By Neeharika Tummala | In-The-Field Rep - India
Neeharika Tummala is an in-the-field traveler for GlobalGiving for the India and Bangladesh region.
When people think of Bangladesh, they think of south asian women and men, big red bindis, fish curry etc - the quintessential Bengal. What I didn't realize that Bangladesh is also home to diverse tribal populations, especially because they share three borders with India and therefore include Tripuri and Manipuri communities. I didn't realize that along the borders of Bangladesh, in the Hill Tracts, I would find such remote communities who live out of the radar.
In addition to doing advocacy work in the garment industry, Udion also works with small communities to address their holistic needs. For my site visit, I spent some time in one of these communities in the Feni district of Bangladesh. After driving through the rough roads of the hill tracts, we climbed up a mountain, and there was a beautiful village with an adorable school with kids studying in the 1-4 standards. Udion had called a community meeting as well so there were tons of parents visiting and peeping in through the windows to see what the school was like. As I sat in, we saw kids show off their budding English skills as well as some elementary math. We took a group photo and the kids sang 'Amar Bangladesh', the national anthem. For me, that was striking as I bet most of these communities do not identify themselves as Bangladesh, but are living their lives in isolation. However, the village elders recognize that their children will have to mainstreamed, will have to learn Bangla (the national language) along with english and everything else, so that they are well equiped to navigate modern society.
After that we had a community meeting where the villagers discussed water issues and their need for access to tube wells. Due to the height of the hill, they were discussing which technology would be cost effective in addressing their needs. Udion is holistically addressing the needs of this community in phases - first education, then water, sanitation etc. I felt that it was an amazing example of community development where the community is so engaged, truly trusts the partner organization and is also willing to pitch in as much as possible to bring about change. Truly inspiring!
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