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At Issue
On the Road Again, This Time to Bangladesh
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
I'm an avid fan of cktimes.ca. Little did John Gardiner know when he envisioned this newspaper, that it would span the world. But there I was last week, sitting in the Department of Economics of North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, reading cktimes.ca. Everybody that came through the door, got a peek too.I was in the office of a good friend, Dr. A.K.Enamul Haque, professor of economics at North South University. Dr. Haque and I studied together at the University of Guelph many years ago. Through the years we have made several sojourns to each other's abode. As 2003 dawned, I boarded a plane and made the long trip to South Asia.
Bangladesh is not a tourist haunt. The government tourist folks have a slogan there which says, "Come to Bangladesh, Before the Tourists Do." Your loyal scribe has adhered to that. My 2003 trip was my third in ten years. Simply put, the world is getting smaller and smaller.
Bangladesh was born in 1971 after the Indian army crossed into what was East Pakistan and liberated the Bengali people from West Pakistani domination. It is the most densely populated country on earth. After its creation in 1971, the country struggled to get on its feet. Famine followed in 1974. Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger labeled Bangladesh "a basketcase." Unfortunately, ever since that time, Bangladesh has had a hard time shedding that image in the west.
There are 129 million people in an area similiar to Ontario between Windsor and Kingston. Of that 129 million, the literacy rate is officially around 50%. But this figure is inflated. A more realistic literacy figure is 35%. So the vast majority of the country's inhabitants cannot read or write their own language. It's something which folks who grew up here in Chatham-Kent have a hard time imagining.
It is also a very poor country. Of the 129 million people, 42% live below the poverty line. 28% of the 129 million people live in hard core poverty. This means they do not get the basic nutritional requirement meant for a human being to be healthy. That represents over 36 million people, more than the population of all of Canada. As they grow older, natural laws take over and life expectancy of this group is very young compared to any Canadian standard. The numbers are staggering. It's very hard for a Canadian to walk through.
But of course after three visits in ten year, even I have grown to accept that. When I drive the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh's bustling capital city you become immune to some of the "creatures of the street." At almost each stop light, handicapped and hideously deformed people come out and tap on your window begging for some type of nutritional or monetary help. The odd motorist helps out. Most people, including myself, drive on, knowing that succumbing to the begging only brings on more. I try to help by donating to Bangladeshi charities, like the one run by my colleague Dr. Haque.
My friend Enamul helps fund a charity for street kids who are the progeny of sex workers in downtown Dhaka. These kids are the lowest of the low in a society which denigrates their very existence. The charity helps these kids get a primary education and something to eat. You don't see these kids in any western world vision videos. My friend is giving some of these kids hope and a chance to live another day. It's a humbling experience for a Canadian.
But aside from all that, I did manage to have a bit of fun while there. This time around I visited the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest situated at the mouth of the Padma river which empties into the Indian Ocean at the Bay of Bengal. Dr. Haque and I joined members from the World Conservation Union on their research trip to the area. One fine afternoon, while the researchers were gone, Dr. Haque and I almost ran into the Sundarbans's more famous inhabitants, the Royal Bengal Tiger.
We had taken a motor boat to the shore and then walked about 100 meters to a watchtower where we expected to observe the myriad of animals in the surrounding meadow. As we got up into the watchtower, there it was. The Royal Bengal Tiger strode proudly, only 20 metres in front of us. We were so excited, we managed to get only a few seconds of video of the famed beast. But that was enough to download still images to our Pocket PC. That would gain us bragging rights with the World Conservation Union later that day. They'd been looking for the Tiger for years, and had never found one. Needless to say that night on their ship, we held court, embellishing the tiger story even more as the night wore on. It was a magic moment.
Hopefully, there will be many more. I trust you have enjoyed this little personal diatribe about one of my favourite places. Next week, I'm back to the hard core economic and political commentary you have come to expect. And if you read closely, you'll always find a little bit of Asia and Bangladesh mixed in. It stays with you forever.
Philip Shaw, farms 830 acres near Dresden, Ontario. He holds a Masters of Agricultural Economics and Business Degree from the University of Guelph and is a well-known commentator on agricultural issues in print, on radio and over satellite in Canada and the United States. In the Chatham-Kent Times, Phil will use his frank and forthright writing style to address political and economic issues from the local to the international stage. He is a keen observer of political life at all levels, reads widely and has travelled the world to gather fodder for his column. See what's At Issue this week.
