Unknown Village

Today we had a break from the monotony of sessions.  Our group spent the morning walking through a village outside Chittagong.  However, I can not tell you the name of the village, because none of us remembered to ask.  Anywho... This was the first opportunity we have had to get out of Chittagong proper, and see how people live in less populated areas.  We walked down the main street, peering into the shops that decided to be open on a Monday.  At first a few of the villagers walked behind us out of curiosity, but the farther we walked the more people started to join our caravan.  By the time we reached the end of our walk there were about 45 people, mostly children, swarming around us.  Anytime I tried to take a picture ten children would try to jump in front of my camera.  I was amazed at how many children weren't in school.  It was rather disheartening.  We stopped to visit one of the village schools, which consisted of three corrugated tin building buildings.  Two of the buildings housed classrooms and the other looked to be a kitchen.  The woman taking us on our tour insisted that all the school children come out to the yard so that we could sing them a song.  The night before we had decided the Hokey Pokey would be fun to perform, and so we did.  The students just stared.  They could care less; they must have thought we were crazy.  Most didn't even want to try when we tried to it with them.  Apparently, the Hokey Pokey is not so big in Bangladesh.

We also got to visit a play building that our guide had built for the children of the village.  The building was three stories and included a library, computer lab, and playground.  They provide different classes for the children free of charge. One NGO even holds a school there in the morning.  It was amazing to see what this woman had given to the children of the community and how it inspired other people to give.  She told us of the many people who give their time and money to help sustain the heart.  It is encouraging to see projects that are well run and successful in a country that has its fair share of corruption and failures.  I am very excited with the idea of my students being able to do projects with the village children.