The nepa palm home of Shobita, Bina, and Mohon Mondol home sits on a narrow strip of compressed silt near the confluence of a canal and the Pashur river in the delta of Bangladesh. They dip drinking water from a 2,000-liter rainwater collection tank the received last year from with help of the local welfare center. The tank saves the Mondols from having to make … Continue reading Foreign aid and NGOs in Bangladesh
The day kicked off with an early wake up around 6:30 a.m. My slumber at the City Inn that night was not the best of the trip, but not the worst. One thing I have come to learn about Bangladesh is that many of the beds are not soft, nothing like my queen-size memory foam mattress back in Missoula, Montana. The beds here feel like … Continue reading Not a care in the world
Momena Beguma, 85, stood in the doorway of her house on stilts in the Passer River. The Bangladeshi woman has moved 10 times because of flooding and river erosion. “I never know when we will have to move again,” she said. The Dhangmari Village in Bangladesh, where Beguma lives, is made up of a collection of houses on stilts. The water comes up to the … Continue reading Shifting chars: The human face of climate migration
As our bus departed the chaotic city of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the traffic whizzing past resembled a real life simulation of GTA. We were headed to a drastically different scene. We would soon be entering the tide country, a land filled of villages inundated by tides, along the Rupsha River. I couldn’t believe we were already done with the first portion of our trip. We were … Continue reading The slums
Among the narrow alleyways and wall-to-wall houses of Notun Bazar, two buildings stand out. The blue walls beam through the grayscale of southwest Bangladesh’s largest slum, and the concrete floor is invitingly smooth and unblemished. Signs proclaim both buildings newly renovated and detail the cost – about 800 U.S. dollars. Despite their flamboyant exteriors, the inside of each building is sparse, with only a single … Continue reading Safe sanitation remains an issue for many in Bangladesh
Blue and green lights illuminated the early morning fog as vendors balanced wicker baskets brimming with fish and fruit atop their heads. They laid out arrays of cucumbers and squash under the tinted bulbs and waited for the buyers to swarm. In the distance, chickens sang and fish flew as they were thrown into tubs anticipating their slaughter. While the rest of the city slept, … Continue reading Something fishy: A peek into the climate effects on Dhaka’s biggest fish market
The morning started as usual in Dhaka. I sipped from a small glass of milk tea from a local stand while a gaggle of stray dogs ran in front of me. As I wove my way through Dhaka University’s campus for the first time, I marveled at its beauty and uniqueness. The courtyard where I had drank my tea and where Rafia, one of our … Continue reading Dhaka University
The Buriganga River flows through southwestern Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, with traffic not too much different than the rest of the city. Small wooden porter boats dodge hulking barges and foghorns blare as children swim off concrete banks. The waters are dark and murky, and the city’s trash washes up on its beaches. The Keraniganj area of the river is dotted by shipyards, squeezed … Continue reading Working between water and steel
In preparing for this trip to Dhaka, our professor Nadia White told us all to “tell it like it is.” We would not be sugarcoating anything, or glazing over the important details. Our reporting would be focused on climate change, specifically related to loss and damages. We were asked to research and prepare to report on a related issue in Bangladesh, where we would “tell … Continue reading Feeling it like it is
By Lauren Reinhart When I got my passport back from the consulate in New York with my visa for Bangladesh, I thought I would not have to worry about it ever again. In short, I was wrong. The trouble all started back in February. I was stressed out when Nadia White, our professor, sent all of the class passports off to New York to get … Continue reading Problem child creating more problems
UM to Bangladesh 