Manushmara

Last trip I named my blog for this week "The ever changing Chars" but I don't think that I have ever actually understood that statement until now.


Our trip began by driving to the Kurigram (district) office for lunch and then heading to the port, Chilmari, where we were to catch our boat. The boat ride out to the chars is one of my favorite parts of the trip. The boat is long and narrow with a curved thatched roof on it that you can sit on. We all took the opportunity to get some sun (after applying ample sunblock and using our scarves for shade) and take in our new surroundings.
The river is about twenty-some kilometers wide and is fed by about 16 other rivers flowing in from India. The sand islands that erode and reform are bigger than you'd expect, but constantly changing. You can see with your own eyes how quickly sandbars can build up as swirling patches of water indicate the build up of sand below, while in the next breath it is washed away, never to see the surface.

We arrived at the "port" at our new home, Manushmara char, and were greated by our interpreteur for the next four days who was "SOO happy"and "SOO honoured" to meet us. (This became a theme over the next 3 days as every vegetable was "SOO tastey"and every group was "SOO pleasure" to see us.) As we pulled up I noticed a five storey while building teetering on the shore line of the char. The building looked familiar and I realized that I'd seen it just two years ago pretty close to smack dab in the centre of the char. As our guide led us toward the office I swore that I would recognize it, and the surrounding settlements, but while the structure looked the same nothingn about the surroudings was familiar. I learned just a few minutes later that the office had been moved within the last two years because it too had been under threat of distruction due to river erosion.

All of the roads and homesteads are raised up and because of this some of them have a chance of surviving the flooding that occurs annually. But even still, most of the roads we walked were "bypass roads" that needed to constantly be rebuilt and repaired. Our interpreteur joked that all of the roads on the chars are bypass roads.

All of our visits to different RDRS groups took place in the morning because the heat prevented us from doing almost anything in the afternoons. Over our two full days (three nights) we visited a CLP (Chars Livelihood Project) group and some of their homesteads, a microfinance group and a school. The CLP is a project unique to the chars that is funded by DFID and implemented by RDRS as well as a few other NGOs. It is an all encompassing project that works with every aspect of peoples lives. As a member of the CLP people get help with raising their homesteads, obtaining income generating assets, information of advocacy and health etc. This project is so different from ones on the mainland because of the extreme poverty that is present on the chars. Most people do not choose to live on the chars but instead are forced to move there because they are landless and have no other option. Because of these issues the people on the chars are some of the most vulnerable in all of Bangladesh. That being said, they are also some of the warmest, most caring, outgoing people that we had the pleasure to meet. :)

Our afternoons, as I said, were pretty lazy, mostly spent laying around and unsuccessfully trying to communicate with the children who come and hang out around our windowns. By about six o'clock it began to cool down and we were able to take sunset strolls around the char. One of the evenings we were treated to a "cultural evening" which featured about six Bangali men dancing enthusiastically to "Beat it" by Michael Jackson. I can't even begin to describe their dancing so I'm not going to try.. but I will say that it will be imprinted on my brain for the rest of my life!
Most of our evenings drew to a close around 9:30 or ten when we ate dinner at a typically Bangali time and it was straight to bed for us Badeshi's.

Now we are back in Dhaka awaiting our flights out, after a couple days of sari shopping and last meals with Aslam of course. Our time here flew by faster than I could ever imagine and it feels as if it was just yesterday that we were here in Dhaka waiting to start this whole experience. Thanks for everyone who has read our blogs and even more so to the ones who commented (although they were quite few *coughcough*). I can't wait to be back on Canadian soil, even though it will be hard to leave this beautiful country.

See you all soon (: