The slums

Yesterday after work I went with my friend Adnan to the slum near BRAC center. Just a 3 minute walk, visible from the entire building, is a slum called Korail that is home to 30000 people. There are at least 4 slums here in Dhaka, probably many more. BRAC works in the slums, but really does very little compared to its programs in the villages. This is probably because people move around a lot between the slums and the land is actually government loaned, so it is very difficult to build facilities and infrastructure there. It seems strange that there are beggars right next to the BRAC building.
We took a 'boat' ride, a little raft that people squat on, rowed usually by an old man, across a small lake. This lake is bright green, and is extremely polluted, it is the place where people bathe, wash their clothes, and where all their used water and excrement goes. Immediately upon arriving in the slum, we were surrounded by curious children and adults. They all wanted to shake my hand and all said 'hello, how are you?' and 'my name is?' asking what my name was. They were crazy about the camera- and everyone wanted their picture taken and then wanted to look at it. The homes are made out of tin, with bamboo roofs. The streets are narrow and dirt. I thought that the slums were only homes, but they are completely self sustaining communities with pharmacies, clothing stores, food shops. Apparently the people steal electricity from the public power system. Perhaps this is why the power goes out all the time in Dhaka. Everyone in the slum was very friendly and very hospitable. Some children led us to their homes, where we were greeted by parents or grandparents, who were very proud to show us their one room. Luckily Adnan speaks the language, so he talked to these women. One very cute girl took us to her home, where her grandma offered us tea, and spoke about Rita and how she is so smart and loves school and really has high ambitions. We sort of just wandered for a few hours, passed a school and BRAC health center (also made out of tin), saw people chopping wood, passed a graveyard, people cooking their afternoon meals, and many children using condoms as balloons. Adnan and I were curious what the sexual education was like- we saw that condoms were being sold in the slums. Once we put together a project, we can ask people these questions in a more systematic way.
I then went with Adnan on a rickshaw to his house, where I met all of his family members, and then to another relatives' house, where I met even more. Bangladesh is a little like Italy, in that people know their entire extended family and they all live near each other.
I have gotten used to the staring, I know that it is usually just out of curiosity and not meant in a predatory way.
I really enjoyed myself in the slum- I'd love to print out my pictures and bring them to all the kids. I'll try and figure out how to put some of them up on here as well.
P.S. I made a change to my address