Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Bangladesh Experience

There are some things in life that no matter what, can not be fully appreciated unless you experience it yourself. 


Childbirth 

There is no way I could say I have any level of appreciation for what it is like to go through childbirth.  I imagine it is something that must be experienced. 

War

No one can say they understand and appreciate war unless they have been on a battlefield.  Myself included.

Bangladesh

Ok so a trip to Dhaka is not equal to going to war or childbirth, but let me tell you it isn't far off.
It is something that you truly need to experience in order to appreciate.  It is like no other place I have ever been. 

If I were to say it was dangerous, you would say to prove it with some statistics.  Well, that is impossible because if there were some data it would be wrong.  There isn't some department keeping track of crimes and deaths and robberies.   They happen and people go on with their day.

If I were to say it's polluted, you would want to show how the wildlife has declined.  Well, no data for that either.  But is is pretty easy to appreciate when normal visibility is under 4 km and the water is tinted whatever color they are dying textiles that day.

If I were to say the people were poor, you would want to know what the average wage is.  Put it this way, the IRS isn't auditing the average person because they claimed a "home office" on their taxes.  Who knows how much money people make there.  But, I can say that right now, at this minute my pocket contains more than the annual wages of most people in Bangladesh and my pocket doesn't contain much.

It isn't the worst place in the world, but, it is the worst place I have ever been. 

Before this trip, I had no appreciation for the circumstances and situation in that country.  Now, I am still no expert but I have a much better appreciation.  My appreciation for how fortunate I am has grown by a tremendous amount.  I just can't believe that a place like that exists on our planet.