Construction site of the future Children's Village Haluaghat, photo taken on January 5, 2012
Dhaka, 8 January 2012
Almost a year has passed since our last visit to Bangladesh. When we visited last, the construction of the children’s village had just started and it was difficult to imagine how it will be once complete. Meanwhile the project in Haluaghat has taken some shape. We would like to share our impressions with you, and also tell you about our encounter with the Ekmattra children.
Maqsuda arrived in Bangladesh in the first week of November 2011, Rainer one month later. They left together for Houston, Texas during the first week of 2012. During this time, we visited Ekmattra’s shelter home for street children in Dhaka as well as the construction site of the Children’s Village Haluaghat in northern Bangladesh.
At Ekmattra's rehabilitation center in Dhaka
It is hard to tell who was more excited about our meeting again after almost a year – the children or us. It was great to see the progress our little friends in Dhaka made, both personally and in their studies. They told us about how their lives went since we met last, about the many programs Ekmattra had organized for them, about their hobbies and friends. We told them about our motorcycle trip through Africa last summer, about meeting lions and elephants and about similarities and differences between African, Bangladeshi and Western culture. The Ekmattra children had just finished their year-end exams, and all of them passed with good grades! We thought they deserve a reward for this great accomplishment and treated them to traditional Bengali sweets. Many of these children were living on the streets just a few years ago, earning their living through begging and odd jobs – not dreaming of going to school. Ekmattra did an extraordinary job at getting all of them admitted to local schools and helping them adjust to this new environment. Once introverted and not very confident about themselves, many now proudly tell us about their achievments at school, and their plans for the future – that part of the timeline they did not have the freedom to think about in their earlier lives. We visited Ekmattra’s shelter home once again shortly before we left Bangladesh. We said or goodbyes and hope to meet again some time in 2012.
Maqsuda inspecting the construction site of the future Children's Village Haluaghat
Construction site
On January 5, we went on a five-hour drive from Dhaka to Haluaghat to check the progress made at the construction site of Ekmattra’s children’s village. We were happy to see that the foundations of all buildings are built. Also, the concrete frame of most buildings is completed. The village pond is taking shape and the village garden is flourishing. Ekmattra’s dream is becoming a reality – slowly but steadily. Given the many obstacles one is faced when realizing a project of such a dimension in a faraway corner of rural Bangladesh, the progress that has been made is impressive and we are hopeful that, next time we visit Bangladesh, we will be able to spend the night at one of the new buildings.
