Feb 10th-11th - Last Few Days in Bangladesh... - Stephanie

Our last few days were filled with important meetings and sad goodbyes... We still can't believe how quickly that month flew by! It seems like just yesterday we were going to our first Rotary meeting with Gulshan Lake City Club and then all of a sudden we were packing to get ready to leave.
The day after District Conference was over (10th Feb) our first meeting was with the Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, the most prestigious college in Bangladesh, and huge at that! We knew ahead of time that we would run into issues getting there due to a huge protest at Shahbagh Square on the University grounds. This demonstration is being held by the college age population, demanding the re-trial and death penalty for the war criminals from the war of liberation in 1971.

These war criminals sided with Pakistan and committed atrocities during the war, but apparently they had been previously pardoned for their crimes. There are all sorts of arguments and sides to this story, but I don't really want to get into it beyond saying that the Bangladeshi spirit and patriotism is astounding. You figure these college-age kids weren't even alive during the fighting, but they feel very strongly about their country and what their forefathers went through to secure their freedom, and how much the war cost their country. One of the Rotaractors we met during Rotasia thought I should see it and the pride they feel for their country, but our schedule didn't permit it, plus Rotary was very worried about our safety in anything termed a "demonstration".

Bangladesh is a very rich country, natural-resource wise, and the war set their economy back decades and possibly even centuries, but I expect to see their economy stable and flourishing in the next 10 to 15 years. 

So back to our meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University... We had an appointment for 10:30am, so we tried to get there early and even took all roads that should have avoided the traffic jam around the square... but as with Bangladesh even in the best of times, traffic is unpredictable, so we were an hour late for our meeting (which I think translates to two hours in traffic to go just a couple of miles)... the Vice Chancellor was actually supposed to leave HIS office by 11am, to make an appointment with the US Ambassador, but since we were extremely late, the man was kind enough to still spend a half-hour with us talking about the University and the school population and current education trends, so I know we made him EXTREMELY late for his meeting!
 

Then we headed over to the Daily Star (the largest English-language newspaper in Bangladesh), but we were so incredibly late that we weren't able to speak with the editor/publisher Mr. Anam for as long as we had planned, but he spoke with us as long as he could and then left us with the Editor of Defense and Strategic Affairs, Mr. Khan.

There was a photographer present, but we thought it was for posterity, and then our team ended up on Page 2 of the Daily Star the following day!!

Then we went out to a late lunch with one of the most amazing women I've ever met, Dr. Begum, and Past Club President Choudhury. Dr. Begum works with Marie Stopes International, and she explained what exactly her clinics do and how they interact with the laws of Bangladesh as well as those of Islam, and it was very interesting... Not to get too political or stir up controversy, because I know everyone feels strongly about the subject, but I did my final research paper in college on Roe Vs. Wade, so I already have strong opinions on family planning and it was nice to hear that there are groups in developing countries such as Bangladesh that support women's choices.

Us with our tokens of love from the Rotary Club of Dhaka North West :)
Then we went back home to rest (me anyways, I think Meredith took some meetings and Dr. Tonya was busy working on something else, but I was still recovering). Then I got to go for a family meal with my Dhaka host family! I wish I would have taken pictures, because I think this was the one time I was able to enjoy dinner with my family without meetings and other such stuff going on! We went to a cute little Italian restaurant called Spaghetti Jazz, and the food was delicious :) And it was nice to talk to my host family, I really enjoyed staying with them, they are very sweet and all have great senses of humor!
The next day we had two REALLY BIG meetings on the schedule, we got a private meeting with the founder of Brac, the largest NGO in the world, and a meeting with Mr. Dhillon, the Director of Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed founded Brac as a response to help his country recover after the War in 1971, and they are the most comprehensive and inclusive recovery effort I have ever heard of in my life... their projects are numerous and are all almost completely self-sustaining. I could go on for days about how amazing this organization is and what kind of good work they do for their country and for others as well, but unfortunately I have limited space... But we were so grateful that he was willing to take 45 minutes from his day just to chat with us! He is truly an inspiring man!

Then we rushed over to the US Embassy to make sure we were on time for our meeting with Mr. Dhillon... he took a full hour from his day to talk to Holly and I about joining the State Department (my ultimate goal) and to the group as a whole about why Bangladesh is of such strategic importance to U.S. interests and his impressions of the country... he made a fine point when he said "The world has more to learn from Bangladesh than they have to learn from the rest of the world"... he also pointed out that no culture at no time in the history of the world has ever made such exponential leaps and bounds in the advancement of public health, as Bangladesh has in the past 20 years or so... this country and it's people truly are amazing! I wish I could have taken photos, but pictures are strictly forbidden inside the United States Embassy, for safety reasons.
We did have another Rotary Club meeting at the Westin that night, but unfortunately I did not take any photos!
The next day was our very last full day, more to come on that later!