The Uncultured Project

Each life on this planet is a gift. Personally, I believe this gift comes from a higher being – but I have complete respect if you disagree with that.

Life, in many respects, is like a light. It shines for only a limited amount of time. How bright it shines, in turn, is entirely dependent own our own creativity and passions. There are many things we can do with this gift. But, what better way to use the gift of life – the gift of light – if we do not use it to cast out the shadows within our civilizations? War, injustice, and the suffering of the poor are all shadows that we should be devoting our shining lives to casting away.

As always, whenever I write borderline-hippie stuff like this, I must point out that I am 100% sober. And, please, don’t call me a hippie for writing this stuff

As soon as I saw the look on his face, I knew something was wrong. I was in a DHL shipping office in Dhaka City. Just outside was a dusty back-alley full of the pungent aroma that can only be caused by the mixture of open sewers and rotting garbage. Inside, however, was an office that wouldn’t seem out of place in any major modern city – complete with porcelain white walls, fancy computers, and various scanning equipment. The contrast was quite surreal. It was only the look on the DHL guy’s face that reminded me just exactly where I was.

“Umm…. what is this?” he asked as he picked up and examined what I had just put on the counter. Now, I was the one with a confused look. Even across the counter, I could still see the object – clearly labeled: ‘SONY DV Tape’.

“It’s a tape” I answered.

“A tape of what?” the DHL guy asked. Taken somewhat aback by the question, I answered, “an interview”.

“An interview of what?” the DHL guy asked. This exchange continued back and forth in ever increasing personal questions (what’s it for? why are you sending this? what’s it going to be used for?) until finally the DHL guy said “Sorry, we can’t ship this”. In hindsight, I probably would have got hassled less if I had been asking to ship a pound of cocaine and a loaded gun. Because, in this small South Asian country, one of the most controlled and restricted items for export is video footage.

For the average visitor to this country, Bangladesh seems like a fairly open country. Most people can come off a plane, go through customs, and vacation in places like Cox’s Bazar (the world’s longest unbroken beach) with relatively little hassle (and take their tourist videos back home with them). But, for those trying to make a difference here – whether it be helping the poor or raising awareness about poverty – the government of Bangladesh makes it as hard as possible. The only reason I’ve been able to do what I’m doing without interference – for the most part – is because I’ve been able to be small scale enough to stay under the radar.

But this was one of those times I had bumped into some hurdles. It all started with my recent trip to Jalchatra, Bangladesh where I encountered a Catholic priest who got infected by malaria. He got infected not once, not twice… but nearly forty times during an eleven year period. Two of those infections were cerebral malaria – a disease so dangerous it can cause death in just under a week. I interviewed him on camera (which I’ll put on YouTube in the future) but I also thought this might be footage worth sharing on a global scale for World Malaria Day this coming April. A contact of mine in Switzerland, was more than willing to take a copy of the raw footage and use it as part of their global awareness campaign.

Unfortunately, getting this footage to him is proving to be next to impossible. Unless I can pass this tape onto someone who is flying out of the country (so they can put it in their carry-on as tourist footage) than this tape will never reach Switzerland. I’d like to say that this problem is just an unintended consequence of a draconian law. But, in reality, it’s footage like this that the Bangladesh government wishes to stop. Journalists and aid workers are among the most scrutinized people in the country. While poverty in Bangladesh is no secret, some of the regions with the most suffering (such as the Chittagong Hill-Tracts, where this priest was repeatedly infected by malaria) are closed off to foreigners without express written permission.

This also isn’t the first time I’ve run into trouble with customs while trying to do my independent aid work. In one of my YouTube videos, I briefly touch upon the fact that some of my aid items were being held in customs despite being legal items of shipment. I eventually was able to retrieve these items after giving over $100 USD in bribes (aka “commissions” as the bureaucrats call them). The more time I spend on the ground in Bangladesh, the more I am convinced that ending poverty not only requires mobilizing governments abroad into action – but also ending the intentional immobilization caused by the local governments right here in the developing world.

For many people in Bangladesh, “poverty” is a bad word – it’s the “P” word if you will. You’re not supposed to bring up the “P” word. 

How bad is it to use the “P” word? Well, I was recently met a Bangladeshi (now living America) entrepreneur who is starting up a tourism business to experience Bangladesh in a new and unique way. I had originally met her to do a video and/or blog post about her work, but unfortunately that ultimately fell through. The reason? Because, if I was going to write or make a video about her or her work, I wouldn’t be permitted to use the “P” word. Instead, I was encouraged to use “alternative” words like “building wealth” or “producing sustainability”. Since when did newspeak come to Bangladesh?

In fact, when I told her about what I’m doing in Bangladesh and the nature of my work – she balked. “There’s nothing inspiring that” she said told me. Bangladesh, she explained, shouldn’t be portrayed as a “poor” country in need of aid and/or charity. In her defense, she was a very cheerful and positive-minded person who (like me) shares my hope for a Bangladesh free from poverty. This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about the Bangladeshi community criticizing me for me work or for the fact I speak aloud about Bangladesh and poverty. In fact, some of the harshest criticism comes from my own family. Many Bangladeshis can’t seem to fathom why my desire to try and alleviate poverty brought me to Bangladesh.

There is one Bangladeshi who I know wouldn’t question my work…. but he’s dead now. In fact, my grandmother just helped bury him.

More after the jump. Readers beware – I make excessive use of the “P” word.

Continue reading ‘Poverty in Bangladesh: The Story of Being Too Poor to Be Buried’

Okay, so it’s been a few days since coming back from the rural villages (including my Bengal Bouts journey to Jalchatra) and I thought I’d kick things off with an update video. This was something I filmed in a rice field in a rural village in the district of Jamalpur. Filming in the middle of a rice field is a lot tricker than it looks.

Near the end of the video, I talk about what I’d like to call my “Xbox 360 Challenge”. Before going to the rural villages, I withdrew 21,000 taka from my bank at Notre Dame. That’s over $300. That $300 was actually the last of my savings from my last job. I had set this money aside to buy a Xbox 360 (and Halo 3) upon my return. I’m a huge Halo fan – I bought the original Xbox just to play Halo and I bought Halo 2 within the first week of its release. I was waiting to buy an Xbox 360 after Halo 3 came out – but by then I was already doing this project.

Halo 3 will have to wait because all that money has now gone to much more important causes. I went to the rural villages with $300 and came back with about $3. With such rampant poverty and destitution, it’s very easy to find ways to spend $300. I really wanted to make a difference with this cash, so I set for myself the following rules:

1. I can’t give just cash. I must buy or pay for things people need.
2. It must be a hand up not a hand out. (As cheesy as that sounds)
3. I have to learn from the locals. I can’t just buy stuff I think they need, I have to get to know the people and figure out how to best spend the money in a way that helps them.

A small part of this money went to buying supplies for the trip, paying for gas, and paying for my internet connection. But, the rest of the money (more than enough to buy an Xbox 360 Core System) went to the poor. What do I do now that all my savings have been spent? Well, I am now officially running only on family donations (which is about a few hundred dollars each month). Don’t worry – it doesn’t cost that much to live here and I have relatives helping with room and board. I’m going to make sure as much of that money goes towards helping the poor as possible.

Expect more footage from my trip to rural Bangladesh in the future

Minutes after I posted the previous post, a storm seems to have come to this part of Dhaka City. Fierce winds and rain have reduced visibility to almost nothing. The power got knocked out and I’m writing in the dark now.

I’m feeling a bit of deja-vu. The last time I wrote about a storm during a blackout, it was when Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh. I certainly hope Monsoon Season isn’t coming early. There are still people recovering from the damage left by Cyclone Sidr – it’s too soon for another disaster.

…… Not that there is ever a good time for a disaster.

[UPDATE: There's also a lot of thunder now. The winds must be stronger than I thought because the heavy gate at the entrance to the building I am currently staying in is rattling like mad. Rain is actually getting heavier. Usually, if it rains for more than a few hours, my grandmother's home gets flooded. I will have to give her a call and check up on her first thing in the morning.]

Please don’t ask me where I got this. In fact, some in my family are worried this could get me in serious trouble. Below is a copy of the letter written by Dhaka University Professor Hawlader to the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission Chairperson.

The reason I’m posting this is because this is a side of Bangladesh that most people abroad don’t know about. I’m not talking about the allegations of corruption. I’m talking about how politically active students and university professors are in this country. Back in Toronto and at Notre Dame, I’ve known tons of students (and a few professors) that have signed petitions, endorsed politicians, and even participated in protests and marches. But their political activity pales in comparison to most of the students and professors in Bangladesh. In fact, those curfews that were imposed a few months back, were instigated when students and professors took to the street and started rioting in protest of the government. It’s kind of weird and surreal to see this kind of passion.

I’ve talked about the problem of corruption in this country previously, but even I feel this professor’s letter is a bit over the top. Maybe I don’t know the political situation in Bangladesh well enough, but I’m simply not one of those bloggers that has to analyze and critique Bangladesh’s political system. There isn’t anything wrong with voicing dissent, of course. But, as someone who has come to this country as a foreigner, there is more to praise than criticize about Bangladesh’s political system. Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim-majority countries which is a constitutional democracy. Bangladesh also has had more years under female leadership than Western Nations like the UK and Canada. They are also at peace with all of its neighbors (albeit, Bangladesh is surrounded on all sides by India).

Unlike Professor Hawlader, in my books, Bangladesh is far from “hapless”.

I got this SMS on my phone today, it reads:

“It is safe to eat properly cooked chicken meat and fully boiled or fried eggs even under bird flu situation – Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock”.

There is actually a concerted media effort, on the part of the government here in Bangladesh, to try and reduce the hysteria regarding eating eggs and egg products. I was also listening to Bangla-language radio earlier tonight and the DJ – in between songs – was quizzing people about which temperature people need to cook eggs in order for them to be safe enough to eat. He then gave a number where listeners could SMS their responses. I think there was a prize for a random person who got the answer right.

So what exactly is the bird flu? If anyone has ever lived in a dormitory, you know that when someone gets the flu – eventually everyone gets the flu. The bird flu is kind of like that – it is a very easy to catch and can infect both birds and human beings. The problem is that, unlike the kind of flu that you can easily recover from with some rest, the bird flu can be deadly. In fact, there is a particular strain called the H5N1 virus which is both very contagious and very deadly.

Why is bird flu a threat? Given how contagious and deadly H5N1 can be, many scientists believe that the next global pandemic will be caused by Avian Bird Flu. A global pandemic might be hard to imagine – because it has never happened in our generation. But it has happened quite frequently throughout human history. There was the Black Death caused by the Bubonic Plague in the Middle Ages, “the consumption” (aka tuberculosis) a few generations back, and the Polio Epidemics of the early 1900s.

Why don’t have a pandemic already? The reason we are safe for now is because germs take time to mutate. If you’ve ever wondered why, despite medical technology, we can’t cure the common cold – it’s because the cold virus keeps mutating. You might catch a cold several times during your life – but you probably have never been infected by the exact same virus twice. We have the advantage right now because, even though people can get sick from bird flu, they cannot pass it onto others. It’s not contagious between humans – only between birds and humans.

Why should you care? Bird flu was actually one of the topics that Dr. Sachs talked about during the Notre Dame Forum on Global Health. I talked about it as well – and included some clips from Dr. Sachs – in my video about Super Tuesday. Diseases don’t need passports. They can come into any country -  anywhere in the world. That’s especially true with a disease like bird flu – it can be brought into a country by migratory birds even if a country decides to seal its borders. The threat from Bird Flu dwarfs the threat from terrorism.

What does poverty have to do with this? Even though Bird Flu exists in North America, it is most likely that any Bird Flu pandemic would start here in Bangladesh. Why? Because, unlike North America – there isn’t that big a seperation between the urban and the agricultural. The eggs you buy from the supermarket were probably laid by a chicken over a hundred miles (or a thousand miles) away. In Dhaka, when you buy eggs – you can often see the chicken that it came from. People are in much closer contact to poultry and Bird Flu carrying animals than in North America.

People also have less access to health care. In order to avoid costly medical and clinic fees, most poor people here don’t go to the doctor unless they are on the verge of death. If they get infected with the Bird Flu (which would feel just like any regular flu) they are most likely going to try and tough it out (or try and treat it themselves). The poor are not only the first victims of global health issues – they are often the unfortunate incubators for diseases to mutate and grow.

It’s not just the health care system that is lacking here in the Third World. When a farmer in North America has a batch of birds which have Bird Flu – they can get reimbursed through insurance and/or government subsidies provided through tax dollars. When a poor farmer who has a few chickens and sells eggs is ordered to kill his birds due to the flu – he has no safety net: he’s out of business. And it’s usually the poor farmers that are at greater risk because they can’t afford all the equipment needed to keep things sanitary and clean.

It’s such a shame that, in a world where the rich countries are often pro-active in trying to eliminate potential threats from terrorism, we don’t often pay enough attention to equally important (or more dangerous) threats to our safety and security. I’m still waiting for a President to say “we have to fight bird flu over there, so we don’t have to fight bird flu over here”.