Crushed

I apologise for my entries being so few and far between lately (please see the post below for an explanation). Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be able to do a proper update and add some more photos.

One thing I did want to share though is how crushed I have been by an event that happened at work lately. To say I've had a hard time settling into work is a major understatement. I totally underestimated how hard it would be to work within a local organisation when I don't speak Bangla and when I have to rely on a few colleagues who have proficient English to guide me through as I learn about the different projects our organisation is running, while at the same time trying to grasp different cultural norms and work styles - and different attitudes to women (particularly young ones such as myself).

One of my colleagues who has been particularly good to me is a man who was fairly high up in our organisation and was the counterpart of the other Australian volunteer working there (we are each assigned a counterpart who we are supposed to work closely with and 'skills transfer' with). I was so jealous of the other Aussie volunteer, as for various reasons, many of which I am not exactly sure, I have had very little contact with my counterpart (~3 hours in 3 months) whereas these two have had a very close working relationship and the Bangladeshi guy has also been conscious of including me when he can, such as getting us both involved in the flood relief and asking my opinion on a couple of things.

To cut a long story short, this guy has been fired so stealing money and food from the flood relief funds, that he was coordinating. As I haven't been at work for a couple of weeks I don't know a lot but apparently ~$200 and a bag of potatoes and rice were missing. I can't help but feel that he has been wrongly accused - or has been made the scapegoat for someone else's mistakes.

The alternative is too hard to think about - that this lovely, kind, intelligent man would knowingly steal from people who have just had their lives devestated by floods.

I guess it's also a harsh reminder that I am living in what is apparently one of the most corrupt countries in the world (the joke is that Bangladesh bribed Nigeria to not have the top position).