Along with another teacher I was a guest of the government girls' and boys' schools in Bogra. As well as spending time in those schools we accompanied the girls' school on a relief trip to a flood affected area about 25km away taking pencils, books etc to the children. A humbling experience. here too people were very welcoming, generous and curious about the world. We were asked about the referendum and told how lucky we were to be part of the UK!
Everyone wanted to speak English to us, know where we were from and to hear how we liked Bangladesh.
A mainly muslim country but with a female prime minister and a female opposition leader. The value placed on education is enormous - pressure to pass exams but also a sense that without it life cannot get better.
Here is a small selection of my pictures:
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| Girl guides on the bus out to the flooded village |
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| With the girls' school janitor |
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| Rickshaw |
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| colourful truck |
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| Loaded truck |
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| Buying fresh fruit |
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| Riding in a tuk tuk |
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| Inside the boys' school |
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| Girls line up for assembly |
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| Dancer from the girls' school |
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| Another dancer |
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| Villagers come out to meet us |
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| Shaquille shows us the water pump |
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| Flood devastation in the high school |
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| Inside the village secondary school |
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| Freshly pressed uniforms |
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| Handing out school equipment |
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| Temporary post flood housing |
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| Flooded primary and secondary schools |
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| Shaquille and friends by the Jumana river |
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| Mother and child |
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| Cloth shop |
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| How true |
Having spent a day in the flood affected village I hope to organise some fund raising here to help them rebuild and re-equip the school. We all know there is poverty in the world but having a personal connection really brings home how lucky we all here.
