Holly and I had a great opportunity this weekend to make it out to the Bangladesh hill tracks to visit a couple of villages. In recent years the hill tracks have been closed to most foreign workers, thankfully we were able to apply for a tourist permit that was approved for this one day trip. It was great to get away from the compound for a day and visit villages that we have been hearing of and praying for. The drive is incredibly beautiful through the hills, as all the roads follow the mountain ridges, which makes the trip very scenic. (All the hills are made of clay or sand so very unstable so if the road was cut along the side of the hill it would be quickly covered over by mud and debris in the next rainy season).
(Holly and Jon out in the Hill Tracks)
The first village that we visited had just recently had a fire that devastated nine homes. Village homes are typically made of bamboo and wood so extremely flammable during the dry winter months. Once one home starts burning due to a stray spark from a cooking fire it quickly takes off then spreads to nearby homes. Our group was able to drop off some clothing and goods to the families that had lost their homes, their few precious possessions, and their supply of rice for the year as they had just harvested a couple months ago. House fires are a very common issue in the hills as highly combustible materials are used for construction, while they still use an open cooking fire inside their home.
(Villagers waiting to receive their supplies and some medical attention)
(Holly was entertaining the kids, they liked to have their pictures taken so they could see themselves and their friends on the camera screen)
The next village that we visited houses a hostel for young Mru Tribal children that is overseen by our organization. Their homes and villages are too far spread apart for these children to travel each day to school. The purpose of the hostel is to provide a place for these children to live, have access to healthy food, and obtain an education. Unfortunately most tribals are illiterate so they cannot teach their own children how to read, write or speak in Bengali (there are many tribal groups in country most of which have their own languages, but without speaking the common language it is very difficult to go to market to sell goods, or to get any further education). Though the children are young they still learn about sustainable farming, agriculture, nutrition, etc. Many parents sacrifice a huge amount to be able to have their kids attend as they realize that their way of life is not sustainable (slash and burn agriculture), with the loss of much of their best land to wealthy land owners that are now growing tobacco and other cash crops. It is our hope that all these children would have sponsorship so that they would be able to continue with the program. Any children without sponsorship typically cannot afford to stay with the program very long. Programs such as this have had huge impacts on these young people, many of whom have grown up to be the teachers, agricultural educators and pastors in these same villages. There is also a number of projects that are currently exploring more sustainable agricultural products and practices. Out of this entire group in the photo there is only a handful that have full sponsorship.
(Photo above: The children were extremely well behaved sitting on the floor for the entire program. They did some songs and dances, followed by us saying something about ourselves to the children, some gift giving, and an award ceremony)
(Chris - white lady - is a doctor in the US who is here working at the hospital, she is a major supporter and fundraiser for this elementary program and a high school program in another village. This is the first time she visited with her sponsor children and those of her friends and family - in photo. The teachers/program director are also pictured)
(The children seeing us off. We had a full load of 13 people in our truck on the way back)
The road to these villages started out well kept and smooth, but as we progressed it turned into brick roads then to very bumpy/steep sand/dust roads, then up the river bed that is only accessible in the dry season by four wheel drive. These areas are not accessible by vehicle in the wet season.
Holly doesn't typically get overly carsick, but this trip finally broke her 14 year streak of not throwing up.
(Right: Our return trip followed the river bed)
Additional photos uploaded to our Gallery.
Jon
(Followed by very dusty, steep and bumpy single lane road)
(Once we clear the dirt roads we were on bumpy brick roads)
(The winding, twisty, bumpy, dirty, hot roads finally had their toll on Holly after 12 hours - everyone else in the truck did not think I was very sensitive when I was looking for my camera when Holly was on the side of the road puking)
