UP | uncultured project

If poverty could be eliminated solely by the hardwork and determination of the poor, then third world poverty would have ended a long time ago. The poor in the developing world are some of the hardest working people on the planet. In my latest episode on YouTube, I once again point out something I learned long ago: the poor aren’t lazy.

More photos and details after the jump.

Continue reading ‘The Young Hardworking Poor of Rural Bangladesh’

“I’m writing now from a rural village in Bangladesh (called Madhupur). There is no electricity, no running water, and the diesel generator that was powering a ceiling fan and light bulb died earlier this night.”

That’s what I wrote exactly five months and a week ago. Now here I am, back in the same rural village, in the same house, at the same desk, and in more or less the same situation. I’m kinda feeling a bit nostalgic right about now..

Five months and a week ago, I wasn’t sure anyone outside of my family was reading my blogs. I didn’t have a single YouTube video up and I had very little to show on my Flickr page. It was only after I wrote that article here in Madhupur that I learned I actually had an audience. Mikey Leung was one of my first readers. I later found out he was actually another crazy Canadian who was trying to help the poor here in Bangladesh. I had an audience – and I wasn’t alone in what I was doing. That article also got picked up by Rezwan of The Third World View. I had never heard of that blog before, but now I read it religiously.

I was also extremely disheartened back then. I had already been in the country for three months, and had very little to show for it. I had so much to give away but nothing major had been done so far. Instead, my project got detoured as my mother (who came here to help me with translation) got hospitalized for Dengue Fever. I was about ready to pack up and quit. That previous trip to Madhupur was a turning point for me. In that trip, I was able to give away over fifty mosquito nets. The footage I gathered here helped me make my first episode on YouTube. I was also able to help hands on with one family in particular. Those who’ve been reading this blog for a while will know about the single mother of two who I gave a net, a windup flashlight, and some money for school for her eldest son. That son just graduated Grade One and is now in Grade Two.

I had to re-read that last sentence. Wow. This was a mother who, according to the locals, was seriously considering dumping her two children in an orphanage and abandoning them. She couldn’t afford to keep a roof over their heads. Heck, she couldn’t even afford clothes for these kids. Now, thanks to my family and I, one of her kids just finished one school level, the kids have clothes on their backs, food in their belly, and a loving mother who isn’t forced to abandon them. You want to know what is the most surprising? This only cost me a few bucks. The windup flashlight cost me $5, the mosquito net was courtesy of Vestergaard-Frandsen, and the school and other costs added up to about $10 USD. Yes. Ten bucks. You know those ads where they say “just for the price of a cup of coffee”? They aren’t kidding apparently. Why aren’t more people doing this?

Here’s a photo of them when I first met them. I’ll try and visit their house and have a follow-up photo later on….

Over ten days ago, I asked the question, “what do I have to show for all this?“. Things have been tough here. A few days ago, I waived a family member goodbye at the airport. Having come along to help me with this project, this family member ended up being hospitalized for both Dengue Fever and Typhoid. It was just too risky for her to continue to stay here. I haven’t got sick – but with the Muslim month of Ramadan (a period where Muslims don’t eat or drink any liquids during daylight hours) now in full swing, it is hard to move around the city. Dhaka seems to shut down way too early to really go anywhere.

But, I finally do have something to show for all this. And it starts with this photo:

This is a photo of a single mother of two I met while visiting a rural village in Bangladesh. Her husband died of a stomach related illness. She was not only left with two kids to raise on her own but also was left with loans from her husband’s medical expenses. When I went and saw where she was living – a small straw mudhut – I was taken aback. People in North America have more garage space for their cars than this lady had for her family of three. Not only that – but there was no electricity and only a small window near the floor which only served to prove how dark the inside of the house was.

I wanted to make a difference in her life. I knew I had money and stuff that I could give her that would help her. But making a difference is more than just being a parachute Santa Claus. I started talking to her. How is she doing? How is she paying for her son to go to school? Does she have medical expenses from her husband left over? How can your kids read in such a dark house? I tried my best not to tell her what she needed – and tried to figure out from her what I could do to help to make a difference in her life.

Maybe it’s the Fighting Irish in me, but the first thing that I decided to do was come up with a game plan.

More after the jump… Continue reading ‘One Difference at a Time’

As a Canadian I’m both surprised and sad to report that Bangladesh beats Canada when it comes to cellphone service. I’m writing now from a rural village in Bangladesh (called Madhupur). There is no electricity, no running water, and the diesel generator that was powering a ceiling fan and light bulb died earlier this night. Bangladesh is still a third world country afterall. But, despite all this, I am still able to check my mail, see what’s going on at Digg, and post to this blog.

Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world that can guarantee each one of its residents can get a cellphone signal – no matter where they are in the country. With a population of over 150 million (over four times Canada’s population) that’s pretty impressive. There are populated parts in the North in Canada that most cellphone service providers don’t bother putting up towers for. Not only can Bangladeshis send and receive calls from anywhere in the country – they can also surf the web on either an EDGE or GPRS network. Part of this has to do with free market competition in Bangladesh and corporate collusion in Canada. Continue reading ‘Bangladesh Cellphone Service Better than Canada’