Bangladesh, 2017

<<Traveller’s Impressions>>

The monochrome landscapes of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna Rivers, in which a thin line of mist hovering over the distant edge of the next desert island separates the grey sky from its reflection on the sea-green water, are simply out of this world.

The full immersion in this vast and vacant scene of water and sand gradually evokes the need for points of reference anticipated on the flat horizon. For the Western tourist the camera thus serves as much as a framing as a positioning device within the ever-shifting territories. But the Char people are much closer to the elements and are used to migration by necessity. Indeed, there is beauty in the idea of having a more flexible sense of land ownership, yet these utopian ideals are quickly reassessed when confronted with the brutal reality of having to resettle every five years.

‘Friendship’ deeply understands the relationship between the geographical conditions and social needs of the ultra-poor and helps them in search for health, education and higher grounds.

Our experience in Bangladesh invited us not only to reflect on the people of a place where the rising water levels can be measured directly against the section of land – but to act on working toward global common grounds!

Dhaka Air View

Saidpur Airport

Traveling from Saidpur via Rangpur to the Char communities

Brick Factories

Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Shore of the Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Sleep Cabins, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Understanding the Brahmaputra and its distributaries

Patients and Families’ Cabins outside the Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Patients of the Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Patients’ Families Waiting outsidethe Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Group of Young Family Business Leaders Visiting Friendship and the Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Patients’ Families Waiting outsidethe Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Last View of the Emirates Friendship Hospital Boat, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Traveling down the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River to the Char Communities

Public transport of the Char communities on the Brahmaputra

Traveling down the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River to the Char Communities

Erosion of sand banks on the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River, near Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Traveling down the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River to the Char Communities

Fishermen’s sheet metal boats on the Jamuna River

Transportation of sand down the Jamuna River

Arriving in Char Kalasona

Irrigation System on Char Kalasona

Friendship Satellite Clinic (Friendship Primary Health Care and Family Planning Project), Char Kalasona

Local portable stove, Char Kalasona

Local cooking stove, Char Kalasona

Community health meeting, Friendship Satellite Clinic, (Friendship Primary Health Care and Family Planning Project), Char Kalasona

Good Governance (Friendship Primary Health Care and Family Planning Project), Char Kalasona

Friendship Theatre Performance (Friendship Primary Health Care and Family Planning Project), Char Kalasona

Legal Information Booth (Friendship Primary Health Care and Family Planning Project), Char Kalasona

Leaving Char Kalasona

Arriving in Char Batikamari

Friendship Primary and Secondary Education Programme, Char Batikamari

Local children, Char Batikamari

Traveling down the Jamuna River to the Friendship Centre, Gaibandha, Gaibandha District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Traveling on mainland to the Friendship Centre, Gaibandha, Gaibandha District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Friendship Centre, (project year 2011), Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury/URBANA near Gaibandha, Gaibandha District, Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh

Departure on the Jamuna River by speedboat to Char Jattrapur

Fisherman on the Jamuna River

Fishermen on the Jamuna River

Fisherman’s floating cabin on the Jamuna River

Fisherman on the Jamuna River

Fisherman’s cabin on the Jamuna River

Spotting the first ‘Bengal submarine’, a boat transporting soil and sand

loaded sand transporter

unloaded sand transporter

embanked mainland

break on a sandbank with a field of sand bags

sandbank with a field of sand bags

break on a sandbank with a field of sand bags

Introduction to the Sustainable Income Generating Programme and Micro-Financing for Char Jattrapur by Mrs Runa Khan, Founder and President of the NGO “Friendship”

Traveling on the Jamuna River to Char Jattrapur

Fisherman on the Jamuna River

Fishermen on the Jamuna River

loaded sand transporters on the Jamuna River near Char Khamar Baspatari

Public transport on the Jamuna River

loaded sand transporters on the Jamuna River near Char Jattrapur

Traveling on the Jamuna River to Char Jattrapur

Arrival at Char Jattrapur

Char Jattrapur

Floodplain, Char Jattrapur

Community Meeting for Micro-Financing Scheme, (Sustainable Income Generating Programme), Char Jattrapur

Vocational Training Centre for Weaving , Char Jattrapur

Vocational Training Centre for Weaving, Char Jattrapur

Local children, Char Jattrapur

Plinth Raising, Disaster Preparedness, near Char Jattrapur

BDL_nextGen near Char Jattrapur

Floodplain, Char Jattrapur

Bean plantation on the floodplain, Char Jattrapur

Floodplain, Char Jattrapur

Public transportation, Char Jattrapur

Traveling from Char Jattrapur to the Friendship Centre Gaibandha

Traveling from the Friendship Centre to Raidasbari

Arrival at Char Raidasbari

A surprise in transportation by the locals of Raidasbari

The Beautiful Runa Khan

Visiting the community, Char Raidasbari

Visiting the community, Char Raidasbar

Community Meeting, Community Initiated Disaster Risk Reduction (CIDRR), Char Raidasbari

Map of the Sandbank as part of the Community Initiated Disaster Risk Reduction (CIDRR), Char Raidasbari

Friendship Activities as part of the Community Initiated Disaster Risk Reduction (CIDRR), Char Raidasbari

Leaving Char Raidasbari

Char Raidasbari

Boroi (ujube) (local fruit between a grape and an apple) Char Raidasbari

Char Raidasbari

Departure by speedboat from Char Raidasbari to the Friendship Lifebuoy Hospital

Friendship Lifebuoy Hospital

Playing Tarot

Some kind of fortress on Jamuna River

Jamuna Bridge (also Bangabandhu Bridge) (date:1998) connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River’s east bank to Sirajganj on its west bank

Jamuna Bridge (also Bangabandhu Bridge) Bangladesh, 1998

Near Jamuna Bridge (also Bangabandhu Bridge) Bangladesh, 1998

Wooden River Boat B-613 (Wasama Doja, Yves Marre, Runa Khan, 1997)

Wooden River Boat B-613

Wooden River Boat B-613

Meeting point of the Jamuna and Padma Rivers

BDL_nextGen on the B-613

Traditional woven sails of the wooden river boat B-613

Crew member of the B-613

BDL Workshop on ‘Responsibility’ on B-613

Crew member of the B-613

Lunch on the B-613

Swimming in the Padma River, Bangladesh

Along the Padma River, Bangladesh

Crew member of the B-613

Arrival on Mainland for Dhaka

Goodbye B’613

View from Friendship Head Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Model boats of traditional wooden river boats of Bangladesh as part of the Friendship Cultural Preservation Programme

Last dinner in Dhaka #bdl_nextGen

architrotter

_under construction

Bangladesh, 2017

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