Dhaka, Gazipur; Bangladesh

I have downloaded a SNES emulator and some games for my MacBook, it’s nice to play once in a while and it brings back fun memories from my childhood. I have been playing “Aladdin”, “Tom & Jerry” etc.

One day when I had been to the GPO (General Post Office) and was walking alongside the Baitul Mukarram (mosque) gold market a man came up to me and asked; “Pakistani?”. Since I came to Bangladesh I have been asked if I’m “Japanese?” and now “Pakistani?”, I don’t know whether I look more like a Japanese or Pakistani? Hehe. Your choice!

Good news! The IKEA office here in Dhaka has been very generous and donated 500 “sheets” to Shishu Tori. Any donation is very welcome, as these street children are living in a very cold environment with “nothing”. We started distributing the “sheets” to our street children in the Schools Under the Sky in Osmani Uddan, when we arrived we were met by the majority of our street children having various sicknesses. Some with skin deceases, someone with nosebleed, someone with eyes filled with blood etc. Constantly hearing the street children coughing makes me remember their horrific situations in the nighttime. The following day we continued our distribution of “sheets” to our students in Kamlapur Railway Station. While we were giving out the “sheets” we got quite a crowd around us who was interested in what was going on. We talked to the street children about the importance of taking good care of what they have received, as it is a valuable thing for them. The third day we distributed the “sheets” to our students in Kawran Bazar. We will continue to distribute “sheets”…

The day that we had distributed “sheets” (donated by IKEA) in Kamlapur Railway Station, a “madman” followed me, he wanted to interact with me, shake my hand etc. His monologue was something like this; “Country? China? Singapore? Thank you!” and he also gave me a piece of newspaper and said to me “Thank you!” He wanted my attention and also something valuable out of my pockets and bag. It’s no wonder some people become crazy while living in the streets, as it is a world far away from a sound mental environment.

One thing I really laughed about one evening was when my servant Sagur pulled up my t-shirt a little and instantly commented the hair on my stomach; “Africa jungle!” with a bad English. I really laughed my a** off. I wish I could have recorded it. Where is that dictation machine when I need it? Hehe.

Yesterday we took our street children to the Bhawal National Park in Gazipur, outside of Dhaka, to have a picnic together. The bus started from Osmani Uddan in the morning, then we picked up the students from Kawran Bazar along the way. On our way to the national park I was sitting on the upper floor of the double-decker bus. The street children were cheering, singing, laughing and joking. When we arrived in the park the street children were served breakfast. After finishing the breakfast I went with the teachers and students from Kamlapur Railway Station and Kawran Bazar to the Shishu Park. On the way to the park, which was 10-15 min walk from where we had our breakfast, I had 3-4 street children holding my hands. There was a fee to enter the park, but it was only 2 Taka, so I paid for all the street children. Inside the park all street children were really enjoying themselves and it was great to see them happy. Practically almost all of them were shouting; “Erik bhiya!” (bhiya means “brother”) as they all wanted to be photographed while they were playing. After some time in the park, we returned to our picnic spot as the TV channel ATN Bangla had arrived and was going to film our street children. I’m very happy that they came and shot from our picnic. After playing games, then the street children were served lunch and after the lunch we gathered ourselves and returned back towards Dhaka. On the way back on the bus it was great to see how happy the street children were, they were singing, laughing, joking and cheering the whole way back home. I had a couple of boys in my lap, both sitting on my lap and sleeping in my lap. Two brothers from Kamlapur Railway Station invited me to their “home”, I will definitely visit where they live. One of the brothers, Shoeib, kept saying he wants a copy of a photo I took of him. Rajeeb was telling me “I want to stay in your home tonight, just for one night”. These two brothers are very cute. This day I gave a lot out of myself and I made the street children happy. Shoeib who doesn’t know much English said to me; “I’m fine. Thank you!”, it was his way of saying I made him happy and it made me very happy to hear it. These are simple things to me, but at the same time this is what life is about. Happiness. When I got home last night I was exhausted.

I’m not part of this world, this world is part of my world…

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