Final thought, good byes and thank yous

Final Thoughts, thanks and goodbyes

Miriam and Joe

 

When you are far from friends, family and familiarity you are dependent on a few key people to keep you sane, happy and share a few laughs with. Living in Bangladesh, and especially Bandarban, where the level of English speaking skills are low it has been difficult to find many people to spend time with, relax and talk. The people at my organisation have been overwhelmingly kind and in the last few months I have also developed strong relationships with some local people who have good English and allowed me to really start to enjoy my time here. However, for a significant amount of my time I have been reliant (over reliant at sometimes) on my two fellow UK volunteers, Miriam and Joe. I feel we have all supported each other through a challenging year and I hope I provided them with as much support as they gave me. The relationship with each was different and determined by as much their Bangladesh placements as their personalities. Joe had a tough placement, especially after his organisation closed, lived in the rather unaccommodating town of Sirajganj and had to deal with local politicians/NGO chairmen (the difference is vague) who often drove him up the wall with their progressive rhetoric but hollow actions. Joe and I would regularly try to laugh our way through the seemingly hopeless and frustrating situations we found ourselves in and also shared many astute and sometimes rather blunt thoughts on development in Bangladesh. Miriam, as mentioned in a previous blog, had a rather wonderful placement in the all singing, all dancing Khagrachari. Spending time with M was like a mini holiday at times and the closest thing I got to feeling like I was relaxing with friends back home, talking about everything from Bollywood to Religion, Human Rights to never nudes, and always laughing. Two of the best moments were when they each made trips to Bandarban to visit, take in the stunning scenery and enjoy the company of the fun friends I have made in the last few months. 

With Joe and Miriam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Final Thoughts and future hopes

Wow, a year has gone, a year in Bangladesh. Not sure when I will finally be able to make sense of it all, perhaps in a month, 6 months, a year or more? However, as this is probably my last Bangladesh blog entry I just wanted to try and give some sort of conclusion to the past year and indicate where I might go next. The year has no doubt been hard but I feel I have genuinely contributed to BNKS and can feel proud of the work I achieved here. When I arrived they were more a group of committed individuals who worked in the same office, now, after human resource and strategic planning, they have job roles, an organisational structure, a proactive board, a website, a planning and evaluating ethos and an idea of what type of organisation they are and where they are going. It feels much more professional now and I hope the next VSO who arrives in one month will be able to build on the work I have done and not expend so much energy trying to find out about BNKS and search for a job purpose. I have gained many valuable hard skills including human resource development, strategic and annual planning, monitoring and evaluation and time management. Probably most beneficial has been the perspective on development and the development industry I gained from working at a local based organisation. I feel I can now better understand the reasons people still have to live in poverty and the needs and demands of these people – not the interpretations people from industrialised countries often assume these people have.

I definitely wished I had been able to have more fun. However, together with living in such a different country, my focus on trying to get to grips with BNKS and ensure both they and I benefited organisationally and professionally from this year meant my social life was put on the back burner. I hope, after my work here the next VSO will find the placement easy to fit into and be able to find a better work and social life balance.

Next stop is India for a 4 week rest and hopefully a bit of fun and then home to the UK where I hope to find the laughs and familiarity of friends and family being able to block out the seemingly endless pointlessness of tabloid celebrity worship and commercialism. I definitely want to work in development as a career, or at least in some job sector which reduces the current inequalities of living standards and power among peoples. Where this will be, I hope in the UK for a bit, and then………………………..

I leave Bangladesh with it standing at the threshold of opportunity and uncertainty. In 3 months general elections are scheduled, the first since the army backed caretaker government took control two years ago in an attempt to clean up the rampant political and economic corruption. I would like to say I feel positive. However, the wealthy and powerful people who control the country and use the political system for their own personal gain have managed to squirm and wriggle like infected worms and it looks likely that they will once again regain power. It makes me very sad how those with power – the wealthy and politically titled (in both Bangladesh and more powerful countries) – seem to care so little about the lives of others.

I have come to realise that in the UK and other ‘old democracies’ we are the lucky ones, our rights are protected and this protection has become the norm, yet we are very much in the minority. To be able to not be scared of politicians, law enforcement, the army, big businessmen, any big men and feel that we have the opportunity and security to make the best of our lives is not the situation most people in this world find themselves in. They have no access to clean food or water, cannot afford school, or schools are low quality, they are forced to work in dangerous conditions for low wages, they have no access to quality medical care and cannot vote for people who can change this situation. The worst part of it is that those who do enjoy this security and especially those who have the power to spread this security seem to not give a dam about changing this situation and actually continue with behaviours which both preserve and increase this inequality.

Final thank yous to everyone who sent me a message this past year, each one was much appreciated. Also a massive thanks to anyone who has helped me this past year from fellow VSOs, friends in Dhaka and the Hill Tracts and especially to the kind, hardworking and welcoming staff members of BNKS. It has been a privilege to work and live in such a different and beautiful place as Bandarban and I will always value the time I have spent here

At Mr. Mong's Rice Wine den with M and the Toymu gang