It certainly has been some time since the last post on Bangladesh. However, after leaving Southeast Asia and returning to United States at the beginning of November, it has taken a couple of months to re-adjust to the modern chaos of New York City. Although I am typing piece in retrospect to my research trip, I believe it to be necessary contribution in order to wrap up and explain the closing of this past trip to Bangladesh—hopefully to be the first of many in the future.
During my time at ICDDR, B, I had been working on a solo project to develop community health modules and a workshop, which would be used to inform rural areas of chronic diseases and how social behavioral modifications could be used in order to prevent the onset of illness.
Within the last 60 days of being in the country it was decided that I was going to be temporarily transferred to one of these rural regions. Once there, I would have the opportunity to meet with local villagers and fieldworkers in order make some ground-level assessments and gain feedback on the project, so that adjustments could be made to help it run more efficiently. Of course, I was more than thrilled at the prospect of meeting with those residing with in the rural outskirts. After all, it was for their sake that the project had even commenced in the first place, and it was important to receive their input and observe the situation locally.
Leaving Dhaka City circa 8:00 in the morning, I boarded a train that would take me on a 7-hour journey southward to the second largest city of Bangladesh, Chittagong. From there, I would immediately continue towards the neighboring district, traveling by car for an additional 4 hours on treacherous unpaved roads, until finally reaching my destination: ICDDR,B’s Chakaria Field Site. By this time, the town was well cloaked by the darkness of night, and my exhaustion from the voyage left me with little interest in anything besides my bed.
Health 2 Heart 