Long time no update....sorry!Jun 1, 2009
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A prototype of the product
bamboo drying in the sun
Its all done by hand!
Hi everybody,
So sorry for the long silence from sunny (v humid) Bangladesh. I suppose its a sign of how well that we have settled into a routine here that we havn't been better at keeping in contact over the last few weeks since we returned from our break - however AMAZING things have been happening!
Firstly, on the business side the product has just gone from strength to strength and although delayed by some re-design issues, we are going into production in the next four weeks. After a great sales trip to the UK (not me...) we have been able to get our first order of a container load on the books to be delivered in October, thus helping with the cash flow... so what does this mean for the poor of Bangladesh?
We are recruiting over 11 new technical staff over the next two - three weeks, targeting those families that are in the most need (basically everybody). As we have strict guidelines from the Fair Trade Foundation on the composition of the workforce, 40% of those will be women with children that we can then get into full time education. We are also about to set up a sewing room for the lining and packaging of the product that will give three - four women from the leprosy mission hospital full time employment.... unheard of in the area due to the stigma attached to them. Nicole is starting a health & safety package & first aid with them & we are starting literacy training with them. We have been employing over 25 men and women over the last two months on the bamboo processing side.
Doors have been flung wide over the last few weeks and we have been able to negotiate a large factory space at a very good price after over 12 months of being told that it would be impossible as the government would not allow it! We have now built such a strong relationship with the local / central government that they are asking us to co-present a seminar back in the UK about transformational business in Bangladesh!
There are still however, undertones with one major world NGO failing their security clearance and almost certainly may have to leave the country in the next few days/weeks - just shows how careful we all have to be with the work we are doing - the authorities are happy for Christian organisations to be working with the poor on social or business projects, but evangalism is forbidden by law.
The Monsoon hasn't hit yet ( which is good for bamboo drying, but bad for most other things), but we have had some tropical storms. They provide respite from the heat! We love the hail, wind, heavy rain and amazing displays of lightning....but then remember the people living in temporary or slum houses which are flooded and destroyed by the weather. As always, it is the poor here that suffer the most with the elements and natural disasters. There has been some severe flooding in the south recently, with many homes destroyed and fish farms in particular wiped out. The rice harvest was really good this year... however much of it has gone un-harvested & is rotting in the fields. Why? Well the rice price has been artificially set so low so that people can afford to buy it, but as a result the farmers cannot afford to employ people to harvest it! Madness with so many people being short of food.
Nicole has been helping out at the Traveller's Clinic at ICDDRB, a cholera hospital which is internationally and government funded for research, and provides free treatment for people with diarrhoea. The hospital sees ... 400 - 1000 cholera patients a day! Yes a day - many with life threatening dehydration or sadly dead on arrival. I(N)will be spending some time in the admissions area (currently a large tent....sanitation in buckets) for my own medical interest, the team has an excellent system for assessment and rehydration. My work in the clinic is not as dramatic - I am providing a GP and travel medicine service to Dhaka's expatriate community, mainly NGO workers. It is however varied and interesting work and I still see more than my fair share of people with diarrhoea!!
The majority of my time is still being spent with Duaripara, the slum community education and health project. I am currently training the full time nurse / health worker in managing basic health problems independently. We have worked hard on survey work in the community and building up a relationship with a local government funded clinic for the poor and have established that virtually all our families are eligible for free treatment and medication there! This is fantastic as no-one is accessing this at the moment, so if we work with families individually and take them to be registered, they will leave with a card entitling them to free visits in future. I had to battle hard to get the required information from the clinic, illustrating how often people don't get what they are entitled to as the system is so difficult to navigate. So a lot of our work is advocacy and supporting people use what services are already there. Ongoing health education work in the slum continues - it is fascinating walking round and seeing the conditions people live in, with latrines nothing but a hole in a platform balanced over an open drain or lake, animals wandering freely and loads of children, bright eyed, laughing and playing. Somehow they seem to be enjoying life more than many you see at home....yet to us have so little.....
Life in Dhaka continues to surprise and frustrate us regularly, but overall it is fun! So many crazy sights every day and always something new and unexpected. Things rarely go as planned! Generally, we are loving our time here and are settled in our flat and in a routine where the weeks pass scarily quickly. However Only 6 weeks to go now and so much to do before we leave! The new house goes through on 15th June & we get back on the 17th July.... we can't wait for smelly cheese, smoked salmon and cold white wine!
Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer - can't believe that its June already! Love to all..
Ben & Nicole
