Too much to keep track of

Before I begin the blog, I've included some photos below from the past weeks that I hope you enjoy!

This is a photo from when we left the small village after our "boat cruise". Throngs of children typically follow us around wherever we go. 
People making saris by hand. Most of the people here were adolescents.
I thought this older brother was very cute. Because there are so many children running around, older siblings take on family responsibilities at a very young age.
Me with one of the microcredit borrowers I interviewed. She isn't smiling on purpose; people typically don't when they're being photographed formally (nevermind the girl in the back:)
Inside of the BRAC schoolhouse I visited...the kids are writing on slates and are very organized little people!
Mother and child at a village organization meeting.
This was not posed. The rickshaw driver merely stopped and this many males wanted to look at me up close.
The kids here have the most beautiful, inquisitive eyes.
I feel like her some days:)

I realized that for some reason I have been painfully shy about introducing myself to higher-level program directors and managers at BRAC. I think I was simply reluctant  to impose on people’s time, but after spending the week with a Canadian family a potential BRAC Canada originators, I realized that I needed to meet people…and fast. The past two days I have shamelessly, yet as politely as possible, sat in many an office. I actually really went for the gusto yesterday because I knew that BRAC’s chairperson, Mr. Abed, would be leaving the country. I fervently asked to meet him, and low and behold the CEO and President of BRAC International gave the intern group a half-hour of his time yesterday, which was most generous of him. I can’t recall ever being so nervous to introduce myself to a person in my entire life. Here he was, a person who had been the mastermind behind a now 100,000+ employee operation that affected millions of lives in Bangladesh. The wisened, grey man sitting in front of me is the chief of the largest development NGO in the world. How could I possibly ask him something riveting or novel? I decided I was thinking about it way too much and asked him a capacity-building and organizational change question. BRAC has had many loyal employees who have stayed with BRAC since the beginning in 1972 after the Liberation War, and these people are gearing up for their retirement now. Therefore, I was wondering what his greatest concerns were now that the senior level management, including himself, will likely retire in the next five years. His short answer surprised me.  He said that he was most worried that the majority of BRAC’s staff sees employment at BRAC as a means to a salary. He noted that without a strong, cohesive sense of entrepreneurship shared among the employees, BRAC may falter. I thought this was interesting because naturally as BRAC’s employees pass the 100,000 mark I would assume that its core mission that’s carried them through for 37 years will begin to dilute. How much can one reasonably expect of normal employees? Is it so wrong to do one’s job, accept pay, and go home? Or is this BRAC’s critical linchpin? Has the entrepreneurial spirit been what’s allowed them to expand to multiple sectors (retail, agriculture, education, healthcare, etc.) in all Bangladesh. Perhaps it’s not too much to expect of employees.

Another remarkable person I met today is the head of the legal services division of BRAC. She has a very distinguished career in international human rights law (a field that very much calls my name), and she graciously invited me into her office. I asked her why she wanted to work for such a large NGO and work for women’s rights in this country. I loved how she phrased it. She noted that BRAC does wonderful things and provides ample goods and services. It is great at providing supply. What it had been lacking, however, was creating an informed culture that demanded legal rights and representation. While one can help an acid-throwing victim after the fact, wouldn’t it make more sense to create a structure in which women feel protected and know where to seek help to prevent, for instance, acts of violence in the first place? There was no need to convince me. I am on board with the idea of educating women about their rights, and I loved learning about her staff of legally-trained advocates who she calls “barefoot lawyers” who go house to house in the villages. So long as BRAC provides band-aid legal service, women will not feel legally empowered. 

I was also able to attend a fascinating press conference that left me thinking about the shortcomings of Bangladesh's legal system and government. A member of the Bengali supreme court, one of the country's highest ranking barristers, and a woman from a women's professional council held a "press conference" in downtown Dhaka. I put it in quotes because the reporters and cameramen seemed to be a rag-tag bunch who streamed in as the statements were being made. Also on the panel of speakers were the humble parents of a girl who had been beaten 101 times for having a baby out of wedlock. The conference was held in opposition to the issuance of fatwas, which have severely limited and violated many women's human rights. Fatwas are religious rulings made from local village religious leaders (called Imams), and in large part they are illegal. Many people say that they are just a way for the Imams to make money, as they charge sizable sums from people who want them to issue a fatwa against someone.  The panelists said that in a country with legal, secular, constitutional rule, there is no space for religious law. The problem is that these Imams reign supreme in very poor villages. The largely illiterate and poor populations look to them for leadership even though they have only little education themselves. Interestingly, once a fatwa has been issue and a beating is scheduled, hundreds of villagers are informed, and about a week later they show up en masse to watch the beating. The police obviously know this is going to happen, but they do nothing. They want the entertainment just as much as the next person. 

In the press conference case, the girl's father was first beaten, and his arm was broken. Then he was forced to hold his daughters hands as she was beaten unconscious. By this point it was midnight (this is done purposely so that police and medical help can't find her in the dark), and the father rode his rickshaw with broken bones to the hospital to alert them. Medical help came in the morning. 

Totally non-sequitur are some observations I’ve made about behavior and culture since I’ve been here…enjoy! 

1)     Some aging men dye their beards with henna (natural ground up leaves), and their beards are bright orange! This threw me for a loop at first, but I’ve been told it has religious significance.

2)   Men clear their throats here in the most ridiculously loud way. I always cringe.

3)   I was told at dinner tonight that Bengalis typically do not say thank you, but this is not because they’re rude. Instead, it’s best to catch the person’s eyes in a quick glimpse and express gratitude that way. Don’t tell American children this or it may cause mayhem.

4)   Knowing the cardinal rose directions and basic numbers in Bangla has been essential. I could not ride a rickshaw without it!

5)   Bamboo poles hold up construction everywhere. The workers typically have no safety harnesses or helmets on, but don’t fret, the one thing they do have is a dust mask.

6)   Most middle and upper-class families have maids. It is still very hard for me to get used to, and when I saw that the maids in my house slept on the kitchen floor I did not know what to make of it.

7)   Men and boys tend to hold hands here, which I find very endearing, but sadly it’s still taking me some time to get used to it. I like seeing the affection!

8)   Women are typically not in the streets, and it’s really a city of men primarily. I do see women of course, but it’s more rare, and I don’t really notice anymore.

9)   Traffic here is completely nuts. Between pedestrians, small buggy-like scooter taxis, rickshaws, and fancy cars with drivers, walking really is the best bet at times. I’m amazed that I have only seen one accident since I’ve been here.

10The people nod their heads here in the funniest way. I can’t quite explain it, but instead of saying yes, they kind of tilt/jerk their heads to one side and almost look as though they’re unhappy about saying yes but are doing so anyway. Bizarre.