I am very flattered to have been asked a few times when a report on the Bangladesh trip will appear on this blog – it’s gratifying that people are reading and interested. We experienced so much in our ten days in Dhaka that it’s hard to know where to start, so I’ve decided to break the trip down into smaller pieces on different subjects, starting with Where we Stayed.
We stayed in the project flat M uses, which is in Gulshan. Gulshan is a “posh” area of Dhaka, yet there are still open sewers running down the sides of the street; more than once we saw men squatting over these to pee. On our first day, desperate to hold off the urge to sleep, we went for a walk. We were immediately followed by curious children – we saw no other white children in Dhaka, few expats walk I was later told, and I understood why. As well as the hazards of open sewers, pavements were blocked by tea stalls or piles of bricks for the endless construction sites. Space is premium in Dhaka, the 14 million plus people all desperate for somewhere to live. So villas are being pulled down to build high 
rise apartment blocks on the space, which sadly means some of the character is being lost. We had to walk along the side of the road, bumping J’s buggy over the rutted bricks and potholes. Cars and rickshaws brush past; everyone is in a hurry and pushing for that extra bit of space. Car horns hoot endlessly.
We walked alongside the lake. M said in sarcasm “here is the delightful lake”. “What’s delightful about it?” T answered – it had a thick layer of sludge on the top. In Bangladesh, lakes and rivers are used for everything – drinking, washing and defecating. M’s flat looks across this lake to a slum, the houses built on stilts so that they are raised up, ready for when the lake fills dramatically with monsoon rains and flood waters. From our windows, listening to the Maghrib call to prayer, I watched children run on the muddy banks and fishermen spread their nets in the last light.
Next Instalment – Rickshaw Rides