Khilgaon

About 3 months ago I started working at a local NGO as an Environmental Health Officer which has given me the opportunity to gain more hands-on experience in water and sanitation in urban slums, as well as work with the local community.  I love it.  I love working with my local counterparts.  I love going on site visits to different parts of Dhaka that I might not otherwise see.  I love the always warm interactions with Bangladeshis who live in the slums.  In a country where 84% of the population lives on less than $2 a day, I am always amazed how Bangladeshis will still flash you a smile and offer you tea, biscuits, fruit, or whatever they can spare out of their extremely modest one room home.  They are truly the some of the most kind-hearted people you will ever meet.

Here are some photos from a recent site visit to a few different slums in Khilgaon.  One of them is actually privately owned which basically means the tenants don't need to worry about the government tearing down their home.

A "hanging latrine".....everything goes
straight into the lake.

Communal kitchen

A community mobilizer facilitates a session on the
importance of good hygiene.

These boys followed me around the whole
time asking for a photo........and chocolate.

Demonstrating proper hand-washing technique.

A mom shaves her newborn daughter's head
with a razor blade.  Ahhhh, I can't watch.

Old pa catching up on the news.

Building a WaterAid-funded sanitation facility

Almost complete.

Young couple having lunch.

Spice boy