UP | uncultured project

“We’ll send the car to return the blankets,” explained the BRAC manager over the phone. I wanted to reply but no words were coming out of my mouth. It was 4:50 pm – I was ten minutes from stepping into a car to go to the BRAC headquarters. From there, I was to board a plane and head to Bagarat where I would document the situation first and distribute the 70 blankets which BRAC had already taken from me earlier today. Turns out, it wasn’t to be.

This actually isn’t the first time I have been let down by the BRAC – the world’s largest Non-Government Organization. It’s a highly prestigious organization recognized around the world and honored by both awards from the United Nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and countless other important figures and heads of state. This particular mission was a bit of a roller-coaster ride. After exchanging emails with Annie from BRAC’s official blog on Blogspot, I was put in touch with a well-intentioned and kind-hearted Communications Manager from the Public Affairs department.

She proposed a quick one day, one night trip to Bagarat – one of the areas worst affected by Cyclone Sidr. I was to go (with her) to document the situation and do some good. This is where the distribution of my 70 purchased blankets came in. The plan was for me to supervise and select who gets these blankets in a manner that is discrete and doesn’t cause a deluge of people rushing to get items (things are that desperate in Bagarat that a riot for items can break out at any moment).

After agreeing to the project on yesterday afternoon, I got an SMS from the manager that very evening (after buying some supplies for the trip) saying it was canceled. I was sad but these things happen. This was followed by another call later that evening saying that the trip had been resumed and I could still go if I wanted to. I desperately spent the night packing and preparing – I didn’t get any sleep, but I didn’t care – I wanted to help. BRAC made arrangements to send a car and pickup my blankets the following day (which was the only thing they did on time and on schedule). I was to arrive on location a later that evening by plane (ticket to be fully paid by me – no mooching off of BRAC). It was here that the plan fell apart.

You see, because the world’s biggest NGO, the most prestigious institution in Bangladesh, the most decorated charity in the country – forgot to reserve the tickets. With less than two hours to take-off, I got a call from the BRAC Communications Manager explaining to me that there were no more tickets available today. Or the next day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that one. The mission was canceled. The funny thing is, having had such a bumpy start, I made a point to confirm every few hours throughout the day. “Did you want me to come at 5:45 pm or 6:45 pm?” I asked just a few hours ago. “We need you here by six – because we already have your ticket, and we leave at 6:30″ explained the Communications Manager. “Good thing I called to confirm,” I said sheepishly. Turns out “confirming” works differently in Bangladesh.

I now wait to see if I can find a way to properly distribute my 70 blankets some other way. At this point, I’m not even sure if I will get them back. Due to my desire not to have anyone lose their jobs at BRAC, let me just say that this isn’ t the first time I’ve given items to BRAC for a joint distribution – only to have the distribution scrapped at the 11th hour and the items not returned.

It’s not just me that they’ve left out in the cold today. There are 200 to 280 people that will suffer because of this. At a time with so much death, Bangladesh deserves better than the performance I’ve seen from this institution.

Where would I be if I wasn’t here? There is no where else I would want to be than right here, right now. Too often I’ve witnessed tragedies unfold over the TV screen. Witnessed people who are too poor to fend for themselves die and suffer. I would often curse myself under my breath – “if only” I would say. “If only” I had been there – I could have done something. “If only” I could save just one life – it would be worth it. No more do I have to say “if only”. Now I can say “finally”.

For better or worse I’ve been given a chance to make a difference. That difference starts today. Just minutes a ago a BRAC jeep (BRAC stands for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee – the world’s largest Non-Government Organization) came and picked up 70 blankets to go to Bagarat (near or in Khulna). “How did you get so many blankets so quickly?” a BRAC director asked me. “I bought them to give away in the first place – I just never expected to have to give them like this” I explained.

70 blankets seems like a lot – but at the same time isn’t.

But, the way I see it – most poor families (even before the Cyclone hit) sleep in the same bed. So, 70 blankets translates to 70 families (and these blankets are big enough for that). So that translates to about 200 to 280 people. That means someone is going to be warm this winter and it cost me me less than a buck a person. Even the iPhone can’t compete for that kind of value (and I’m a huge mac geek).

Just how much 70 blankets actually is dawned upon me when BRAC came to pickup the blankets. They came with an empty jeep – but they still had to stuff them all inside…

Here’s a shot of after they managed to squeeze all the blankets in:

The round white tanks are the CNG tanks – the fuel alternative I told you about in an earlier post.

I’m just hours away to the worst affected region in Bangladesh. My aunt warned me that things are so bad there the smell of death is still there. Thanks auntie, that makes me real comfortable going now…

P.S. - For the life of me, I have no idea what magic it takes to make a popular YouTube video. I’m not asking for crying about Britney Spears with a towel on your head popular (that video almost at 13 million views now by the way), but I was hoping my latest video about Dhaka after the Cyclone had featured-on-YouTube-frontpage potential. But it is starting too look like this video will be my lowest viewed video yet. I’m not worried though – especially on a day like today. I now have 200 to 280 more reasons to be thankful I’m here.

In a matter of hours, I am heading out into the field to go to a disaster area myself. I will not be in communication for the next couple of days as I will not be bringing my computer (or much of anything). Before I go, I leave you guys with Episode Four of the Uncultured Project. This is definitely not something I expected I’d have to do when I first came to this country.

I came to Bangladesh with no training and no aid or development experience. My only real assets are my enthusiasm and my compulsion to try and make a difference. Here’s where things are for me now: I have things to give away, but am trying to find a way to get them to those who need it the most:

• A) LifeStraws – portable water purification straws capable of filtering deadly bacteria from any surface water source. Estimated lifetime: 1 year on average use. Number of items: 45 (used to be 50). Donated to me by Vestergaard Frandsen.
• B) ZeroFly – long-lasting insecticide treated sheets. Can be used as roofing for low income housing. It is water proof and it’s insecticide is the same used in insecticide treated mosquito nets (safe for humans). If a mosquito comes into contact with the roof – it will die. Helps protect against malaria during the night and Dengue Fever during the day. Estimated lifetime: 2 years for the insecticide, but the sheets themselves remain waterproof forever. Number of items: 25. Donated to me by Vestergaard Frandsen.
• C) Blankets - locally made, locally purchased. I count that as a two-fold impact because the money goes into the local economy. Number of items: 70. The cost to me was 14,000 taka or over $200 USD.
• D) Water Bottles – ever since I met “Mo” (featured in Episode Three of my YouTube videos), I now know the importance of water bottles in this country. Especially now, water bottles can be used to store purified or boiled water. It can also be given in bulk to an individual because – for many industrious people like Mo – these items are as good as cash.

Not visible but also part of my equipment to give away:

• Two hand-cranked LED-based flashlights – brought from Canada.
• One remaining long-lasting, insecticide treated mosquito net. Donated to me by Vestergaard Frandsen.

I tried distributing items myself and that really only works out when you know the people in the area and can get to an area yourself. When I distributed 50 mosquito nets, I was shocked and angered to find that some rich people (i.e. they own a car, a brick house, and even have servants) came and pretended to be poor to get a free net! They essentially robbed from the poor to help themselves. I only found out a month or so later – when a resident familiar with the area was looking over my footage. Even I gave out water bottles during the floods – I was kind of sad that the 4×4 I was in couldn’t head deeper into the flood zone.

I really do need to partner with an NGO of some kind to make a meaningful difference. The problem is most NGOs laugh when they are talking about such low quantities. “Fifty water purification straws? Ha!” “70 blankets? LOL.” has been pretty much the reaction I have been getting. I know NGOs deal in massive quantities – but the way I see it, these 50 items could save fifty lives and 70 blankets could keep 70 families warm. I’m not capable of saving lives in bulk. But so far, finding a like-minded NGO has been hard – although I am still making inquiries. But I definitely feel the clock ticking on this one.

This photo pretty much sums up the world’s priorities:

I have only recently found out about the site NowPublic.com after being approached by the news director Ryan Nadel to write an article about Cyclone Sidr. I kind of like the idea of the site because it seems to be striving to be a combination of Slashdot and Digg when it comes to news. Stories are promoted to the front page using a combination of democratic voting as well as editor-based selection.

We often accuse the media of having the wrong focus. Maybe they are just catering to our real interests?

[Update: Since posting this, the Cyclone Sidr story I wrote has surpassed the Paris Hilton story. I had at first written this update saying "I topped Paris Hilton" but "surpassed" seemed a more suitable word. ]

The good news: the city of Dhaka seems to have completely recovered from the effects of Cyclone Sidr. The bad news: the lives of many Dhaka residents will never be the same as many go out to search for lost loved ones.

On the day the storm hit, a car I was in got covered in glowing sparks from a transformer that had exploded next to it. That weekend, during daylight, I went to take a photo of the damage – but there was none. Where once was an exploded transformer now apparently had a newly repaired and replaced transformer. A giant tree had collapsed near Mohakhali DOHS that very night. By the time I heard of it, it was already taken care of and the road was cleared. A cook that works for my aunt explained how the roof of her bosti (slum house) had been ripped off. When my aunt asked if I could go document the damage – the cook explained they had already repaired it.

Unfortunately, things aren’t back to normal – and they may never be. Many Dhaka residents, especially the working poor, are now wondering whether their loved ones are lost or dead. Many who can afford it have taken time off to go to the cyclone affected areas to search for loved ones. My grandmother, a lady in her late 80s who hired someone so that she can go from place to place, has been home-bound these past few days. Her driver cannot get in touch with his mother – he doesn’t know if she’s alive or dead. He taken a three day leave to go search for her. His story is not uncommon. A friend of mine – Shaidul, a government employee, recently took leave to go to Barishal to search for his lost loved ones.

People like my grandmother’s driver and Shaidul go not knowing whether they are going to be reunited with family members or are going to bury them. As a I wrote before, this is a tragedy that is – in some, way, shape, or form – touching the lives of every resident in this country.

[A slightly more "news-ish" version of this blog post has been cross-posted at NowPublic.com as a news item. Check it out here.]