George pointed out that the area in front of the hotel was quiet – not a creature was stirring. Maureen and my room looks out on the back of the hotel and it was quite active with talking, noises, and people moving around. As Rex pointed out that shows the difference between the public (front) side and the private (back) side.

Trip to Rajshahi

On the way out of Dhaka there was a loud thud on the side of the bus. We looked out the windows to see a man had fallen from his bicycle. He got up and appeared not to be hurt as he smiled at us. Evidently his timing was off and he seemed to be a little embarrassed.

Are we still in Bangladesh? There’s a Ferris wheel. It’s an entire amusement park called Fantasy Kingdom. Khalid said he has gone there 3 or 4 times with his friends. Later we went past a water park. Both of these looked vacant. I wonder how often there are people in either of these establishments.

It was time to refresh ourselves. Next to the toilets there was a barber shop. After watching for awhile I realized there was more to the barber shop than a hair cut and shave. I noticed one barber holding onto a customer’s arm as he rubbed and shook it. Then he was rubbing the man’s neck and head. It was a massage. What service.

We saw a wide variety of crops on the 5 hour tour. There was rice, corn, jute, squash, mango, banana, and eggplant. Most of the rice had been harvested and there were cows grazing on the remains of the rice plants. They will be replanting the paddies at the end of this month.

We cross the Jamuna River on the fifth longest bridge in south Asia. It is 6 km long and 4.8 km extends over the water.

The highway has changed. There is a separate path for smaller vehicles. This is the only road in Bangladesh like it. It definitely helps with safety and allows the trucks and buses to make better time.

I am amazed that one can still see rickshaws in the rural areas. I had thought as we left the urban area they would slowly wane. Instead they continue throughout the rural areas carrying people and goods. In this area there is a difference in the rickshaws that we are seeing. Instead of a seat on the back there is a flat cart. They are called van rickshaws which carry straw, bricks, wood, and people who sit on he cart.

We made a stop a Natore Rajbari which was built for the Hindu king, Naren Dra Naryan early in the 19th century. It is a series of 7 rajbaris and 4 of the rajbaris are still intact.

As we entered Rajshahi, the stop lights got our attention. On the red light it says "relax." As we approached the stop light, the bus driver did not even begin to slow down. I guess the light was just a suggestion.

Rajshahi is the fourth largest city in Bangladesh and where we will be spending our next four nights. We are staying at the Parjatan Motel. It is a very quaint place with mosquito netting for our beds and the important air conditioning is available.

Emergency warning systems with a personal touch

In the countryside where flash floods and storm surges can surround a home in a short amount of time, Bangladesh uses a personal approach to emergency preparedness.

When natural disasters occur in Iowa, we are well aware of how we get our information about the emergency situation. Television, radio, and warning sirens provide us with the cue to take cover when storm conditions pose a danger to our lives.

In Bangladesh, this is a little different, of course television and radio stations are provided with a forecast and warning information as severe weather is on its way. In addition, there are groups of trained volunteers to spread the word about upcoming disaster potential.

Upon receiving word of severe weather via fax or cell phone, these volunteers must go out and warn the people in a door to door campaign to call people to the intended action. If the situation is more demanding, say in the case of tsunami which needs immediate action, volunteers will use loudspeakers in the coastal and outlying areas to spread the word. Examples of emergency messages may be to move to a storm shelter, provide information about the storm potential, or in severe cases to evacuate to a safe location.

Emergency planning takes a personal touch in Bangladesh.