Blogs from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Asia

Alcohol is essentially illegal in Bangladesh. With the country being over 90% Muslim it is illegal to sell alcohol in stores or restaurants. There are just a few exceptions: there are a few "foreigners only" liquor stores as well as bars that pay high bribe fees to the government (they are frequently raided). Both have very limited selection of liquor, beer and wine. Finally, there are embassy clubs. Embassys are considered foreign land so each one has built a club/restaurant attached to their offices. Foreigners can go to these establishments and order alcohol free of consequences. When I am not dining with locals (they would not be permitted entry)I will dine at one of the embassy clubs so I can have wine with dinner. An added benefit is the low spice food they offer which is ... read more

I have spent the last several days with a wonderful NGO called Tarango. I was initially drawn to them because of their micro loan program, but I have gone on to learn more about their different programs and have continued to be impressed. I will start with sharing about yet another inspiring woman who is leading this organization. Kohinoor Yeasmin has been the executive director since 1994 and has developed it into the organization that it is today. Kohinoor keeps calling it a small organization. Perhaps compared to the mammoth size of BRAC it is, but their impact is huge. From the first time I met her I could tell she does this work for all the right reasons. Because of that, anything I know about her I have googled compared to her sharing. She has ... read more

Amal Foundation is another impressive organization that I have connected with while in Dhaka. They were founded in 2014 with the focus of education, emergency response, health and women's empowerment. They were one of the first organizations to assist with the recent Rohingya Refugee Crisis. Since 2016 more than 700,000 refugees from the Rakhine State of Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh to escape the never ending genocide happening in Myanmar. Amal was there to provide food and medical attention while the larger organizations were still strategizing. I was specifically interested to meet with Amal Foundation because they just started a pilot program providing micro loans in rural villages to prevent girls entering into child marriage. First, let me take a moment to brag on the founder of this organization. After attending college at the University of ... read more

It didn't take long being in Bangladesh before I started to wonder about the men with orange beards and sometimes hair. I saw it on men from the security guard at my apartment to business men walking down the street. Like many foreigners, I assumed this had religious roots until I did some research. What I learned is that this is the latest fashion trend for older men in Bangladesh. You will see shades from light orange to darker red on the beards, mustaches, and hair of older men here. They dye their white hair with flower based henna. They feel the bright color gives them a more vibrant and youthful look. With majority of women covering their hair this fashion trend is almost exclusively for elderly men. No need to ask Dad, I already bought ... read more

Child marriage is very much an issue in Bangladesh as it was in Uganda. 59% of girls are married before their 18th birthday and 22% are married before the age of 15 years. Bangladesh has the third highest rate of child marriage in the world. There are some similarities as well as differences between Uganda and Bangladesh when it comes to their child marriage epidemic. One big difference is how the dowery works. In Uganda we say the parents are selling their daughters into marriage because they receive a dowery from the groom, usually in the form of livestock. It is one less mouth to feed and they receive payment to support the remaining family members. In Bangladesh it is reversed as the dowery is paid from the bride's family to the groom's family. The parents ... read more