The West Country Where The Birds Sing Bass
In the last few months I have become very involved in AIDS awareness raising and prevention. Because of the behaviors involved in the spread of HIV/AIDS are very personal, it is a challenging task. However, once the topic is approached and out in the open, it is amazing how curious people are, and how eager they are to participate in discussions about cultural norms, values, and completely taboo subjects. Then again, convincing the my students to be equally open when they are training in the villages and slums is another whole task...sigh. But since I've probably written about this in my last few mails, I'll put it off for now. If you want to know more, you know my email address :)
My out of Dhaka trainings usually last 3 days, during which 20-30 participants (all experienced and able Bengali community development workers) and myself take over a local guest house. Each day has about 8 hours training, and 8 hours sleeping...so what do we do with the rest?
1) Eat. Above is Dinner to be. It is strange to walk out of the classroom for afternoon tea and be confronted with the sight and smell of raw dinner. I'm glad it wasn't a goat. The bamboo basket the chicken is tied to is where they keep 15-30 chickens alive from the farm to your doorstep, be it in Dhaka, or the village. Sometimes I see these baskets filled with chickens stacked 3 or 4 high on the back of a rickshaw squawking it's way down the avenue. It makes me laugh.
2) Bond. By the end of training my brains have turned into mush from speaking Bangla, listening to Bangla, and trying to get people to mention the unmentionable. This mush leaves me in a state extremely vulnerable to "bonding." It works like this. One of my women participants knocks on my door in the evening. "Yes, how can I help you?" She waltzes into my room..."I'm not disturbing you, am I?" "No, of course not" By the time she is halfway into the room, the door has filled with five or seven other women. Flipping through the training materials on my desk, the novel I was reading, all the contents of my suitcase, they ask me the standard questions... am I married? why not? (obviously my parents don't love me if they haven't arranged for me, and let me go so far away unchaperoned) how many brothers and sisters I have? are any of them married? what's wrong with my family? can they fix my hair? can they fix my sari? can they do my makeup? can they come in early tomorrow to dress me properly, like a Bengali girl?
The result is above, after I managed to wipe off some of the eyeliner. Fully "done up" as they would have me has been known to make babies cry of fright. The big fuzzy red dot is a beauty thing. It used to be a Hindu 3rd eye thing a long, long time ago, but now it's a fashion statement worn by everyone alike. Also, bengali girls will go to crazy lengths NOT to smile for the picture.) By now 3/4 of the class is in my room, and one of the guys suggests that we all go back to the classroom for some entertainment. So mostly pajama clad we trail into the big room, except for me who has been transformed into a freakishly white Bengali girl in the best sari I brought along.
3) I suppose the Entertainment is also bonding, but it gets its own entry, as it takes so long. The above picture and the sound file (can you do this on Blogger?)pretty much encompass it, but instead of 10 seconds it goes for 2-3 hours each night. Only one guy at a time can play the drums, and one can play the harmonium...that piano/organ/accordion type thing. Most everyone else finds something else with which to be the percussion section. In the left corner you can see scissors snipping in time, others use the harmonium top, spoons, an empty bowl, a yardstick...it's amusing to see how hard people try to find something different to play.
Everyone has to sing...EVERYONE! If you are considering visiting Bangladesh, do have at least one song to break out at the appropriate time. "I can't sing" is not an excuse. After a while I can usually plead "tired" and they let me go back upstairs, having bonded properly with my students.
It works, the next day people are more comfortable with each other and with me. The discussions are more intense, more curious, harder for me to keep up with in my limited Bangla...but that's a good thing.
I love doing these trainings. Each one challenges me to learn more about AIDS, Bangladeshi culture, and practical Christian responses. No matter how prepared I am I always get questions that make me go back to the drawing board, re-checking my information, re-figuring out what is the right thing to do in a given situation. But I know that likewise, my students are challenged to rethink their views and take on the hard task of integrating new behaviors and attitudes in themselves and in the communities where they work
My out of Dhaka trainings usually last 3 days, during which 20-30 participants (all experienced and able Bengali community development workers) and myself take over a local guest house. Each day has about 8 hours training, and 8 hours sleeping...so what do we do with the rest?
1) Eat. Above is Dinner to be. It is strange to walk out of the classroom for afternoon tea and be confronted with the sight and smell of raw dinner. I'm glad it wasn't a goat. The bamboo basket the chicken is tied to is where they keep 15-30 chickens alive from the farm to your doorstep, be it in Dhaka, or the village. Sometimes I see these baskets filled with chickens stacked 3 or 4 high on the back of a rickshaw squawking it's way down the avenue. It makes me laugh.
2) Bond. By the end of training my brains have turned into mush from speaking Bangla, listening to Bangla, and trying to get people to mention the unmentionable. This mush leaves me in a state extremely vulnerable to "bonding." It works like this. One of my women participants knocks on my door in the evening. "Yes, how can I help you?" She waltzes into my room..."I'm not disturbing you, am I?" "No, of course not" By the time she is halfway into the room, the door has filled with five or seven other women. Flipping through the training materials on my desk, the novel I was reading, all the contents of my suitcase, they ask me the standard questions... am I married? why not? (obviously my parents don't love me if they haven't arranged for me, and let me go so far away unchaperoned) how many brothers and sisters I have? are any of them married? what's wrong with my family? can they fix my hair? can they fix my sari? can they do my makeup? can they come in early tomorrow to dress me properly, like a Bengali girl?
The result is above, after I managed to wipe off some of the eyeliner. Fully "done up" as they would have me has been known to make babies cry of fright. The big fuzzy red dot is a beauty thing. It used to be a Hindu 3rd eye thing a long, long time ago, but now it's a fashion statement worn by everyone alike. Also, bengali girls will go to crazy lengths NOT to smile for the picture.) By now 3/4 of the class is in my room, and one of the guys suggests that we all go back to the classroom for some entertainment. So mostly pajama clad we trail into the big room, except for me who has been transformed into a freakishly white Bengali girl in the best sari I brought along.
3) I suppose the Entertainment is also bonding, but it gets its own entry, as it takes so long. The above picture and the sound file (can you do this on Blogger?)pretty much encompass it, but instead of 10 seconds it goes for 2-3 hours each night. Only one guy at a time can play the drums, and one can play the harmonium...that piano/organ/accordion type thing. Most everyone else finds something else with which to be the percussion section. In the left corner you can see scissors snipping in time, others use the harmonium top, spoons, an empty bowl, a yardstick...it's amusing to see how hard people try to find something different to play.
Everyone has to sing...EVERYONE! If you are considering visiting Bangladesh, do have at least one song to break out at the appropriate time. "I can't sing" is not an excuse. After a while I can usually plead "tired" and they let me go back upstairs, having bonded properly with my students.
It works, the next day people are more comfortable with each other and with me. The discussions are more intense, more curious, harder for me to keep up with in my limited Bangla...but that's a good thing.
I love doing these trainings. Each one challenges me to learn more about AIDS, Bangladeshi culture, and practical Christian responses. No matter how prepared I am I always get questions that make me go back to the drawing board, re-checking my information, re-figuring out what is the right thing to do in a given situation. But I know that likewise, my students are challenged to rethink their views and take on the hard task of integrating new behaviors and attitudes in themselves and in the communities where they work
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