my home in Khagrachari

hallway, the door to the right goes to the kitchen, the door at the end is the toilet (complete with new western toilet), the door to the left is my bedroom & the door to the immediate left is the spare bedroom

looking from the house to the front gate

my bedroom


new bathroom, especially built for me, complete with cold shower, washbasin & 'looking glass' (still waiting for the walls to be painted)


kitchen (lots of benchspace!)


kitchen sinks are not usually found in their houses as they wash dishes outside under the tap, but they installed this just for me


my bedroom



spare bedroom

dining area, curtain leads to bathroom

lounge room


my house


the land has just been prepared for planting of vegetables

I have spent the last 2 hours trying to upload photos with no luck. I will just keep trying!

marching in the rally for International Womens Day

with some of my work friends at the rally

Thuilamong, my work friend who has helped me so much

Life in Khagrachari

Things have been pretty crazy the last few days, as you may know the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), who protect the Bangladeshi borders, held a mutiny & killed many of their officers in Dhaka, just near New Market where I took some of my photos. There was also some unrest in Khagrachari as the BDR are also based here. The head of the Khagrachari BDR was in Dhaka at the time & they think that he has been killed as well. Yesterday the Government had all mobile networks & electricity cut throughout the country to stop the BDR in Dhaka contacting BDR around the country. Yesterday morning apparently the army went to the school in Khagrachari that the BDR’s children attend and ‘kidnapped’ them to ensure that the BDR did not mutiny here as well.

VSO have been very good throughout the situation, they have been in contact & keeping us up to date with whats occurring. We have been in ‘lockdown’, meaning not leaving our home. Things seem to have settled down with the surrendering of the BDR.
I must say that having the mobile network & the power cut off was a little unnerving, it made it very difficult to know what was going on.

Anyway, apart from that life in Khagrachari is good, very different to Dhaka. The majority of people who live here are indigenous, they look different, dress differently, and have different languages. Their food is quite similar to Bangladeshi food except that they love chilli in everything & eat a lot of dried fish. They eat all their meals on a mat on the floor and use their right hand only to eat food with, just like the Bangladeshis.

As I mentioned I am living with an indigenous family for 3 weeks. They are from the Chakma tribe, one of several tribes in the area. They have their own language, Chakma, as do most of the tribes, so what little Bangla I know is useless with them as they converse in Chakma. In the office there are Chakma, Marma & Bangladeshis working, each with their own language! Makes life very difficult for me. I have made the decision that I will concentrate on Bangla for the moment. There is no way that I can learn 3 new languages at once, I am struggling with just one. Everybody can speak Bangla & that’s all they speak in Dhaka so Bangla it is.

Arun has organized for a cleaner to come in & look after me, she cleans my room and washes & organizes my clothes, so between that & having all meals cooked I am becoming very lazy but liking it! (except for the rice). All their cooking is done on a primitive wood burning stove made of mud.

Arun’s house is about a 3 minute walk from the office, along a dirt road, past the local markets, dodging the cows and rickshaws along the way. Everyone still stares at me but they are also starting to say hello to me, which is nice. Today I went for a walk along a road that I haven’t been before and the people just stared in disbelief at me, so I just smile at them & keep going. When ricksaws go by people even turn around & look behind at me! While it’s a little unnerving you just have to get used to it.

Everyone at my office is very friendly, especially Misha & Thulimond who are brother & sister. I’ve been to their place a couple of times & been out to dinner a couple of times at the one restaurant in town, Systems. The restaurant is a thatched hut with 5 or 6 plastic tables & chairs with plastic table clothes. There is a variety of dishes readymade that you can choose from. I have been there 3 times so far! Twice with Thulimond & once with Megan, an English volunteer. Her parents had come out to visit her so she invited me to join them for dinner.

Work, well I haven’t done anything yet. I spoke to Arun before he left for China & asked what he wanted me to work on while he was away, he said just settle in, so I am waiting for him to return to actually do something! This is the way it works here and in many other 3rd world countries, things take time.

Things have now settled down & life is back to normal.

Tonight I went to the local hospital to visit a couple who had a baby today, they are related to the family I am staying with. The wife had an emergency caesarian today. It was just heartbreaking to see the conditions that these women have their babies in. It was a large room, with about 10 beds and each of the women had given birth either today or yesterday. There was no power & it was extremely hot, the new mother was obviously feeling pretty bad after just having a caesarian, she was in an old bed with bedding that left a lot to be desired. Her family would take turns fanning her to try & make her more comfortable. Each family has a mat next to the bed where they sit with the baby. There is no cot for the baby, a family member stays with the mother so someone is there to care for the baby. The new mum will leave the hospital in 3 days even after having a caesarian, after seeing the conditions I don’t blame them. The conditions of the hospital would not be accepted in Australia. Having said all of that the baby girl is just beautiful and the whole extended family are very proud. While I was there they kept rubbing the babies nose from the bridge downwards, I asked them what they where doing & they said they believed that if they kept doing that the babies nose would be thin like mine not flat like theirs! I told them her nose was perfect.

first photos of Khagrachari

this is the road between work & my host families house




the entrance to my host families house is just to the left down this road




my host famlies house


my room

shoppings done, do you think we got enough rice?


this is what they do their cooking on, they place a long piece of wood in the hole at the front & push it in as it burns

This is my host family preparing dinner, they were very shy & kept looking away when I took their photo

the view from my office window

view from my office window

and on to Khagrachari

Well here I am in Khagrachari!
I arrived early on Saturday night after a very long journey from Dhaka.
We left Dhaka at 8am, drove to Chittagong (which is south west of Khagrachari) to drop off 2 volunteers & then headed up to Khagrachari. It was a very rushed trip as we had to be at the check point before 5pm, they dont allow entry into the Hill Tracts after 5pm, so there was no time to stop for lunch or a break.
The trip down was 'interesting', there are absolutely no road rules here, the road is one lane either way, & you drive wherever there is an opening regardless of whether there are unbroken lines or traffic coming the other way! Its just a matter of who gives in first before pulling off to the side to let them past. Unfortunately some of the roads are built up so pulling off to the side is not an option!
Once we arrived at the checkpoint I was then interrogated by scary looking military men. An entry permit into the area had been arranged several days earlier but you still have to fill out several forms wanting to know everything about you, once I was given permission to enter we drove along for a few minutes and then came upon another checkpoint, more interrogating.
Finally arrived at the office of ALO (Alliance for the Livelihood of the Origins) where the staff were eagerly waiting for me. Lots of smiles, most speak very little english except for the Executive Director, Arun, who I am staying with for 3 weeks.
Arun's house is a short walk from the office; it is a typical home of the area made out of thatched material. He is the only one in the family who speaks english and as he has left to go to Dhaka for a few days it’s a little difficult at the moment. Everyone is trying very hard but it’s a little awkward. They have a cook who prepares all the meals and boy do Bangladeshi people eat lots! They eat boiled rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and lots of it, at least one huge plateful of rice with several vegetable & meat dishes to go with it. In Aruns house they seem to eat the leftovers from the meal the night before. I forgot to tell you earlier that Bangladeshi people do not use knives & forks; they eat all meals with their fingers. Challenging to say the least! Everyone here is concerned about how little I eat (compared to them), they prepare a meal for you at the office as well, I am just so sick of rice, & I don’t really like the dishes they serve with the rice, just a lot of overcooked vegetables & I’m not too keen on eating the meat & fish dishes after walking past the markets & seeing the flies settled on the produce all day. At least when I get a flat I can cook my own breakfast & dinner.

The second night I was here I met up with Clarifil, a VSO volunteer from the Phillipines, who is working here, she took me to one of her colleagues home for dinner, more rice! and rice wine, tastes just like the rice wine in Laos.
The next day after work one of the girls in the office invited me to go back to her place, everybody lives within walking distance of the office, after having tea and having her try to feed me, we went for a walk through the village, passing rice paddies and 20 or 30 cows coming back from the field for the day. She told me that as the indigenous people are Buddhist they don’t eat cow so I asked her why they kept them, was it for the milk, & she said no they sell them to the Bangladeshi people who eat them! Seems a little strange to me but basically I guess they are just trying to make a living as best they can.
While we were traveling from Dhaka I began to feel a bit of a tickle in my throat & by the next day I knew that I was in for something. & it just got progressively worse. The staff from the office were all very concerned, 2 of them took me to the doctor. They both came into the doctors with me, sat down, like my mum & dad! The culture is so different here, takes a little to get used to, if you don’t lock your door everyone just walks into your bedroom, they live together very closely, I’m still confused by who lives here, there are so many people coming & going all the time.
The doctor gave me antibiotics & today I am feeling a little better, so hopefully by tomorrow I will be much better.

more photos from Dhaka

young beggars at New Market, Dhaka


My rickshaw driver taking a rest in the traffic jam on the way to the New Markets in Dhaka


This is how Bangladeshi people chop/cut, using a 'floor knife'. It is a very large, sharp knife that sits on a stand on the floor, you put your foot on the stand to steady it & then push the vegetable down onto the blade to slice (I was also told that in the villages they also use them as weapons!) Thank goodness I brought a western knife with me as suggested.


this is the crowd that gathered to watch us while Godfrey had his bag mended


Godfrey having his bag mended

About my time in Dhaka

After a few hours stopover in Bangkok I arrived safe & well in Dhaka. I was picked up from the airport as promised by a VSO person & then began the adventure! My god, i think im a pretty good driver but I would not even get more than a few feet driving here! Its like a game of bluff, you just keep driving, bipping your horn, and only stop when another car is within 2 inches of you. All the sides of the buses are completely scratched down both sides. The traffic is bumper to bumper with no rules, red light, no worries, just keep driving! Beggers bang at the window trying to sell you things or just asking for money. I am staying about 2 minutes walk from the office in a very nice 3 bedroom flat. I have my own bedroom & bathroom (no hot water though!). A Phillipino volunteer who is based in Dhaka lives there on her own & other volunteers stay there when they come to Dhaka. The other 6 volunteers who arrived just before me are in another block of flats (there were not enough rooms so thats why I am not there). 2 of the volunteers are women around my age from England, a young couple, the girl is from The Netherlands and the guy from Canada & 2 young guys from Uganda (they arrived the same day as me). They are all very nice & always include me even though I am not staying with them. Yesterday I had my first language lesson, it was just as I thought it would be.....hard! Oh well I will just keep trying. I hope to get a phone tonight & connection to the internet, I havent been able to get one yet as you need passport photos & I dont have any but yesterday VSO took me to have some done so they should be back today. Apparently to get a phone card you need your passport, photos & they take your fingerprints! Last night one of the volunteers who has been here for some time took us to the markets to buy material to have local clothes made & today I am going to try to get a ready made outfit. I feel really uncomfortable wearing western clothes & will be much happier when I have local clothes to wear. I am really enjoying Dhaka, everyone is very friendly, I dont feel threatened in any way walking around. The weather is great, its much cooler than Sydney!

Its been really busy since I have been here, classes start at 8.30am & we dont finish till around 5pm, the first night we went shopping at the markets to get some material, the next night one of the volunteers who has been here for a few months took me shopping to get a ready made local outfit, then we went to a party that was being held for one of the Ugandans who was leaving after being here for 2 years & last night we went to one of the expat clubs so havent had much free time.Well, I had my 2nd Bangla lesson yesterday, its interesting, the teacher expects that after saying a word 3 times we will remember it, well, maybe I could do that some years ago but it just doesnt work now! so Im finding it a lttle frustrating, out of the 7 of us about half can remember & the rest of us are struggling, so at least Im not the only one. When we went to our first Bangla lesson VSO took us in their van but yesterday we had to get there & back on our own! Its about a 40 minute drive across town. You have to barter with the CNG driver (think it stands for clean natural gas, they are small vehicles similar to the tuk tuk in Thailand, that can carry 3 people) was pretty hard, they see that you are a foreigner & assume that you are an expat & earning a huge amount of money so try to charge 4 times what it should cost. The 2 english women are very good at bartering so they managed to get us one for a fare price $A2.20! The ride was amazing, not sure that the insurance company would think so if they saw! As I said before there are no traffic rules, if there is a bit of spare space they will fit their car into it! The sides of the CNG are open, we were advised not to put your head out to see whats going on & after being in it I understand why! Cars, other CNGs, motor bikes, buses all come within 2 inches of your vehicle. When we came back after the lesson we managed to squeeze 4 people into our CNG!My allowance is 10,000 Taka per month which is about $A222! but its very cheap to live here Here are a few examplesI bought enough material for 2 outfits (pants & long top) & 2 scarves for a total of $A20, I took the material to the tailor yesterday & he is charging $A6.60 to make up 2 tops & 2 trousers.The office provides a beautiful vegetarian lunch that includes a dhal dish, 2 vegetable dishes, rice, fruit for $A0.22 per day.Last night 3 of the other volunteers Babu (Ugandan guy) & Jackie & Bernie (English ladies) walked me back to my flat after we came back from the club, they havent seen my flat & I havent been to theirs yet. I have thought that it would have been nice to be in the same apartment block as them but their comments after seeing my flat convinced me that I am very lucky. They were very envious of where I am staying, says its so much nicer than were they are, so they are taking me there today so I can see the difference.On 15 February, which is next Sunday? I will be going to Khagracchari, a VSO driver will take me there, its about an 8 hour drive. I will be there about 6 weeks & come back in April for another 2 weeks induction.I have been developing a really nice relationship with 4 of the other volunteers, Bernie, Jackie, Babu & Godfrey & we have been doing lots together in our spare time. We have quite a few laughs with the Bangladeshi people, they stare at you all the time because they very rarely see foreigners but when they see white women with 2 very black men, they just cant believe their eyes. I was in a CNG (like a tuk tuk) with Babu & Godfrey either side of me when one of the sellers came up to us, he had a smile from ear to ear, just kept looking from Babu to myself then Godfrey & back again, he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Godfrey is also about 6ft 4in tall as well as black & this provides great entertainment for the Bangladeshis. They often come up to him & measure themselves against him! One day we were in the markets, Godfrey was having his bag repaired by one of the men who set up along the street & by the time he had finished we had a crowd of around 40 people that had gathered just to look at us! You also don’t have to worry about losing anyone when you are out and about. While we were waiting for Godfrey’s bag to be repaired 3 of us went to another stall to have a look, Jackie turned around & said to Godfrey,” where have they gone,” all the crowd pointed to where we were!

The first few mornings in Dhaka were very early starts. As most of the population is Muslim prayers begin at around 5am & are broadcast over loudspeakers. My flat is quite a way from the loudspeakers so after the first few mornings I didn’t even wake.
The other volunteers aren’t so lucky, their flat is right across the road from the loudspeaker! When you are in the front bedroom of the flat you cant hold a conversation at all, even shouting, while prayers are on.

My time in Dhaka has gone very quickly. Our group is being used as guinea pigs for a different way of being inducted in country. Usually volunteers spend 1 month in Dhaka, attending Bangla classes & the various sessions in politics, culture, etc. & then are set up in their permanent accommodation and start their placements.
Our induction consists of 2 weeks in Dhaka (10 days for me as I was 4 days late arriving!), with 5 Bangla lessons (3 for me!), then off to our placement. For the first 3 weeks we stay with a local family before moving into permanent accommodation. 3 weeks later its back to Dhaka for another 2 weeks of induction. We will be joining another group that will have arrived in Bangladesh 2 weeks earlier so will piggyback onto their induction. At the end of the ‘experiment’ I guess they will decide whether our trial was successful or not. Not sure that it will be a success, already there have been a few hiccups, the homestay started off being 6 weeks with the family & has now gone down to 3. A couple of homestays have fallen through so not all of us will be doing it anyway.

Dhaka

Babu eating the local way with his fingers


one of the thousands of rickshaws in Dhaka

local food market in Dhaka

local food market in Dhaka

that's better

First days in Dhaka

my kitchen in Dhaka, typical of kitchens found in Dhaka


'my home' in Dhaka - 4th floor - no lifts here


our first ride on a CNG

Krystal, Jackie, Bernie & me buying material for our local outfits, I couldnt wait to get into the local dress, I felt really uncomfortable in western clothes.