Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The State of Bangladesh

it has been about 2 and a half weeks now since i arrived in dhaka, bangladesh. i think i finally have a pretty complete picture of what i think about the country. keep in mind that my opinion is heavily colored by the group of expat foreign nationals living in bangladesh ngo workers non-government organizations i hang out with. they are a bunch of incredibly brilliant folks all applying their ample brain power to the problems of the country. while some of them do get to see results, most of them have their efforts frustrated by hostile environmental, social, and political conditions. for instance, the government comes in a solid second place for corruption, with only congo taking the gold medal. environmentally, flooding is a very constant occurrence across the low lying country. there isn't enough space to grow all the food they need, and the infrastructure is under capacity and in disrepair. the bangladesh people have the odds stacked against them and are plagued with a broken government to boot. the country has a good deal of natural beauty, but even this is often choked with pollution and poverty. the only redeeming quality is the people themselves. and yet, depending on your perspective, it is the people (government mostly) who are the biggest problem. and finally, it's really difficult to get a good old fashioned beer since it's an islamic nation. ultimately, bangladesh is not a place you come unless you're working or have something to keep yourself occupied with. bear in mind, i have enjoyed* my time here, i just don't think that i'll be back unless it's in some sort of development context. note: i use the term enjoy loosely. hawaii is a place you enjoy. the carribean is a place you enjoy. bangladesh is not one of those places.




















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