Category Archives: Bangladesh

On Saturday (3 November) it was a day off from work; Debashish came to me around 3 pm and we went out with a rickshaw to visit Hindu temples. We first went to a place called Ramakrishna Mission, I really like their temple and it’s beautiful. From there we continued to another Hindu place called the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), where the idea was just to have a look, but then I was invited by a man and we started a big discussion about happiness, pleasure, desire etc. I was given lots of questions and I enjoyed it because it challenged my own mind, then another guy my age came and the three of us discussed really deep about the inner life of the soul in every human being. I told them my perspective on how very different I see our societies in the world, and how I think that describing happiness is a vast difference within different people’s souls. I do believe everyone is looking for some sort of happiness in life, but I said that it’s very difficult to really find out in every human being what truly makes a person happy. After our discussion I bought the book “Bhagavad Gita As It Is”, which will be interesting to read. I was also given a tour of the temple area and I experienced when they were worshiping. Debashish and I were given some food by a Hare Krishna and after we had eaten then we returned home to my apartment. It was a nice and special day…

The following day (4 November) it was back to work, in the office I kept on filing interviews with street girls and reviewing the project proposal. In the afternoon I left together with Kanta and Forhad in Nilufar’s car to Kawran Bazar, where we came late because of lots of traffic and also it started to rain. Forhad and I together with Sheoly interviewed five street girls from the School Under the Sky. Some of the girls where not as open as I thought they would be and it felt like they were a little afraid of telling us the truth, but they answered all questions and one or two answers were with the restriction that she didn’t want to say who was disturbing or abusing her as she thought she would be in even more trouble. The girls were between 9-11 years old and several of them have quite recently come to Dhaka. They told similar stories to the young girls in Kamlapur Railway Station, but in some of the girls I could really feel how they were crying within themselves…

The next day (5 November) it was same routines as it has been many other days; I worked with filing the interviews from yesterday and continued reviewing the project proposal, it takes a long time to go through the text, because it needs to really good. Around 3 pm I, Forhad and Kanta left for Kawran Bazar where Forhad and I interviewed four street girls; Aziron, Aki, Tumpa and Raki. Two of the girls had stories that were really sad to hear. Tumpa told us; “One time a man came to me and told me that my father was waiting for me outside of the building where I was, I got very emotional when I heard it, so I went outside of the building, but when I came out my father was not there, the man lied to me, and when the man and I was outside, then he sexually abused me”. Another story, told by Raki; “Once a drug addict convinced me to go to the cinema, and I went with him to the cinema. After the cinema he sexually abused me, I disagreed with his offer, but he pressured me and I was given a sleeping pill”. Seeing especially Raki, made me understand how mentally destroyed she was, she felt extremely torn up inside and hearing about that both her parents are dead and she is completely by herself, made it even worse and we understood how seriously needy she is.

The following day, Tuesday, was similar to many other days. I filed the interviews from the previous day from Kawran Bazar. I also brought a CD with Shishu Tori pictures I have taken, so I started putting one picture of every street girl together with their respective interview. In the afternoon I and Kanta went to Osmani Uddan Park. I waited a little there until Forhad came and then we interviewed four street girls; Rohima, Romi, Kajaly and Moyna. Some of the girls were real emotional when they told us about their lives.

7 November was a national holiday. Mabiya and Sagur came and washed some clothes this morning and also swept the floors. Around 2:30 pm Amirsohel came to say hi, and I told him I was on my way out to go to Sheraton for Thai massage. He wanted to come along so we went to the Sheraton hotel together in a CNG. The hotel seemed nice and we walked around for a while, as we arrived before my scheduled time for massage. I then had one hour of Thai massage, it was nice and relaxing, Amirsohel mostly walked around the hotel and took pictures. When I was done with the massage, then we bought some movies in one of the stores in the hotel. The quality is fine, the movies are from Pakistan. We got home and watched a movie called “Monster House”; it was an animated movie.

After one day’s holiday it was back to work. I got to the office on Thursday last week and Forhad and my stuff had been moved to another room, so now we have a new office room Forhad and I (it’s not nearly as nice as the old room). Today we had a monthly staff meeting, where we discussed different matters happening in the field. I also told the staffs how warmly I have been welcomed and how grateful I am for it. The meeting went one for 1-2 hours. Otherwise this day I couldn’t do much in the office, because the monitor to the computer was out of function. In the afternoon I and Forhad went to Osmani Uddan Park to interview more street girls, we interviewed five girls; Ety, Aklima, Kulsom, Moyna and Paki. There was especially one girl, Moyna, who felt very deprived, her answers were sad to hear. When we asked her what she wants to become in the future, she said; “there is no hope”.

On Friday (9 Nov) afternoon I went by rickshaw to Riffle Square in Dhanmondi together with Amirsohel, his father Esrar and two friends of Amirsohel. When we got there we played bowling and other games for more than an hour. Afterwards I did some grocery shopping in a supermarket called Agora, it was in the Riffle Square building. The Agora was a really nice supermarket, clean and fresh, I will definitely return there to buy groceries. Through lots of traffic jams we slowly returned back on two rickshaws to our apartment building. I was sort of in a rush, so when I got back I packed my stuff, had a shower, got dressed to go to Baridhara (upscale residential area in Dhaka) as I was invited to Nilufar’s dinner in her house. I went by taxi and arrived at her house before 8 pm. The people came one after another, it was approximately 20 people all together, about 5-6 people in my own age. I first discussed for 1-2 hours with a man who had been working for World Food Programme, he was very nice and we had a really great discussion about Bangladesh and other topics as well. After the dinner I talked with the people my own age, Nilufar’s daughter Mehreen, her husband Raquef and other friends of theirs. I had a great time that evening, it was nice to get away from my own area and have a change of environment. The people my own age were up for a few more hours after everyone had gone, discussing young people in the world today…

The following day, I was relaxing in Nilufar’s villa, while she and her daughter Mehreen were out shopping. I watched two movies while they were gone; “Knocked Up” and “The Last King Of Scotland”. The first one was a comedy movie, it was nice to see a simple movie and just laugh. The other one was a really good movie, I know that most of you who read this have probably already seen it and might say; “Per, you are very up to date”, but the thing is that I don’t watch movies much anymore. In the evening I had dinner and before I went to bed I watched another movie, the whole day was really nice…relaxation.

Then on the Sunday (11 Nov); in the morning I took a shower, had my breakfast and then I left Nilufar’s house together with Nilufar and her driver, to go to the office. The drive from Baridhara to Motijheel took more than an hour, because the traffic in Dhaka is a lot of times crazy busy. We got to the office and I started working on previous interviews, the monitor in the office had to be fixed before we could use again. In the afternoon I filed a few interviews with street girls onto the pc. I left the office together with Kanta around 5 pm and went home.

On Monday (last week), in the afternoon, I went with 4-5 of the Shishu Tori staffs to Sadarghat by the Buriganga river to interview street girls. We interviewed 10 street girls; Lamia, Jorinatta, Ango, Minara, Lipy, Laboni, Shilpy, Allo, Nasima, Hasina. I really enjoyed coming to Sadarghat again, I was there shortly in the beginning of October. Sadarghat is a place by the river where boat are coming and going, it’s a big boat terminal. Every new place we come and interview is giving us some new information, which is very valuable. While we were interviewing one girl after another, some of the street girls who were about to be interviewed were sitting close by us. At one time one of the other street girls was enormously hungry, so she was eating the rubber from some sandals. Desperation. During another interview Forhad asked the street girl; “what do you want to become in the future?”. Then she said; “I want to be like Erik”. When I heard it, I just put things in life in perspective, I felt proud inside. We had a really successful time interviewing street girls in Sadarghat…

On Thursday last week I was really sad, and at that time Fatima (Shishu Tori staff and former street girl) came with a friendship bracelet to me. It was a really nice gift, I could really feel how she wanted to make me feel good again.

The same day it was really cold, rainy and windy. It started getting really windy in the evening and as there was a cyclone down by the Bay of Bengal we here in Dhaka could really feel how it was attacking Bangladesh. In the night it was extremely windy and the electricity went off and kept on being off. For several days no electricity throughout Bangladesh was a big problem, telephone lines were off (impossible to call), water shortage etc. Several districts have been completely wiped out,

I have spent most of these days with my friends in apartment 8C, Esrar and his family. I went with them to Agora (a nice supermarket) on Friday and I have been socializing with them, talking, laughing, eating and so on for two days.

This past Sunday I also went to Bashundura City with Debashish, it’s a huge shopping mall complex with 9 floors of hundreds and hundreds of different shops. We more or less walked around, so that I could have a peak at the different floors. I will probably come back there we I need to do some shopping.

Two days ago we interviewed street girls in the Mirpur area, next to a graveyard. It was very interesting to interview there, one of the girls told us a really sad story; “during the last Eid (festival) I was together with my two friends near a lake, and at that time there came three guys who raped the other two girls and afterwards one of the girls was hung”. This happened last month and it was a really sad story, but these kinds of things are something that occurs here in Dhaka. Another story we were told by another street girl was how a man who was around 60 years old had sexually abused her, and she herself is little more than 10 years old.

Yesterday afternoon we interviewed street girls in Ziauddan, a very nice park. It was also a new experience meeting with the girls there. One of the street girls, Sarmin (9 years old), was very fond of me, before our interview she kissed my hand. Then after the interview she wanted to sit close to me and take pictures with me, and after that she jumped up and kissed me on my cheek. We then continued to interview other street girls, and Sarmin came back and kissed me again on my cheek and on my forehead, she also tried to go for my lips, but then I pulled back. She was jumping around like an energy ball. Then a while later she came again and kissed me on my cheek, and then another of the street girls came and kissed me on my cheek. It was a street girls-kissing-Erik-party!

I have had big problems trying to upload pictures, so the quality in some of the pictures might not be as good as it is supposed to be. I hope you will appreciate the photos anyway. There are big problems with the Internet connections since the attack of cyclone. The power supply is very unstable.

Riding a bicycle with a helmet and then nicely putting the bike in the garage. Man.

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Now it feels like I have really entered my daily life in Dhaka, I do daily routines both at work and in private.

Between Sunday-Tuesday (28-30 Oct) I worked the whole days in the office with interviewing Shishu Tori staffs together with Forhad and then I filed the interviews onto the computer. I also worked with polishing the project proposal for the street girls project. One of the days I visited the street children in the Osmani Uddan Park shortly. Another day in the late afternoon when I, Forhad and Kanta left the office it took us a long time, roughly one hour, to get transportation home. Practically no CNGs or rickshaws would take us, so we went with a big bus first just for a few minutes and then we got two rickshaws home. Speaking of the big buses, they are extremely dangerous in the traffic. The bus drivers drive fast and in a way that they think they’re kings of the roads. Complete careless driving. It’s been close for me getting hit a lot times, it doesn’t matter if I’m sitting on rickshaw or walking, I have to be on guard the whole time so my arms or legs doesn’t get hit by a bus.

On Wednesday, two days ago, we started with interviewing street girls. We went to Kamlapur Railway Station where Forhad, Popy and I interviewed five street girls; Beuty, Sherin, Shilpy, Mala and Lucky. All of them are in the classes in the School Under the Sky. We are using 15 questions that we are asking the street girls, for us to get a picture of their life situations. It was very interesting to interview the street girls and hear their stories; they are all living under big pressures in life. When we asked one of the girls; “what do you need at the moment?” Then she answered; “I need love and care”. That’s one of the biggest problems for children all over the world; innocent children are brought to this world and then completely abandoned by their parents. It’s pure egoistic behavior from the parents. So when I hear how some street girls here are having abortions, even if it’s illegal, it makes me very happy as these street girls are the really clever and caring persons. They understand very well that they can’t put a child to this earth when they even can’t take care or cater for themselves.

Yesterday I filed the interviews onto the computer in the Shishu Tori office that we conducted the previous day. Once again Forhad and I returned to the Kamlapur Railway Station to continue interviewing street girls. We interviewed six street girls; Mina, Kadija, Shova, Onjona, Hashara and Akter Bakul. Most of these girls were older than the girls the day before, so their life stories were different.

Kadija was telling us about how she used to be a sex worker, with up to ten “customers” daily. When she was 13 years old, she was sexually abused and got pregnant, today she has a 5 years old daughter. She has stopped working as a sex worker and she is not able to earn any income right now, instead she receives some money from a person she refers to as “brother”. She told us that all she wants to have in the future is a “safe place where she can be with her daughter”, she told us “in any room”.

Another street girl we interviewed was Shova, who is 16 years old. She is now working as a prostitute. She told us that she has up to 12 male “customers” a day. She can earn up to 500 Bangladeshi Taka, which is approximately 7 USD for having sex with 12 men in one day. She also told us how a boy is physically abusing her and then she was pointing on a guy on the other side of the railway platform.

Next street girl we interviewed was Onjona, she also used to be a sex worker, but she only worked as a prostitute for a few months. She talked about how inhumane the live is for them in the streets and it’s easy to understand as the railway platforms are filled with street people; drug addicts, alcoholics and policemen who are torturing the street girls. While Forhad and I were interviewing Onjona there was a big fight about 75-100 meters away from us; it was 4-5 girls around 25 years old fighting with each other, pulling each others’ hairs. Around them there maybe 50 people watching the spectacle and then the policeman came trying to break up the fight. All these kinds of things happen the whole time and with all these people around it’s no wonder that Onjona answered to our question; “what do you want be in the future?”…she said straight out; “I want to be in a beautiful place”. It’s almost unimaginable for me to understand how these street girls really are suffering. Onjona also showed me how her arms were filled with scars from beating, a lot of times by her boyfriend.

The last girl we interviewed yesterday was Akter Bakul (16 years old), she was really emotional in the way she was expressing herself. She also talked about how she has been working as a sex worker and how the police disturb and torture her and other street children. At the end of the interview she started crying, looked into my eyes and said to me; “you are our father, we believe in you to help us and take us to a safe place”. What she said once again reminded me of why I have the passion and devotion to meet street children, listen to them and try to do my best to improve their life situations. When I got home last night I was mentally exhausted after work. Being out in the street is not just work, there are people everywhere who want my attention and want to interact with me, I love being in the streets and getting new experiences everyday, but I also get tired.

Time goes by fast, I have now been in Bangladesh for one month. I’m in Bangladesh! Crazy thought.

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Fridays are off work. So, Friday last week I relaxed most of the day. It’s nice to be myself to just think and at the same time rest my mind. In the evening I had a short visit from Nilufar (the chairperson of Shishu Tori) and her daughter. They were only here for 10 minutes, but it was nice meeting them.

On Saturday around 1:30 pm Milon came to me and about 45 minutes later we headed towards Kawran Bazar to work in the School Under the Sky, which Shishu Tori runs there. We went by rickshaw first and then we walked a little to get to Kawran Bazar. There is a vegetable market next to where the classes are being held, the School Under the Sky is being held in a storage facility on the 1st floor. The classes had begun when we arrived and the street children were learning Bangla as we entered the storage room. Just like in the two other Schools Under the Sky, the one in Kawran Bazar also has two classes, one basic and one more advanced. I sat down on a chair next to the children to supervise the class, then some children started coming up to me showing their blackboards and notebooks and I told them that I will help them with the English part, as I can’t help them with the Bangla part (yet). More and more of the street children came up to me with their blackboards and notebooks to read what they had written and make sure that it was correct. Most of them came with blackboards and notebooks without any mistakes. One boy had written “tsis” instead of “this”, so I showed him how to write it correctly, then about 5-10 minutes later he came back with correct sentences including “this is a man”, “this is a ball” etc. I’m very glad and happy about how fast learners the street children are and how focused they are no matter the disturbances around them (noise, people etc.). The atmosphere is different in all three Schools Under the Sky; in Osmani Uddan Park the street children are sitting in a park with no roof, but it’s a nice and quiet environment. In Kamlapur Railway Station the school has a lot more of different people around as the school is on a platform and then we have the school in Kawran Bazar. I have now been to all three schools and even if they are all street children, they have been showing different behaviors in all three places. Here in Kawran Bazar many of the street children really wanted to come and show their work and what they are learning. In all three schools they are learning the same things; Bangla, English, maths, health/hygiene and have exercise at the end of the class. After the class was finished, several of the street children followed me and were waving good bye, before Milon and I jumped into a CNG (mini auto rickshaw) to go to the New Market.

In the New Market that is not very far from where I live there are lots of stores that sell different items, everything from kitchen utensils, bathroom items, clothes, bedroom items etc. I bought a few towels, bed sheets, pillows, pillowcases etc. I need extra pairs of these things as I sometimes sweat more than usual. After walking around in the New Market, buying things, laughing with people, being invited to a dinner once again, me and Milon headed home to my apartment building Karim Tower.

The same evening, just awhile after I had returned to my apartment, Aminul Islam (building manager) knocked on my door and wanted to take me out to see the Durga Puja festival (Hindu festival). I told him I needed to rest a little first and then we can go out. Then one of the sons from apartment 8C, Amirsohel, knocked on my door too and also wanted to go out with me to the Durga Puja. I told him that around 10 o’clock I would be ready. I had dinner and at the same time I had three boys at the age of 8-11 here in my apartment, the three boys were Amirsohel, Muhammi and Tanzim (all from my apartment building). Amirsohel is the one that wants to talk to me the most and who always has questions. He told me he wants to be in the air force when he grows up, real cute.

So, around 10 o’clock we all (I, Amirsohel, Tanzim and two workers in our apartment building, Aminul Islam and Ali Hussain) walked to the Durga Puja festival by the Dhakeswari Temple (which is very close from our apartment building). While at the festival Amirsohel was holding my hand most of the time and told me what to do and not to do, I really like him. “Erik, don’t eat that”, “Erik, here are toys, small games, it’s mind games, when you just want to play”, “Erik, he is a lunatic, you can take picture if you want”. We stayed at the festival area for less than an hour and that was enough, I wasn’t too convinced and to me the Durga Puja festival was not that interesting, but it was nice to get out with the children and Aminul and Ali.

The following day, Sunday, was a public holiday because of the Durga Puja. I relaxed most of the day and had some visitors in my apartment. Mabiya and Sagur were also here and cleaned and washed clothes.

In the evening Amirsohel knocked on my door and came to visit me, we talked for awhile in my apartment and then we went up on the terrace of our building. It was my first time up there and it was really nice, we have a spectacular view of Dhaka from the 10th floor. I will definitely go up there when I want to just dream away in my mind. We watched the city, the moon and the stars. Amirsohel is a really nice 11 years old boy who speaks English very well and is clever. After a short while we went down to my apartment again and he wanted to play computer games, so we played a few small games and then later he went home. But it didn’t take more than maybe 10 minutes until it knocked on the door once again and it was Amirsohel who came back to ask if he could stay longer with me, he said; “lets cook!”. Hehe, he really wanted to cook with me. So we cooked, noodles with vegetables and fruit. While we were cooking we talked about different things, he’s really straight forward. He also said; “Erik, now I have brother…you are my brother”. After finished cooking we enjoyed our dinner and Amirsohel said; “the noodles are reaaaal yummy!” Hehe, too cute. After dinner we played some games on my other mobile phone (my Swedish one) and we also had fun recording audio files, which we laughed at. While playing on my mobile phone the electricity in my apartment was out for maybe 30-40 minutes, and then it returned. Amirsohel also asked me; “Erik, do you love babies?”. Hehe, what can I say, this boy is amazing.

On Monday morning Kanta came to my apartment and we took a rickshaw together to the office in Motijheel. When I got to the office the power was out, but it came back after 15 minutes or so. I and Forhad started writing down a draft plan for our work with the street girls project proposal/documentary/portfolio. It’s a lot of work, but very interesting and inspiring to work with. When Nilufar had arrived I went in to her office and discussed both work and private with her. Then back to Forhad’s room to continue the work I had started with Forhad earlier. Forhad and I also officially received an invitation from Kanta to a wedding, which was going to be held later that same evening. It was a close relative to Kanta getting married. Around 1 pm all Shishu Tori staffs had a meeting in Nilufar’s office about the street girls project and how we should work with it from now on. The first thing we are going to do is to interview the staffs about the street girls. After our meeting I, Forhad and Milon started writing questions, which we are going to use while interviewing the staffs. I and Forhad left the office just after 5 pm.

I came home and just relaxed and had some dinner, as I was really hungry. Afterwards I dressed up and got ready for the wedding. Forhad came to me before 8 pm, we went and bought some flowers for the bride and then we continued to the place where the wedding ceremony and festivities took place. Forhad and I came and met several different relatives and friends, we sat at a dinner table with about 12 other people and some people at the table where around my age. There were two twin brothers with one wife and another brother’s wife. As the Bangladeshi people eat the food with their hands, I started joking when someone came up to me, I held my greasy hand and said; “hello, nice to meet!” and showed my really greasy hand and the people around me started laughing and one of the twin brothers said; “you are very funny man!”. You can imagine my hand being filled with sauce, rice, chicken and then me trying to greet. I had a really nice time at the wedding and I also got the opportunity to go to the kitchen and meet the head chef. It’s no easy task cooking for 600 people. After the dinner Kanta introduced me to the bride so that I could give her the flowers we had bought and I also met with the bridegroom. Later Forhad and I left the wedding and took a rickshaw home, it had been a quite long day with lots of new experiences for me, so I was getting tired when I returned home. This was a nice day in my life.

Tuesday morning Kanta and I went to work together, like we often do. We came to the office and I printed out the questions that we are going to use while we interview the staffs about the street girls’ life situations. The first person we, Forhad and I, interviewed was Fatima (age unknown, but approximately 18 years old), who used to be a street girl but is now working and helping Shishu Tori. One of our questions to her was; “What kind of problems do the street girls face by men?” and Fatima answered the question like this; “When the street girls stay in the streets, some street boys want to get involved with the girls sexually. If the boys aren’t allowed, they will continue to disturb the street girls and sometimes even cut the street girls with a blade in their faces or on their arms and legs. When the street girls accept getting involved in a relationship, then after a few months the street boy will start to demand that the street girl makes a living and gives him money and also provides him with food. If the street girl doesn’t agree to a relationship, the street boy will torture her in an open place and leave the street girl, and move on to another street girl. At that time, the street girl is left alone with sometimes more than two children, these children won’t receive any care or love from the mother and will become street children themselves living in the streets. I and Forhad could really tell that Fatima has lots of knowledge about living in the streets and about the situation for street girls in Dhaka. We spoke to Fatima for more than 1 hour, it was close to 1h 30min.

In the afternoon I, Forhad and Kanta went to Kamlapur Railway Station. Forhad and I interviewed two other Shishu Tori staffs about street girls’ daily life situations, just like we interviewed Fatima earlier in the day. First we interviewed Ronet, a 22 years old man who is holding one of the classes for the street children on the platform at Kamlapur Railway Station. It was very interesting to hear his answers to our questions and I could tell that he also knows a lot about the lives of street girls. Then we spoke to Popy, she’s a female teacher at the age of 20, and one of the most interesting things she talked about which I will try to find out more about is the problem of trafficking with Bangladeshi street girls. She told us about how street girls from Bangladesh are being sold to India, Pakistan, Dubai and other countries and how they are being shipped in buses, trains etc. This matter I’m really interested in to find out more about.

While interviewing Ronet and Popy there came lots of people around us and there were several street children who came around and I snapped some pictures of them and they were laughing. One street boy tried to kiss another street boy, another street boy had a pair of sunglasses with one broken glass. There was also a really needy boy, Bablu, who came up to us, he was very thin, his face looked really bad and he was definitely suffering from various diseases. He left his family in Kushtia four years ago, when he was nine, and has been living in the streets since. I really felt for this boy, Forhad talked to him and he walked with us to the entrance of the railway station.

After work I took a CNG home with Kanta and Forhad. I got home and rested for maybe 30 minutes, then it knocked on the door and it was Amirsohel. He said he had been trying to reach me, but I hadn’t been at home (I was out working). He came and wanted to stay with me for some time. After a while he told me that his mother was cooking and was sending him and me some food to my place. So, we later enjoyed a real feast meal. His mother is a really good cook. She sent us; steamed rice, chicken and vegetables (wok), prawns in a sauce, fried chicken, coconut balls and some other dessert. We couldn’t eat it all, but I was extremely grateful for all the food I was given. They are all very nice to me in apartment 8C. Later I went up with Amirsohel to carry back the tray with plates and bowls. I thanked them very much for the food. They keep telling me if there are any problems I can just tell them. I met with the whole family and two grandparents as well. After socializing I returned to my apartment and just relaxed and rested, I both need it and enjoy being all by myself before going to bed as there are so many new impressions and people that I face everyday.

Yesterday morning me and Kanta went together to office, when I came to the office I started filing the interviews from the previous day into the computer. After that work was done, then Forhad and I interviewed Milon in the office. It was interesting to hear his opinions about the street girls’ life situations. Later in the afternoon I, Forhad and Kanta went to Kawran Bazar and there Forhad and I interviewed two female teachers; Sheoly and Johara, they are both 25 years old. It seemed to me when I heard their answers that they have close relationships with the street girls as their answers were revealing. When it was around 5:30 pm, then we left Kawran Bazar. I went home to my place in a CNG together with Kanta. As I came home I started getting tired, because there is a lot of information in my mind right now.

Today I and Kanta went to the office like many other mornings, we went by rickshaw. I got to the office and started reading about a UK organization which has given financial support to Shishu Tori before and I and Forhad wrote an e-mail to them telling about our current work with street girls. After that, I started filing the interviews we did yesterday in Kawran Bazar. Then after lunch, Forhad and I interviewed Nioty about street girls’ lives and it was very interesting to hear her views and perspectives, she also talked about the problem for street children being used for trafficking. The first place she mentioned where Bangladeshi street children are being sent was Dubai, so I have gotten to understand that it’s a well-known place where Bangladeshi street children are being sold. She also mentioned Karachi, Pakistan. As we have heard before, Pakistan is another country where the children are being sent and sold.

Around 3:15 pm I left office together with Nilufar and Milon to go to the Osmani Uddan Park to interview one of the teachers, Asha. Milon took care of Asha’s class while Nilufar and I were interviewing Asha. We asked her the same nine questions we have asked the other staffs, and Asha knows a lot about the street girls and street children, she really does. When we asked her the question; “what kind of problems do the street girls face by women?” Then she mostly talked about trafficking and she told us a few stories. One story she told us about happened two doors from where she is living, and it was about a woman who came up to 3-4 years old children and let them smell flowers, then she took them to a room and locked them inside it. One day, when this woman wasn’t around, the children who were locked inside the room screamed loud enough for a man nearby to hear their voices, the man forced the door and opened it to rescue the children, when the woman later returned she was beaten by the people in the neighborhood and taken to the police. Asha later found out about the story of the woman as she was forced to tell the police about the children in the room. This woman sold and shipped the children to a place in India, where they cut off the children’s heads and use the brain and blood for different purposes; one is for medicine, but the most horrific reason Nilufar and I heard is that some use the blood and brain and mix it when they are making bricks to make them more firm. Hearing this was extremely tough as I meet these young street children daily and feel how innocent they are, and then they are completely exploited by others to an extent where their bodies are being sold, their heads are chopped off and used for different purposes. Another story Asha told us about, happened just two days ago; there was rickshaw wallah (driver) who had a lady with a bag on his rickshaw, as the legs of the rickshaw driver was hitting the bag, he asked her; “what kind of stick do you have in your bag?” and she said that it’s no stick. The driver got a little suspicious and stopped along the road and went to bring out some other people to see what was in the bag. The woman was forced to open her bag and inside the bag was a strapped 5-years old alive boy lying and it was the rickshaw driver’s son!!! The rickshaw driver naturally fainted and the woman who had taken the boy was beaten in the open place, before she was taken to the police and at the police they once again found out that this boy was about to be sold to India, to cut off his head and use his brain and blood.

Hearing these stories and how detailed Asha told them was almost too much for my mind, soul and heart, as I understand that the next victim of trafficking can be anyone of the vulnerable street girls or street boys. These last 3-4 days has been tough emotionally and mentally hearing about the street girls’ lives and struggles. Tomorrow is off work, and I need to recharge mentally and emotionally as we are probably going to start interview the street girls next week. I’m a very emotional person with lots of soul and heart for these street children and for people I love and care about, but at the same time I need to find energy and strength within myself.

To my loved ones (family, friends, relatives…); when you read this, just think for two or three minutes about what I really write in my Diary and try to imagine the lives of these street children. I know it’s difficult sitting in Sweden, Germany, France, USA and so on. But try to picture what you have just read, and then be grateful to where you are, what you have and who loves you. It’s no small thing I’m talking about, I’m talking about caring for your loved ones and be grateful for having someone by your side, something that most street children here don’t have at all.

Much Love!

Your Per

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During the Muslim holiday Eid-el-Fitr (it celebrates the end of Ramadan) I mostly rested to get well and free from my lung infection. I received a really nice gift from the Shishu Tori staffs; a panjabi together with white pants. A panjabi is a traditional Bangladeshi dress, worn e.g. during Eid. The panjabi I got has a very nice red wine color which suits perfect with the white pants. I also got a nice grey panjabi from Gausal, he is the brother to the owner of my apartment. Gausal visited me the past Saturday to see how I was doing and told me if there is anything I need, I just call him. He also told me that I could use the other rooms in the apartment and the balcony as well, which is nice to know. So now I have a quite big space; 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, 1 kitchen and 1 balcony. It’s nice to have access to the balcony, to just walk out once in awhile and try to see the stars at 03 o’clock at night. Future.

The following day (Sunday) was Eid day, and in the morning I received food from the family in apartment 8C, it was really sweet of them. The father and his son came down to me and greeted me and introduced themselves. The boy was really polite, maybe 8-9 years old, I told him; “it’s a pleasure to meet you” and instantly he replied “it’s a pleasure to meet you too”. Hehe, real cute.

The same day Forhad called me and said that he was coming over and that I should change my dress into the new panjabi I had received. Roughly one hour after his call, he came and we went out for about 1h 30min on a rickshaw. It was nice to get out and also see how much less crowded the streets were, as many people had gone home during the Eid (Muslim holiday). I really like my new panjabi, it’s really comfortable to wear, I like the fabric.

This past Monday, in the afternoon, I went up to the family on the 8th floor to return their plates and bowls (they brought me the food the day before). I came up to their apartment and met lots of children and a big family. Several relatives were around. I also met a man my age and he told me it’s his uncle who owns this apartment building, I spoke to him about Dhaka and Bangladesh, it was interesting to get yet another view of this city and country. The view from their apartment is an absolute astonishing view of Dhaka! They have the best apartment in the whole building. One of the sons, who visited me the day before, really enjoys my company and I enjoy his, and he speaks very good English. The family gave me some more food to eat, the son carried it down for me to my apartment. He left my apartment with a happy; “Erik, have a nice day!”

Later that same evening Forhad came to me and we went to Kanta’s house where we had been invited to dinner. Kanta lives in the Lalbagh area, not more than 5 minutes with rickshaw from my place. We came there just before 7 pm, we sat down and chatted with Kanta’s family members and Father Pope (an American missionary who has been living in Bangladesh for almost 50 years, serving the poor). It was really nice visiting Kanta’s house and meeting her family members. We were served a really feast meal, I couldn’t try it all, but the food I ate was real tasty. I also met Ekra, Kanta’s niece (brother’s daughter), she is 5 years old and a real cutie who showed me her mehndi on her arm. Mehndi is a temporary skin decoration, which is a way of beautifying yourself. When we were about to leave Kanta’s house, the rain started drizzling and the wind started blowing. I can feel that the winter is around the corner. By winter I don’t mean snow, just not as hot as usual.

I have now finished reading my Dalai Lama book, it was really good and I recognized myself several times while reading it.

Tuesday, 1+6 , what an end, what a night! More than 2 hours and 30 minutes…connection.

Yesterday it was finally back to work after my sickness and the Eid holiday. Dhaka is still quiet compared to its usual chaos and it’s because many people have gone home to their home towns/villages. I got to the office and started reading and reviewing a project proposal which Forhad and Monzoor has put together, it’s a proposal for a really good project; a rehabilitation shelter for street girls. It’s a very big project proposal and it needs a lot of time and focus, but I’m very happy to be part of it and work with it. I focused more or less completely on reading and reviewing it while I was in the office. During lunch I had a great discussion with Forhad about Bangladesh and Sweden/Europe and I was giving him my perspectives on things in life and why some people are the way they are etc. I really enjoy talking to him about these things, he has lots of knowledge about the streets in Bangladesh. I left the office around 3 pm together Milon, we took a rickshaw to the Osmani Uddan Park.

The Osmani Uddan park is just opposite the Dhaka City Corporation, which is a self-governing corporation which is running the affairs of the city. It is a really majestic building! Milon and I went into the Osmani Uddan Park to go to the street school run by Shishu Tori. The street school is called “School Under the Sky” and Shishu Tori is running three different schools in three different areas in Dhaka. The street schools are held in open places and selected street children are gathered to learn Bangla, English, maths, health/hygiene and get some body exercises at the end of every class. The class is six times a week, Saturday-Thursday, two hours in the afternoon every day. Because of Eid (Muslim holiday), the attendance in the school was lower than usual. They were approximately 10 children in each class (two classes). There is one basic class and one more advanced class for the children who are a few years older. The English lesson was very clear in the more advanced class, they received two new words “apple” and “book” and they all wrote it on their blackboards and spelled it out loud. The mathematics lesson in the more advanced class was disciplined and well-structured, in general the advanced class had a good discipline and was well structured. Even if I didn’t understand the health and hygiene lesson (because of it being in Bangla), I see it as a very important part of the street school, it’s something that should always be encouraged. I was showing the children to use the left hand while coughing, as there are so many people coughing right out in the open air in Dhaka and that manner will just keep the viruses constantly floating around. At the end of the class the street children got different exercises for the body that I also see as very important for a more healthy life. Most of the children are suffering from different health problems, so it’s good that they are given help in the right direction. Nioty, who is the health manager in Shishu Tori, is also giving the street children some medical treatment if needed. The children were smiling a lot when they saw me and when I was participating in the class and especially during the singing and exercise part at the end of the class, it made many of the them to really smile. I’m also really happy with how the Shishu Tori t-shirts turned out, the slogan was more or less my idea; “street children need love”. It’s written both in English and Bangla. When I saw the dirty t-shirts on the boys, it made me sad in a happy way, I realized that they are only between 5-10 years old, living in the streets, trying to look for love and care from other people. My slogan came straight from my heart, because these street children are filled with it, they are innocent human beings who are born in this world and are either sadly neglected by their own families, abused, thrown in the streets or simple don’t have any family. After class some of the street children were waving good-bye to me, hehe, they just show pure love and I try to return it to them in the same way. I really enjoyed this day, I’m living life and everyday that goes by fills me up inside with knowledge, experience, love and soul. I can really feel that my own world has become very big.

This morning it was raining, so I took a CNG (mini auto rickshaw) to the office in the Motijheel area, because I didn’t want to get soaking wet on a rickshaw. I came to the office at 10:15 am and continued working with the project proposal I was working with yesterday. Then a bit later, when Nilufar had arrived in the office I went to her room and talked to her both work related and private matters. She is a very nice person and I really enjoy talking to her. She is sharp, intelligent, warm and caring. We discussed the situation of street children, how different people are behaving etc. After our chat, then I returned to Forhad’s room and continued the work with the proposal.

This afternoon I, Nilufar and Forhad went in Nilufar’s car to Kamlapur Railway Station. This is another place where Shishu Tori is having a School Under the Sky. The school is by the end of a platform. Because of absence of one teacher, both classes were put together today into one big group. Despite other people standing around the class, the street children are eager to learn. They are being taught the same subjects as in Osmani Uddan Park; Bangla, English, maths, health/hygiene and singing (body exercise). One of the songs is both in Bangla and in English and hearing the street children sing; “…deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome one day”, it really puts life in perspective while understanding that these street children are trying their best to survive every single day. Most of these street children live in the railway station on the platform or nearby. It’s a quite sad place to see, because on another platform there are alcoholics, drug addicts and young girls prostituting themselves. It’s just two railway tracks between the two platforms. I mainly supervised the class today, to get introduced, but I introduced myself and wrote my name on the blackboard. All the street children wrote my name and held up their blackboards and also spelled the letters in Erik and said my name out loud. While I was around there were some other people who came up and talked to me, also another street child came to great me nicely by shaking my hand. It was very interesting to see the street children in this class at Kamlapur Railway Station, which is the largest railway station in Bangladesh. It’s been another great day at work.

I’m very happy with being back at work, feeling well and being happy with my life and inside myself. Through this I enjoy giving joy to the children and making them smile.

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Your love, son, brother, grandson, friend, relative and so on started a new adventure in his life when he boarded an aircraft in Copenhagen, Denmark on 30th of September which took him to Bangkok, but his final destination was the heavily crowded city of Dhaka in Bangladesh.

I arrived in Dhaka around noon on Monday the 1st of Oct. After the standard procedures at the airport (immigration, money exchange, baggage claim and customs) I was met up with a local volunteer, Debashish, from Shishu Tori Sangstha (the organization I’m going to work for here in Dhaka). He and another colleague, Milon, took me in a taxi to the Shishu Tori office, which is located in the Motijheel commercial area of Dhaka. I was warmly welcomed and introduced to some of the Shishu Tori staff by Forhad, who is the coordinator of the organization. It didn’t take many minutes before I received good feelings and emotions inside of me telling me that I have come to a very interesting place and being in a Bangladeshi culture is something very new and exciting for me.

As there have been problems finding an accommodation, because of different reasons, I will stay in a hotel called Hotel Pacific in the Motijheel area until we have found a descent apartment.

While sitting in the taxi from the airport into the city and while walking around the streets of Motijheel (Dhaka) during the first day I arrived I both saw and met lots of beggars; children, women and men. The strange thing for me is that inside of me it felt like;”this is normal”. Just around the corner of the Shishu Tori office there was a young boy lying down on the street with a really misshaped leg, but I didn’t react much. I don’t know why I didn’t react more, but I guess I have in mind that Bangladesh is one of the absolute poorest countries in the world with the majority of the population suffering from poverty. The country is only one third the size of my home country Sweden, but in Sweden we are around 9.2 million people, here in Bangladesh it’s about 150 million people.

Before heading out in the evening I then ordered room service (what do you think about that one my brother? Room service in Bangladesh!). So, my first day in Dhaka ended with a small city tour on a rickshaw together with Debashish, he’s a really nice guy (a Hindu) and he showed me the biggest Hindu temple here in Dhaka. That first evening I also bought a new mobile phone, because the Bangladesh SIM card didn’t work in my Swedish cell phone. It was a very nice first day in Dhaka and the people here are friendly and I feel secure.

The second day I got a more detailed introduction about Shishu Tori; its work, vision etc. Forhad and me, together with Monzoor (another Shishu Tori staff) discussed street children in Bangladesh and poverty in general, which gave me more insights and knowledge. We also drafted a working plan for me and as it seems now my working week will be between Saturday afternoon until Thursday afternoon, both in the office and in the field. Fridays are off (Muslim holiday). The majority of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim; I think it’s around 90% or more.

Yet another time, this day I realized how crowded Dhaka is, it feels like it’s rush hour almost the whole day; rickshaws, cng (baby auto rickshaws), taxis, buses etc. drive like it’s a constant race trying to reach their final destinations as quickly as possible. In the afternoon I had the pleasure of being on a local bus in Dhaka for roughly 45 minutes, it’s been a long time since I experienced a bus driver driving like he did. It was acceleration, breaking, right and left the whole time – it was an adventure where you most certainly didn’t know what would happen next. Back to Dhaka being crowded, the air is really polluted and it feels worse as time goes by. No wonder though, because of all the old vehicles and the way they drive. I also get dust and sand blown up in my eyes no matter if I’m on a rickshaw, in a taxi, bus or just by walking.

Back to the poverty issue, as I see how many people are living in the streets everyday I more and more realize how people in Dhaka are suffering. There is no day without several women, men or children coming up to me, begging for money for food. It tells a lot.

The third day at the office I worked with finding and writing down contacts for Swedish NGOs in Bangladesh. All the Shishu Tori staffs, including me, also had a small meeting and discussed a slogan for t-shirts we are going to print and give to the street children who are under the care of Shishu Tori, which will be given to them after the Eid festival (Muslim holiday) which is between the 12-15th of Oct. In the evening, on the way back to the Motijheel area, Debashish and I went with a rickshaw, a 40 minutes ride which cost about 0.5 USD. I really like the rickshaws, it gives me a different feeling of traveling around the city. This day and evening I once again realized how extremely crowded Dhaka is, the city has more than 14 million people. I can really feel and see the whole time how crowded it is, by the way the streets, buses, rickshaws etc are packed with people.

I have started to read a book by Dalai Lama; “Kunsten At Leve Lykkeligt” (“The art of happiness”). It’s in Danish! I’m happy with my life, who’s by my side and with what I do in my life, but I feel it’s interesting to read the book. I have heard a lot about him, but never read anything by him. I got the book as a nice gift from my dear girlfriend Alexzandra. Stars. Strength and honor! Ludde. Baileys. The earth!

The fourth day I did administrational work in the Shishu Tori office and I also met with Nilufar for the first time, she is the chairperson of Shishu Tori. She just got back from Amsterdam and an international conference where they discussed children’s rights. She seems to be a very sharp and intelligent woman who has been living in both UK and the US.

I haven’t spoken about the weather yet, but most of the days it has been around 32-34 degrees Celsius during the day, and in the evenings it has been warm and nice. But now the winter season is soon coming, which means it won’t be as warm. I prefer that, because of all the pollution.

I can’t help talking about the smog throughout the city, because my nostrils are clogged everyday and my throat feels a bit sore off and on. I’m quite sure I have picked up some sort of bacteria/virus while being in the streets. I have almost lost my voice at one time.

We have now found an apartment where I will be staying, after four nights in a hotel, I have finally moved in to a place of my own. I can only use part of the apartment, but I have; one bedroom, one small bathroom, one small kitchen and a living room. It’s enough! And the best thing about the place is that I really like it, and it has a security guard and two elevators. I live on the fifth floor, but there is no view. I don’t mind, because I have finally got a place, after searching in various areas for several days. My own apartment in Dhaka, Bangladesh? Crazy!

Fridays are quite slow days, because of it being a Muslim holiday. I don’t work on Fridays. The past Friday I started arranging my things in my new apartment and washed some clothes in the kitchen sink. In the evening I got a small tour by Debashish in the area Lalbagh (Old Dhaka), close to where I’m living. He showed me the Sree Sree Dhakeswary National Temple which is a Hindu temple older than the city of Dhaka. According to what Debashish said, the name Dhaka comes from this temple. We continued walking and taking rickshaws in the area of Lalbagh. We passed by a place where they sold meat and one of the boys was shouting; “you want picture?”, of course I picked up my camera and snapped him and showed the picture to him, he smiled.

The sixth day of my new life in Dhaka; I and Milon went to Sadarghat to watch the boats and ferrys in the Buriganga River. There are lots of street children in this area, I saw many. After some touring in the morning and until afternoon, Milon and I met with Kanta (a Shishu Tori staff) to buy clothes for the street children of Shishu Tori. We bought them in Banglabazaar. I then went home, talked a lot on the phone, then in the evening I went out with Debashish to buy some fruits and food in the market. Debashish is a really kind guy, 27 years old. I’m not feeling well, I cough a lot and sweat. I have to visit a doctor in the next coming days.

This day I thought a lot about innocence. Where there is hope there is a will and where there is a will there is a way. Translated from a foreign language. Hehe!

At the end of my first week in Dhaka, Sunday, I decided to visit a medical doctor, because I had been coughing and not feeling well for the past days. I received the diagnosis that I have a cold, and the doctor told me that one of the reasons is the dust in Dhaka. I also took a blood test, swab test and did an x-ray of my lungs. The results will be finalized in a couple of days. From the clinic I and Milon (who accompanied me the whole day) went to a pharmacy and then took a rickshaw back to my apartment through really heavy rain. We got soaking wet, sitting on the rickshaw under the hood. The rest of the day I tried to rest and relax as much as possible, because I need to get well again. I will just try to rest for the next couple of days, so I can get fit. I also had short visits from the building manager and a man from the landlord office.

Number 7, a positive number. “The fall in Cocktail”, you know what I’m talking about.

Monday morning, a woman (Mabiya) and a young boy knocked on my door and came to ask if they could sweep my floors, they also wanted to wash my clothes and dishes. Off course I let them in and paid them for their work. They were both very nice and sweet. Later in the afternoon the building manager came with a technician trying to fix the toilet, because the pipe was jammed with tissue paper. The problem got solved. In the evening Debashish came to visit me, also Forhad came to see how I was doing. I stayed in my apartment the whole day and tried to rest as much as possible, because I’m still sick.

Yesterday, I was mostly in the apartment, resting, as I keep coughing and have a congested nose. In the evening Milon came to my building and we went to Labaid (the clinic where I was two days earlier). On the rickshaw Milon said to me; “I don’t phone you, but I feel you”, he meant even that even if he doesn’t call me he’s very concerned about my wellbeing. So is the rest of the people around me here in Dhaka, they are truly great people, both in the organization and in my building. They really care about me. Back to Labaid and the test results, everything was fine, except for that I have a non-specific infection (pneumonitis) in my lungs. That’s why I have been coughing so much. So I have to continue to rest and relax to get well, I have got the infection because of me not being used to the air here in Dhaka. If some people think that Los Angeles is a polluted metropolis, then just travel to Dhaka and you will see that you are living in a paradise. After visiting the clinic, we then headed for New Market where I bought some things for my apartment, which I was missing, and it was mostly kitchen utensils. I bought most of the things in a store with really nice and helpful people. We continued to another store to buy a lock, dish brush etc. Outside the store there were a couple of street children begging me for money, I took a few pictures of them instead and showed them the pictures, they got happy, but kept on insisting for money, they followed me and Milon for 5-10 minutes and when we crossed a road, then they stopped following us and were waving good bye, it was really cute. There are too many street children here in Dhaka.

Today I’m trying to just relax, I want to be free from my lung infection. It’s a Muslim holiday. This morning Mabiya and the young boy (Sagur) came once again; swept my floors, washed the floors and washed the dishes. They are very poor, so they are so pleased when I pay them something small. Really nice people and they laughed when I photographed them.

The Internet connections I have used here in Dhaka are unstable, but you can check my Diary 1-2 times a month, and hopefully I have written something.

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