Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Check this website out everyone :)

http://www.thelisteningprojectfilm.com/

Monday, November 26, 2007

Dhaka City Life



Yesterday, I traveled throughout the city and I saw a lot. So much that I had to take pictures every opportunity I was presented with. My day started with riding the rickshaws (Fyi: Rickshaws: Bicycles with seats in the back, like bicycle taxi) . Due to the political situation in Bangladesh I was told not to wander the streets too much. (These days the caretaker government is organized by the military, so everywhere I go I see an army officer. I feel safe but then it’s scary because I was told that military tends to be very heartless.) But you know me, Ms. Adventurous. I had to get out of the house and explore! Sitting in the Rikshaw I felt bad because of the pain that the men experience riding people through the heat over and over again. I wanted to ask the Rikshawala his story. I heard from my uncle that certain mobs run the money situation of the beggars and drivers which include the Rikshawalas in Dhaka. That’s crazy to me because there is a business to all the madness and chaos over here.

The destination point today was Dhanmondi where I visited a few lakes and museum/house where one of the leading architects of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were murdered. It was kind of scary going in there because I could feel the homeliness of the museum. The murders were atrocious. His blood stains were saved, and there were a few pictures of his dead body in there also. Death is inevitable. Seeing that made me think wow…I really have to live the best I can. You never know what can happen…NOTHING is guaranteed. After that my I visited an astrologer. I didn’t feel like getting my future read so I just took a picture. He was adorable. He sat with a book, and his magnifying glass. It was too cute. Then I got my henna done by these two men. It was cheap henna by the way! By the time I made it home, it all rubbed off grr…


On my way back I stopped by Dhaka University and donated some money to the cyclone victims. I noticed that there is a strong sense student activism there. Or maybe it is my love for scholarly atmospheres. Though the streets were rampant with disorder, these students were demonstrating and collecting money for the many victims that died. That really touched my heart and gave me so much hope…

If I were to paint a picture of the streets I would say that it’s very chaotic. It feels like New York City turned upside down. There is people everywhere, beggars, Rikshawala’s, Mercedes, Highlanders, Scooter cars, broken limbs, Mc Donalds, piles of garbage, people squatting and taking their poopee in the middle of the streets, vegetables being sold outside from farms, slobs of meat hung at out door bazaars, Hijras (Transvestites)…Its just so overwhelming. Dhaka is a jungle. The whole time, I was told to keep all my senses clear because ANYTHING can happen.

My next stop is a few orphanages this week. My goal is to volunteer and build and alliance with the orphanages out here with America for my nonprofit cause I will be building J I will keep you all updated….Thanks so much for visiting my page. I love you all! SOOOOOO MUCH! Ps: I have internet hehe J I don’t mind squatting in the toilets, and taking the humbling bucket baths that make me FREEZE my ass off as long as I got my internet hahhaha…

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Hello everyone

I am now in Bangladesh. I made it safe. Coming here is always a humbling experience for me. I am noticing that there is so much going on here in Dhaka. I am merely a fragment within all the realities. I haven't really been anywhere yet. I spoke to my uncle about visiting the cyclone site but it is highly toxic over there. Many dead bodies are still floating off shore. So for now I am planning to visit some orphanages, and temples/ancient sites.

Although I was home today, I suddeny became aware of so much in the house. I am staying at my aunts by the way. She lives in a lower middle class neighborhood, so I am exposed to all the slums around me. If I go outside into the balcony I am exposed to everything...literally. Inside the house there are maid servants. They are both very intelligent young girls who are iliterate. It breaks my heart to see this...so much potential, yet why is it not utilized?? I will be uploading pictures, and writing more...

please continue to check in as this blog becomes more and more interesting...I'm just a bit overwhelmed. So its taking me a minute to jot it all down!

Love you all. Peace and love.

Tania

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Taipai to Singapore

So prior to this moment, I hopped on the plane with slight bits of apprehension on my shoulder, leaving nothing with me but my trust in God. Walking away form my sister at the airport almostt brought me to tears. And my fathers longings to be with his wife saddened me also.
Security checkpoint was blah. C'mon guys, I am a diva. I NEED my makeup, and hair products...:( They totally attacked me stating the following: "You have too much for one little person". I lied to them and told them that some of it belonged to my mother. My aunts mother is also traveling with us. She's so innocent and traditional.
I could not rememebr the 15 brutal hours of my plane ride. I drank some wine and that did it for me. Ironically, I sat with a very cute South Indian vegetarian couple. They were very kind and suprised to hear that a Bengali Islamically cultured woman like me was Buddhist and vegetarian. Yayy to weirdos like me. I was also questioned on marriage.
No people I am not going to my country to have my marriaged arranged to a FOB (Fresh off the boat). Yes, I said it, a FOB who wants to marry me for his double wammy (green card, and good looking wifey). Any how, we waited in Taipai only for a little. But I managed to take some pictures of the non-existant toilets. I swear, I am being initiated into the land of flat pans. Taking my number two squatting! great! Once you're in the Asian subcontinent prepare to squat! Unless you are in a heavily westernized area.
Now I am on the plan again. The sweet Indian couple offered me to go explore Singapore with them. We'll see what happens! I have my Deepak Chopra book to keep me grounded. Pray for me everyone!!!

Btw...where is my food...i am starving! :)

Monday, November 19, 2007

Bangladesh Trip This year 2007

Survivors grieve for cyclone dead
  • Story Highlights
  • Survivors of Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh waiting for aid to arrive
  • Red Crescent Society official says deaths could rise to 5,000-10,000
  • Bangladeshi president distributes aid; angry survivors go empty-handed
  • Thousands remain missing; estimated 280,000 homeless

PATUAKHALI, Bangladesh (CNN) -- Survivors of a storm that killed more than 3,000 people in the impoverished nation of Bangladesh grieved and buried their loved ones Monday as they waited for aid to arrive.

The number of dead killed from Cyclone Sidr -- now at 3,114 -- is expected to rise yet further as the South Asian nation continues to assess the damage.

The Bangladesh Red Crescent fears the death toll could be 5,000 -- perhaps even reaching as high as 10,000.

In the fishing village of Galachipa, in Patuakhali district, Dhalan Mridha was grieving for family members who died in the cyclone after ignoring an alert issued by authorities.

"Nothing is going to happen. That was our first thought and we went to bed. Just before midnight the winds came like hundreds of demons. Our small hut was swept away like a piece of paper, and we all ran for shelter," Mridha, a 45-year-old farm worker, told The Associated Press.

On the way to a shelter, Mridha lost contact with his wife, mother and two children. The next morning he found their bodies.

The Category 4 cyclone raked Bangladesh's southwest coast on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 241 km/h (150 mph), destroying fishermen's hamlets and villages.

Thousands are still missing, while an estimated 280,000 others are unable to return to their homes which were wiped out by the storm. Many grieving families are now burying loved ones in single graves as no male members are available to dig them.

Most houses in the region are made of flimsy materials such as bamboo and corrugated iron, and had no chance of withstanding the storm's powerful winds.

In addition, the storm-struck area is criss-crossed by a huge river delta which surged as Sidr pushed through, wiping out many villages and littering the river's shores with debris. VideoWatch as people are left to fend for themselves »

Low-lying Bangladesh is already prone to flooding which has wiped out the country's rice production -- a major food staple for the impoverished country.

Improved warning systems and shelters have kept the number of deaths far lower than the disastrous cyclones in the region of 1970 and 1991, when the tolls were in the hundreds of thousands.

Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed visited the devastated region Sunday, handing out some aid to the crowds of people before members of the international media. It was seen largely a token effort as hundreds were left empty-handed and furious. Security officials struggled to hold back the crowd. PhotoSee dramatic photos of storm survivors »

Sidr has already ruined Bangladesh's rice harvest, but the international community is rallying to make sure the country does not suffer as acutely as it has in the past. Nearly a million people died after massive floods wiped out the country's rice production in 1974.

International aid organizations promised initial packages of $25 million during a meeting with Bangladesh agencies Monday, the U.N.'s World Food Program said. The United States has offered more than $2 million as an initial contribution for emergency relief, and sent two U.S. Navy carriers to help in recovery operations.

In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is airlifting in relief supplies and an 18-person Department of Defense medical team is in Bangladesh helping the estimated 15,000 injured by the storm.

Bangladesh's government held an emergency Cabinet meeting Saturday to assess the disaster and discuss recovery issues, Bangladeshi government spokesman Fahim Munaim told CNN.

Officials fear the scope of the destruction may be much more extensive since there are remote areas where conditions cannot yet be determined.

Munaim said nearly a third of Bangladesh's 64 districts were affected by the cyclone, most of those along the southern coast. The Bangladeshi military is working to provide shelter for the many people who have been displaced.

International aid groups -- including Save the Children, World Vision, and the Red Crescent, which already have offices in Bangladesh -- are deploying resources to the cyclone-stricken region but -- like the government -- they have found it nearly impossible to reach the more remote areas to assess conditions.

Roads to remote areas are either blocked by massive trees fallen by the storm, or so severely damaged that it is impossible for vehicles to use.

Clearing could take weeks in the remote areas because it must be done by hand -- there are no chainsaws and modern machinery to speed up the process.

Along the broken road that leads into Kolapara, the body of an 8-year-old girl called Rummie was carefully carried away for burial.

Overwhelmed with sadness, her mother Khadija was steadied by a relative.

"I am feeling too much pain in my heart," she said. "I have lost my daughter, so I am a victim of the cyclone as well."