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.
Do Charities Need Celebrities?
Sometimes I wish I was a celebrity. Not for the fame. Not for the fans. Not even for the money. But rather, if I was a celebrity and wanted to help people in any country, all I'd have to do is pick-up a phone and a charity would be at my beck and call. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="The Front Door for Many Charities"][/caption] The sad reality is that, even when I'm on location, it can be an uphill battle to team up with large reputable charities. This is regardless of how many times I get my foot in the door, regardless ...
Within Reach of Davos
In January of 2007, I withdrew from grad school at the University of Notre Dame and began an unemployed, unplanned, and "uncultured" journey to help the poor. Almost exactly three years later, that journey has brought me to within grasp of being able to talk to world leaders about global poverty at one of the planet's most important conferences. I can get there - but only with your help. Out of 75 applications from around the world (and many more that didn't make the deadline), I was selected as one of five potential candidates to go to Davos. The winner, is determined ...
The Quest for Sustainability
[caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="I Give a Talk to YouTube & Google Staff in San Bruno, California"][/caption] "Years from now, I'm going to be looking back at this point in my life and laugh," I told my friend whom I'm staying with in San Francisco. "I'm doing something successful enough that people are inviting me to meet them and give talks... yet unsuccessful enough that I can't afford to buy myself some new clothes," I said with a wry laugh. Right now I'm in San Francisco - home of Silicon Valley. It's home to where all this technology that has made this ...
The Final Week?
This is maybe my final week in Bangladesh. Since I landed, I've been trying to complete projects related to Challenge Poverty. As you know, I've been working on building that Pond Sand Filter and repairing that school. It's been nearly 6 months and I want to wrap everything up in the next 72 hours. Yeah.... that maybe a bit ambitious. Fingers crossed. The good news is that the water quality of that Pond Sand Filter is now clear, clean, and deemed safe to drink by official tests conducted by the Department of Public Health here in Bangladesh. Here's a photo. One is ...
Tag Archive for 'Recovery'
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.]
