This is one of my oldest digital photos. I took this around the time I started college (undergrad that is). This sight, from one of my many previous trips to Bangladesh, is probably one of the many that stuck with me until it manifested itself with this project.
I took this photo from a window from the stairwell of my decidedly well-to-do uncle’s house. I distinctly remember going to him and his eldest son and telling them that there is a man who is so poor that he is digging through the trash just outside their house. They shrugged it off and said “what can we do about it?”.
It seemed… bizarre… that my uncle and cousin could say that as they stood in an air conditioned, three story home graced with marble flooring and a big screen TV (they’ve since upgraded to a five story mansion with four plasma screen TVs by the way).
But, as I’ve talked about before, it’s not uncommon for well-to-do Bangladeshis (those part of the aristocratic dome) to brush off issues like poverty in their backyard. (That might also explain why some of my well-to-do relatives haven’t lifted a finger to help me out here.)
Turns out I won’t be going afterall. If I got a dollar for every time a plan fell through, I’d be making a profit on this project. But don’t worry – the blankets are still going. All 2,000 of them.
It turns out that these will be distributed with the help of the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Bangladesh Army. My uncle, as I mentioned before, is an ex-military colonel and apparently still has some connections. Unfortunately, the reason I can’t go is because I am a foreigner. As someone without Bangladeshi citizenship, I was not (and still am not) security cleared to go along.
Bummer. I always to ride in a military speedboat – without the whole having to join the military part.
“So exactly how many blankets did you buy?” asked my uncle on a phone call shortly after I returned from the disaster area. “About 70″ I answer. “Uh huh. And how much did this cost?” he asked. “About 14,000 taka [$204 USD]“. “Uh huh” my uncle replied. The phone call pretty much went like that for a few more minutes. He was asking very probing questions like where I bought these blankets from, how did I take them to the disaster area, and where I got the money to buy these blankets from. I answered them in a matter-of-fact manner. After a few more “uh huhs”, he gave me his best wishes, said goodbye, and hung up.
Little did I know that I was about to be upstaged by my uncle. And the best part is – I love it.
This is the same uncle I called while I was in the disaster area with Nick Downie from Save the Children. After my uncle retired from military service, he went into business for himself and has become somewhat of a successful man in the private sector. Less than 24 hours after this very inquisitive phone call, I find out that he, his youngest son, and his daughter-in-law have organized a self-funded family aid operation of their own. This aid operation blows what I’ve been doing right out of the water.
Whereas, I bought 70 blankets to give away for about $200 USD – my uncle and his family has bought two-thousand blankets for over 500,000 taka. That is over $7,000 USD in blankets. Given the fact that these are “family-sized” blankets (where more than one person will be sharing this blanket – sometimes a whole family of four) – this means that anywhere from two to eight thousand people will be sleeping warmly this winter. In addition, my uncle’s daughter-in-law (do I say cousin-in-law or just cousin?) will be giving out cold hard cash on-site so people in the disaster area can cover any emergency expenses they have. Approximately 10,000 taka (over $140 USD) in cash will be given out in the disaster area.
Now, here’s the crazy part: I am going with them to help distribute all this! I leave tomorrow. I’m leaving my computer behind because a lot of the journey will be via speedboat down rivers. I hope to come back after three days and hopefully will have lots of photos and videos to share.
Once more unto the breach.
