If you ever wanted to experience the living reality of the idiom ‘when it rains, it pours’, Bangladesh is the place to be. During the yearly south Asian monsoon, almost all the water collected by the Himalayas in Nepal, north/northeast India and Bhutan transits through Bangladesh on its journey to the Bay of Bengal, depositing life-giving minerals to the soil all along the Ganges Delta, the largest river delta in the world. It is here that the mountains literally crumble to the sea. This has resulted in Bangladesh’s flatland alluvial topography, which is the defining characteristic of the country except in the hilly regions of the southeast and northeast. The mighty Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers are called the Padma and the Jamuna in Bangladesh, and both of these massive rivers join several other smaller tributaries to eventually become the Lower Meghna, forming the great Gangetic Delta. At its widest point near Bhola Island, the river stretches to a yawning 12km-wide breadth on its final leg towards the sea. Seen from a boat, the distinctions between land, river, ocean and sky become decidedly uncertain.

~courtesy Moshiur R. Khandaker, Chief Executive, SAFE~

International Coastal Cleanup 2006: Bangladesh, originally uploaded by coastalcleanup.

SAFE has undertaken Cleanup Bangladesh Campaign in close cooperation with Clean Up The World campaign & Project AWARE. As part of this campaign Cleanup for Earth day will be held on April 22, 2009. Volunteers from different organization will be participating in this year’s beach and underwater Cleanup as part of an earth day activity at Cox’s bazar, St.Martin and Kuakata. It’s a great way for volunteers of all ages to learn about how to reduce the impact of waste and make a real difference in conserving the environment.

As a member of the ‘Clean Up The World’ campaign, our national efforts will be recognized internationally. Supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Clean Up The World is a global environmental initiative that attracts an estimated 35 million participants in more than 110 countries each year. To learn more about Clean up the World visit their website or the SAFE website.

Thousands of people across the globe will be having fun and getting wet to celebrate cleanup for Earth Day. A special SAFE team consists of doctors, first aiders & rescue personnel will be formed to ensure the health, safety and medical emergency of all the participants.

The main attractions of this event are following:

• Beach rubbish collection
• Separate recyclable rubbish
• Remove harmful marine debris
• Collect rubbish survey information
• Provide volunteers with a project AWARE Certificate of Recognition and more…

Thanks in advance for your co-operation. Your support in the Earth day activity will be highly appreciated.

Safety Assistance For Emergencies (SAFE); a leading voluntary organization born in Bangladesh protecting human lives, providing emergency medical aid to victims of any disaster and helping people avoid, prepare for, and cope with emergencies. Also strives to improve basic health, safety and environment issues in Bangladesh.

~story by Mikey Leung~

Full Moon Beach Parties in Bangladesh? Just last year, most travellers wouldn’t have dreamed of it.

But the reality is that they are now a monthly occurrence, drawing anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred people to the beachside at Cox’s Bazaar every month.

The parties are an initiative of Alien Shohagh and Samiha Alam Bristy–the co-owning couple who have created Mermaid Cafe—a place that offers something quite different from the mass tourism experience offered by the rest of the venues at Cox’s.

As Bristy reports about the last party on 19 June:

The concept of a Full Moon party on the beach has been a long time practice for the small yet elegant Mermaid Cafe, Cox’s Bazar. Mermaid Cafe started its journey almost three years back and has been like a hidden paradise on the not-so-happening Cox’s Bazaar scene.

Situated right on the Sugandha Beach, the cafe lures its guests with lamps guiding the way. Once reaching the destination one enters an entirely new world. With party music blaring in the background it is sure to make anyone get up and dance with their toes dug deep in sand. The mouth-watering smell of baked lobster and organic rice is enough to get one seated on the wooden but comfortable unique chairs.

Freshly squeezed fruit juices show that there is no place for synthetic, sugar-filled drinks. Sitting under the thatched roof of the cafe with the full moon peeking from behind the clouds makes one forget about all the worries of life. As the night progresses the crowd increases with more people on the dance floor or more appropriately ’sand’ floor. People all around having fun beside the sea is a good way to show that there is now a place in Cox’s Bazaar were you can actually feel like you’re at a party well out of the Gulshan bubble.

The next full moon dates for 2008:

• 2008 Jul 18 Fri
• 2008 Aug 16 Sat
• 2008 Sep 15 Mon
• 2008 Oct 14 Tue
• 2008 Nov 13 Thu
• 2008 Dec 12 Fri

As of 24 June, United Airways is on the only operator flying to Cox’s Bazaar during the low season. Once the high season resumes in September, regular service to Cox’s should begin again.

Getting there and away:

By Bus
For bus service to Cox’s, Green Line, Shohagh, Silk Line and Soudia/S Alam offer direct AC services from Dhaka and Chittagong. The journey takes 10-12 hours from Dhaka and another five from Chittagong.

By Air

• United Airways Bangladesh (*recommended)
• Best Air (aka Best Aviation)
• Royal Bengal Airlines
• GMG Airlines
• Biman Bangladesh

While the beach at Cox’s Bazaar becomes more and more crowded with people this tourist season, very few know visitors know that there is a refugee camp not far from Bangladesh’s much-heralded beach paradise.

And the people at this camp need help. World Food Programme Volunteer Lindy Hogan writes:

As most of you know, I work with Burmese refugees who are living in
two camps near the Bangladesh-Burma border (approx 27,000 refugees). Recently a library has been established in each camp but the problem is that they hardly have any books in them!

So I’m writing to request for book donations. Any type of material would be useful – kids books, novels, educational materials, textbooks, magazines etc – so long as it is culturally appropriate.

English or Bengali, new or second hand is fine.

Thought I’d get this out as I know a few of you are coming down this way in the next couple of months – so you can leave books with me then.

Thanks for your help on this everyone.

Cheers,
Lindy

VIDA Volunteer
World Food Programme
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

To contact Lindy, please write to her by e-mail letting her know of your visit: lindymay [AT] gmail.com.