Dear Sinisterites, HOLIDAY SEASON AND SARIS! Well, I shall start by wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you’ve all had great holidays – I certainly have here in Bangladesh. Plus, I get the added bonus of another New Year in a couple of months - the actual Bangladeshi one. It sure sounds like it's going to be one mother of a mela. I made a fair old effort with Christmas type activities, most of my spare time in December was spent, putting up decorations, singing carols, making mulled wine + mince pies and feeding the cake with brandy. For the day itself my friends and I actually had a big roast dinner and shared out stockings etc., it was great fun and surprisingly I didn’t feel all that homesick. It totally outdid any expectations I had of my first overseas Christmas. On a B & S note I did indeed get the new album for a present - months after the rest of you guys but better late than never. I really like it but as so many of you have already discussed the songs I won't bother now. After three months of Shalwar Kameez wearing I finally went the whole hog with six metres of material wrapped around me – yes my first sari! I was a bit naughty and threw caution to my volunteer allowance and used my credit card. It’s a beautiful design made of Tangail silk – I couldn’t resist I am a girl after all. This type of material is unique to Bangladesh so it had to be done really. It took two people to dress me – I haven’t quite mastered the art of putting it on myself yet. WHAT IF I WAS LEFT BLIND? Out of everything I’ve done this month the most enlightening thing was getting a taster of what it might be like to be a blind woman in Dhaka. Blindfolds weren’t required as I was taken into a pitch-black space – there wasn’t really any scope for your eyes adjusting. Then the noise hits you. I know that I said before that Dhaka is at least ten times noisier than cities like London but when one of your senses is cut off it’s even more intense. Walking just using the aid of a stick and your ears giving you a sense of direction definitely takes practice. I was exposed to issues such as groping by unidentifiable people along with being ripped off with goods and cash. If I had an accident that left me blind today it would take so much adjustment. Whilst I used to appreciate this before the exhibition my feelings are much stronger now. Disability is an issue that is not addressed a great deal in Bangladesh at the moment. Things are improving gradually, although it’s at an aste aste (Bangla for very slow) pace. I’m showing management at the NGO I work for the latest research on water and sanitation provision for physically disabled people. My aim is to show how simple it is to integrate better designs at the initial stage. With little or no extra cost you can benefit so much more of the slum community (where we work). Poor health from an unbalanced diet and not having money to treat an injury are some of the reasons why there are a higher proportion of disabled people in slum areas. This master plan of mine should hopefully be backed up when the peeps from Loughborough that did the work come over here this month. GETTING WET For international hashing I am no longer known as Amy but have been re-christened ‘Soggy Drawers’. This new name resulted from an embarrassing end to a run. A little wobbly bamboo plank with disgusting water below was involved. Thankfully my mouth didn’t go under though. I blame my lack of balance on the Christmas puds and listening too much to my hecklers. A soaking wet t-shirt in Bangladesh is not advisable. So if any of you happen to go to international Hash meets look out for me. GETTING MESSY Us VSO volunteers are now so adept at eating with our right hands that we managed to eat ice-cream cake without the use of utensils. It’s pretty easy really just use the thin but solid chocolate layering to scoop and anything that’s melted can be soaked up with a mince pie or two. THE CIRCLE GAME It’s definitely a case of out with the old and in with the new here. Several volunteers have come to the end of their placements – just as I was getting to know them. A new group should be arriving in a few weeks and so the wheel turns. Take care, Amy _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with cool emoticons - download MSN Messenger today! http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. 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