UP | uncultured project

I titled this video “Using YouTube with a Purpose” because, really, this couldn’t have been done without the help of a little website called YouTube and the community that is part of it (in particular the Nerdfighter community). From the donors Hank and Pat – both of whom are YouTubers – to the musicians who lent their music for free in this video such as Jamison Young, Brad Sucks, and Josh Woodward. And, here in Bangladesh, if Rick Davis never found my videos on YouTube – I would have never thought to make this trip nor would I have been able to meet the amazing children in this rural village.

If you notice in this video, I use a clip from one of my sadder videos – The Hard Lessons of Aid Work. That’s because, even though I don’t talk much about it in this video, I did learn a lot from this experience. I now have a better understanding about why big name charities need to have large overhead and infrastructure. I also have a better understanding of how help can sometimes come with a risk and how even trying to help can sometimes have it its pros and cons.

All that plus some photos from the field after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Using YouTube with a Purpose’

Today was one of those days when I am kind of in awe at the international scope that this project seems to be taking.

Just hours ago, Matt boarded a plane to Uganda. Before heading out, Matt had informed me that a shipment of mosquito nets (PermaNets) donated by Vestergaard-Frandsen hadn’t arrived at his home in Florida. After touching base with a friend at the company, I found out that unfortunately the shipment had been delayed at customs in Geneva. So now I’m looking into having something donated to Matt from Vestergaard-Frandsen’s Kenyan office which could then be shipped to where Matt will be staying in Uganda.

Meanwhile, back here in Dhaka, I’m stuck with this cold, flu, or whatever it is that I have. It doesn’t seem to want to go away. That’s what has been making it hard for me to make new videos. I was, fortunately, able to keep my friend John Green up-to-date about what I’ve been doing though. He was able to make a video about it on his channel which he filmed in his backyard in Indianapolis. If you’ve seen that video than you already know that I’ve been able to spend the money donated by his brother Hank (who lives in Montana).

Those trying to visit uncultured.com earlier today might have noticed the site was dead. I noticed this as well but I wasn’t sure if the problem was on my end – the internet connection I have here in Bangladesh isn’t that great afterall. After checking with a cousin in Ottawa, I realized the site was actually down. So I had to fire off an email to the California-based company that hosts this website. Looks like everything is back to normal now though. Although, that wasn’t the only problem I’ve been having to deal with today.

I also was shocked to find that my savings account had been frozen by my bank back home. I know everything I’ve been doing with my work in Bangladesh (and my bank back home) is 100% legal – so why on Earth would it be frozen? Turns out there is a rule pertaining to how many times you can transfer money to/from your savings account in a given month. The limit seems to be six times. I had always sent any money from PayPal to my savings account before transferring it to checking before withdrawing it. So, unless, I create a different setup – I might bump into this problem again.

So, at the end of the day, my work with this project has in some way, shape, or form involved people or things happening in Geneva, California, Dhaka, Florida, Ottawa, Indianapolis, Kenya, Montana, and my family and bank back home. While that’s really amazing… it’s also a nightmare because Murphy’s Law is apparently internationally scalable.

Did you know that one day’s worth of Pentagon spending ($1.5 Billion US Dollars) would be enough to protect every man, woman, and child in Africa from malaria for five years? Don’t take my word for it – Dr. Jeffrey Sachs was the one who did the math on that. We can create a world free from malaria. It is never been easier to achieve and the need has never been more pressing.

In this latest episode I go into further detail about some of the mosquito nets I distributed in episode one. I also show excerpts of my interview with a Catholic Priest who got infected with malaria 38 times (twice of which was cerebral malaria). This is the same footage I was trying to mail out of the country for use by an advocacy organization based in Switzerland. Incidentally, I was finally able to send that footage to Switzerland afterall. I was able to give the tape to one of my uncles who was flying to Singapore. He then mailed it to Switzerland from there. Take that evil Draconian export laws of Bangladesh!

I also go into more detail about the PermaNets donated to me by Vestergaard-Frandsen. I’ve talked about PermaNets before and I can’t recommend them enough. These nets do work. The PermaNet over my bed has scrapped up against splinters and nails – but it hasn’t ripped. These nets are also treated with a long-lasting insecticide which is harmless to humans but kill mosquitos when they come into contact with the net. The reason the insecticide is long-lasting is because it is manufactured into the net in a way that won’t wash away. Rather, it will stay at an effective concentration level for years.

This World Malaria Day why not consider donating a PermaNet? You don’t even need to give me a dime to do so. Just check the recommended charities section of this site for a list of charities that distirbute PermaNets. And, as always, I was not paid or required to endorse any of the companies that I talk about (including Vestergaard-Frandsen).

“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….

It looks like all my trouble of living a clean life (such as not smoking) is for naught. Because, lately I’ve been relying on these mosquito coils. They smell horrible, make me dizzy, and sting my eyes. But I don’t really have that much of an alternative. I’m running out of my spray-on-yourself mosquito repellent that I brought with me from Canada. I also don’t like what that spray-on repellent does to my computer – so I’m trying to avoid using it.

These coils claim to not just get rid of mosquitoes – but also kill them. I can tell you now – that’s absolutely false. There are actually a couple of mosquitoes swarming around me right now as I type this – yet I’m close enough to the coil that I almost have tears in my eyes. What the coils do is the same thing that spray-on repellents do – they create a smell that confuses and irritates the mosquitoes. It makes it hard for them to track the carbon monoxide (or is it dioxide?) from my breath that mosquitoes use to locate people to bite.

I had a feeling that something that is so horrible to use can’t be good for my health. Turns out I was right. A joint study conducted by Rutgers, University of Pittsburgh, and the National University of Malaysia found that these Asian-made coils are worse than smoking over 75 cigarettes. They also have tons of known and suspected carcinogens. So they don’t kill mosquitoes… but they might kill me…. eventually…. with cancer…. of the lungs. I suddenly realize why I can buy a pack of ten of these things for fifty cents…. and why I shouldn’t have stocked up on this.

In reality, the really proven and effectively safe protection against mosquitoes is an insecticide treated bed net. Just like the one donated for me for me to sleep in by Vestergaard Frandsen. That’s a PermaNet you see in the background of that photo. Unlike the smelly, cancer-causing coil I’m using – PermaNets actually (safely) kill mosquitoes. But, that’s really only useful when I’m in bed. If I want to work at my desk late night – I gotta find another means of protecting myself. I was hoping the coils would work… or not cause cancer. Looks like I’m disappointed on both counts.

When I first started this blog, I didn’t have much to show for this project. In fact, the day I wrote my first blog post I was stuck in a relatives’ home because all of Bangladesh was under military curfew.

Since then I have a lot to show: I’ve given away two cases of water during the summer flooding season. I’ve given over fifty mosquito nets (including one long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito net called PermaNet) to rural villagers. I’ve given wind-up flashlights to low-income students trying to study without electricity as well as one to a low-income disaster relief volunteer. I’ve helped to pay for a large group of poor children to have a balanced and healthy meal. And, recently, I’ve distributed 70 blankets (30 of which I did with Save the Children, another 30 with Muslim Aid UK, and 10 I gave out one-on-one) to victims of a Cyclone Sidr.

So it’s about time I tweak the look of the site a bit. Gone is the static photo of my Notre Dame hat and Dr. Jeffrey Sachs’ book. I’m still using that photo – but the main picture on my site now changes randomly every few minutes (you’ll have to reload manually) to shows some of the things I’ve done and interesting people I’ve met. This change also reflects a decision I’ve made.

When I first came to Bangladesh, I thought I would stay here for a couple of months and then go. But since coming here, I’ve kept changing my departure date. September departures became October departures – and so on. I don’t know when exactly I am going to fly home – but I know I will be here in Bangladesh Christmas and the New Year. For the first time in my life – I’ll be spending Christmas and New Years away from both my Mom and Dad.

It’s not easy staying here. There are bugs, germs, and it’s easy to get sick. I’m far from my friends and I am kind of getting homesick. This has also had a cost on my family (in particular my mother who had contracted Dengue Fever during the time she was accompanying me on this project). But, despite all this difficulty, I have a unique opportunity. I’m doing something no one has ever done before (at least in terms of how I’m sharing my experience and work online with others through Flickr, YouTube, and blogging). And I’m helping others while I do it. How many people can say that?

I also want to share a message and inspire others. It’s hard to do that if I’m just uploading old footage and photos from my home in Canada. Hopefully by staying this project can grow and perhaps inspire others.

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’