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My Visit to Bangladesh

Through the eyes of an American Born Kid

By Saajid IslamPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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Photo by Adrien Taylor@adrientaylor

Bangladesh

When I arrived in Bangladesh, I saw the streets from the window of the car. Cars surrounded us. There were poor people knocking on our window, begging for money. The people outside were screaming and honking at each other. These were the streets and atmosphere of Bangladesh and I knew what I was in for, but I wouldn’t know that it could change my perspective of Bangladesh and my life.

Before I talk about my experiences in Bangladesh, I should tell you first how I got there. I went with my 10-year-old brother and mother last year. My parents were born in Bangladesh, so my mother knew the ropes. My grandmother had passed away in April and my mother didn’t have the chance to go, so we waited until January. My mom wanted to see my grandfather. My aunt and uncle take care of him, but they went to do their pilgrimage to Mecca. So he would be alone and therefore we went to take care of him.

I stayed in Bangladesh for three weeks and I spent all except one day in a city named Dhaka. When I would go outside, I observed that most of the town was kind of like America. I didn’t get much of a transition. You would see buildings, stores, and restaurants that were similar in America. I remember one night eating at a Pizza Hut. The food tasted pretty much the same as in America until I had diarrhea. I was warned by doctors not to eat out. I saw a mall named Bashundhara city. It was like going to the Mall of America. It had 7 floors and an amusement park. It was newly built so there weren’t a lot of stores open. There were just vacant spaces. The TV shows in Bangladesh look similar too in America, even the lineup like morning news, morning talk shows, soap opera shows, TV series, evening news, and more TV series. There were American TV shows too. They had the news set similar to American news sets. Things like big screen TVs, desktop computers, and electronic devices are all new to them and they even sell those. My mom was pretty overwhelmed by all these changes. I guess if I were there 10-15 years before, I wouldn’t see these things. As I see it, Bangladesh wanted to change their image, so they adapted to the American image so that people won’t leave that country. But the major difference is that in America, there is rule of law. People are free to enter into contract with each other. But in Bangladesh, one can bypass law if one has money. So there is no mobility across income ladder. Rich stay rich, and poor stay poor for generation after generation. So nobody plays by the rule because whoever plays by the rule looses. So to improve the standard of living, there has to be rule of law.

I saw the lack of rule of law in streets. There is traffic lights, but nobody obeys it. So the result is continuous traffic jams and endless delays. I think if the country can adopt the rule of law, people’s lives will be better and there will be no need for migration.

Poverty is a big problem in Bangladesh. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. But that is also the outcome of lack of rule of law. Because of the absence of rule of law there is no trust. Employers are suspicious about employees, shopkeepers are suspicious about customers. These are the important factors that affect Bangladesh.

A person tries anything to get their hands on money. I remember going to a store, looking at an object when suddenly an employee jumped up and said, “What do you want? What do you want?” When you buy something they become friendly with you by asking if you want any tea or a snack to eat. If you mention to them that you are from America, then they ask for more money because they think you’re a rich person. Employers are suspicious about people.

The traffic is like being in rush hour the whole day, people screaming and honking towards each other, people walking on roads where cars are driving. My cousin got killed in a traffic accident three years ago. He was in a rickshaw, which is a human-powered transport, when a car behind him hit the rickshaw and he fell off. Then a bus ran over him. There aren’t any laws to make people safe.

Poverty is such a huge issue in Bangladesh. Poor people will try more to get their hands on money by begging and begging or sneaking around stores stealing food or things and sell them at a higher price. It seems that if you have education, you will become rich or middle-class but with no education you will get nothing. At least in America, if you don’t have any education, someone like a McDonalds would hire you. One day my mom, 10-year-old brother, and I fed the poor in honor of my grandmother. I helped pour water and give food to people. When they were done with their meals, we gave extra food to the people who wanted it. I remember one lady who couldn’t speak was begging to get more food but it was almost gone and we wanted to save it but we gave it to her anyway. She then prayed for us to God by using hand expressions. This is one of the memories I will never forget.

One day we stayed in another city called Mymensingh which is a small village. There we went to go see the grave of my cousin who was killed in a traffic accident three years ago. We went on a nature walk around Mymensingh. This I say was my favorite part of the trip, seeing village life. We walked and saw bananas and jackfruit hanging from trees, people living in small tents made of hay, and people also going fishing in ponds. I’d never discovered villages as I did there. Finally, I remember going to pray at a mosque. Students from a religious school were coming and they had traditional clothing on while my brother and I had American clothing like regular sweatshirt and pair of jeans. So when the students came to the mosque, they began to stare at us. They were all from the village; they had never seen this type of clothing before. My brother and I felt fine about this because we knew that these kids don’t see these things ever. That was one of the best experiences.

Since I’ve been to Bangladesh, I’ve realized that I’m lucky to be here. There are some countries in terrible situations. It changed my perspective of how I see the world and I began to think about what I can do in the future. Before going to Bangladesh, I was undecided what I wanted to do in life. Now, I think I know what I want to do: help Bangladesh. I want to get into politics and become an Ambassador of Bangladesh and try to help this country out as much as I can. If that scenery doesn’t work, I will set up a relief program for Bangladesh. I will try to reduce poverty and increase authority and provide more education programs. I want to learn what people want in Bangladesh, after all it is about them. I don’t know what is better than this. I know it will be challenging but seeking challenges are good and I would really like to do this. So this is how going to Bangladesh influenced me to be a better person. I will work hard in college and someday I would like to build a better future for the Bangladesh people.

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