Street Kids Sports Day

The team has had increased engagement with the children cared for at Aparegio Bangladesh and its centres across the city. The work there is considered extremely worthwhile and Team 79 were eager to give the children something to enjoy and remember.

The day included hilarity on the basketball court, interesting penalty shoot-outs, some cheating occurred on the track races and the concept of limbo was eagerly received.

The boys joined the girls at their centre and a total of 70 kids arranged into colourful teams had fun in a process of organised chaos. After games and snacks the winners were announced and prizes were presented alongside clothes purchased for the children or donated by the volunteers as our time here draws to close.

Slum School Scout Project

A few volunteers offered to help out with a local scout group in the slums behind the station to renovate the area and improve the current, desolate situation. After clearing the area of rubbish, faeces, bricks and sewage the small team set to work. They dug holes for a new bamboo fence and secured the structures with wire, filled a hole previously brimming with sewage water with sand to reduce the health risks, advised the re-routing of a drain that runs through the garden area, planted new saplings and secured funding for future projects such as a brick path to help in the rainy season and additional educational materials.

Sports in the Dalit Community

On February 4th, Sonu and Rachel organised a sports day with the kids in Bandal Dalit Community. The Dalit Community originated from the ‘untouchable’ caste of the Hindu religion and are now subject to segregation and discrimination in its lowest forms. The kids, about 50 in total, were put into four teams: yellow, green, red or blue each with two team leaders (one UK and one Bangladeshi volunteer.) Events on the day included an egg and spoon race, a sack race, penalty shoot-outs and tug of war.

All the kids and volunteers were enthusiastic, and the day was good fun, especially for the yellow team who totalled the highest number of points and won a small trophy to display. All of the children received a small prize at the end of the day, and all seemed to enjoy their first sports day. Hopefully the event set an example for how simple it would be to run similar days in the future and to encourage this, funds went towards purchasing badminton equipment and goal posts for the community.

Picnic and Games for Children with Disabilities

A few of the volunteers have been focusing on Disability and Development in their work placements so with this in mind Bridget and Ety decided to organise a picnic and games for the children with disabilities living in the village of Patiya, Chittagong.

Through their work placement at Nowzuwan they promoted the event and gathered around 25 children with differing special needs and held a day for both them and their carers to enjoy. Activities included specially adapted games to cater for different abilities such as balloon blowing, marble grabbing, biscuit catching and cock fighting for the hearing impaired community.

Everyone enjoyed the day where the emphasis was on equal involvement for all and the important concept that anything is achievable by everyone. Each child received a medal for their involvement and speeches were given on the value of empowerment.

Human Rights Movement Indigenous & Tribal People

Believing the motto “Think globally and Act locally”- a very effective way to deal with different development issues in aspect of globalization, Global Xchange team 79 conducted a Global Citizenship Day (GCD) with the focus of “Violation Of Human Rights in Aspect of Indigenous & Tribal People” . In the day, all the GX volunteers gathered in Choto Kumira near to Chittagong, known for an indigenous tribe called “Tripura”. While meeting them, volunteers passed time and exchanged views with the local inhabitant Tripura. They learnt how the Tripura and other indigenous & Tribal People have been living peacefully for hundreds of years and living upon Jum cultivation in Chittagong Hill tracks. However, after 1992 there was a huge blood shedding conflict between local settler Bangali and indigenous & tribal people in Chittagong hill track. In this a collision, a huge massacre took place and lots of indigenous & tribal people lost their lives and the aftermath of the violence has left deep scars on both sides. After that, although a peace accord was signed eleven years earlier in 1997, there has been a catastrophic failure to implement the accord’s terms, and human rights violations increased dramatically when Emergency Rule was declared in January 2007. More than fifty indigenous activists have been arrested since January 2007, often on false arms charges. Many have been tortured and given long and unjust prison terms, and two Jummas have died in police custody when their human rights were violated severely.

Realizing these facts, each one of all 18 volunteers has decided to send a petition letter to honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh to let her know their concern about the violation of human rights and to take proper initiative for humanitarian response about these indigenous group of people. Each of the Global Xchange volunteers started the campaign by signing the petition to the PM. With this connection, Muhhammad Umar Khaiyam GX volunteer & member of Amnesty International said, “Movement against any violation of human rights will be successful, when citizens of the society will be aware about exploited section of people and stand beside them to voice out for them”.

Later the volunteers played with the children and fixed the roof of their only school in that area. They also distributed books and other primary education related instruments to them funded by the Pulteney Town Peoples Project of Caithness, Scotland. They also painted the school fencing colorfully so that it can be long lasting as well as lively to enjoy their class times in schools. Toffazzal Liton, one of the volunteers, told, “Tribal and indigenous people are the most exploited community in our society. Only if we are sincere about their human rights and show respect, can we change their ill fate tomorrow”.

Finally, all the volunteers agreed upon stepping forward for the rights of people and continuing advocacy on a local and international level. They have also urged local authority to be more attentive about violation of Human Rights of Indigenous & Tribal People of Bangladesh

The Muddiness of Rice Planting

Rice is the staple food for the entire 150million population of Bangladesh, let alone over half the world’s population it is an essential crop that is often taken for granted. After eating it everyday in its many forms for a lifetime, we decided it was about time the team, both British and Bangladeshi learnt how to plant the tiny grains. Empathy towards the 70% of Bangladesh that is involved in the production and distribution of the crop is very important and we should try and understand the real value of rice.

On Saturday 31st January, Sampa and Bridget took the team Rice Planting in the village of Shaharmeedpur outside of Chittagong.

After initial screwed faces at the cow dung filled field, the team got well and truly stuck in upto their knees and with our little audience carefully planted the rows.

After a little bit of mud-related mischief the team washed off in the stream and ended the day hopefully with a little more rice awareness than before…

A day at the Orphanage

For Becky and Queens GCD on Child Rights and Empowerment, the team visited the local hill orphanage for girls.

A new badminton net was bought and put up by some of the stronger volunteers, while others showed the girls how to make friendship bracelets of card making. There was also singing and dancing with more ’show us how to get dance’ activities led by Kathleen.

Obviously in one afternoon we could do very little but we hope we showed the girls some fun for a day…We also hope to return before the end of the program to show our continued suport for the cause.

Fire at Foys Lake Slums

In January to start the new year with tragedy, a quarter within the Foys Lake Slum area suffered from a fire which destroyed the poor quality bamboo structures and devasted the land.

After hearing of the fire the team, led by Michael and Philip during their GCD organized a clothes collection from both host homes and the local area to help distribute much needed clothing to those who lost everything in the devastating fires. We conducted a survey in neighbouring slums to get a broader idea of the issues faced by the community and with funds raised in Caithness invested in some buckets and other equipment to reduce the impacts of future fires.

A few volunteers remained after the day to oversee the distribution of the clothes and attempt to ensure equality and order in the chaos that ensued. The team will be keeping a close eye on progress at the slums to make sure that when other charities and aid inevitably pull out o f the area, the inhabitants aren’t completely left to fend for themselves.

Since the fires, the area has now been cleared by the land owner who demanded rent from the slum dwellers, but residents have been unable to return. It is suspected the owner himself may have initiated the blaze to rid his land of the previous poverty and structures present there and dwellers are struggling to set-up homes elsewhere.

National Immunisation Day

National Immunisation Day part of a special immunisation programme on polio eradication. Polio is primarily a disease of the infant caused by an enterovirus with disease manifestations that include destruction of motor neurons in the spinal cord causing flaccid paralysis. Because of enteric entry of the virus, it was thought that an oral vaccine may be effective in stimulating immunity against the disease. Indeed, oral vaccines consisting of attenuated virus have proved to be highly effective in conferring protective immunity. The trivalent polio vaccine consisting of three poliovirus types currently in use is a very convenient preparation that can be kept at 4°C for a long time and is thus suitable for field use in simple iceboxes.

On January 3rd Bangladesh more than 21 million under-five year old children of the country were vaccinated and one Vitamin A capsule was given to each of them on the day. Team 79 joined with Bright Bangladesh Forum (BBF) helped with the cause. We were distributed throughout the city and although in some offices demand for hands was low, others were rushed off their feet and struggled to clasp the grubby faces long enough to drop the two drops of vaccine into as many mouths as we could.

Bangladesh credits itself on the absense of polio cases for at least 7 years but the debilitating disease is still prevalent in neighbouring India and is an essential vaccination and as ever, we were simply glad to help in whatever little way we could.

The Elections

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