Although I am from Bangladesh, I have friends from nations all over the world, such as Namibia and Norway, thanks to various travels and the internet. Despite our differences regarding nationality and culture, we stay in touch through the internet and have a common ground in our access to western media and a liberal education. While some of our views vary, we understand each other quite well. We keep up with news on Barack Obama and we even have intense discussions on the pros and cons of IMF policies. We listen to Haitian musician Wyclef Jean, all of us sympathizing with the Haitian earthquake victims and making donations. We are the citizens of a ‘Global Village’.
Like me, my Bangladeshi peers from the privileged upper middle class background are trying to connect with and fit into a rapidly globalizing world. Yet, when paying close attention, one will realize that we have become detached from the realities of our homeland, one of the world’s poorest and most corruption-stricken nations. Few of us have any communication with our peers from other social classes, leading to misunderstandings that cause problems ranging from workplace grudges to terrorist acts by fundamentalists who rashly believe that all western media are negative influences bent on destroying traditional values.
Over the last 15 years, more and more well-off parents have sent their children to English medium schools to give them a good, modern education. These schools follow a British curriculum that focuses on the western world instead of Bangladesh and so we grow up knowing little about our nation, its beautiful forests, rich history and diverse cultures. With the media doing little to fill in this gap, many of us never learn to love Bangladesh enough to look beyond the poverty and inequity and to strive to solve its problems wholeheartedly. We become infatuated with the ‘American dream’. Bangladesh’s load-shedding, slums and polluted rivers are only ‘temporary’ blips en route to that scholarship to a university in the first world. Most of us live in a bubble, and it is no wonder that Bangladesh suffers from crippling brain drain.
Those of us who want to help Bangladesh have been told that we can do so from a highly-paid post in an NGO in New York or Paris. Although I absolutely approve of the work done by these foreign organizations (like the UN), I feel that in order for us to do something for our country, we need to know and build rapport with our people firsthand.
I felt the severity of the communication gap between our youth during a leadership training and community service course at the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Council last year. The course brings together teenagers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to unite them in working for the betterment of Bangladesh. In the beginning, students from Islamic schools avoided us English medium students (later admitting that they thought we were ‘intimidating, upper class snobs brainwashed by the west’) while we were afraid that they possibly harbored extremist ideals. Simultaneously, I felt humbled and grateful to know the students from Bangla medium schools (which follow the national curriculum), who had a much deeper understanding and knowledge of Bangladesh.
These disparities were further highlighted when we performed community service in a slum. While surveying the residents to identify their problems, I met a 16-y-old who supported his family by driving a rickshaw at night. He was bright and independent, and told me curtly that he did not have any problems. He did not need my help. Why did a girl like me care? Was I in this for publicity? Was I being paid by some American NGO to pretend that I cared?
As I fumbled to plead my case, I accepted that he had every right to be skeptical. And yet, in order for Bangladesh to move forward, we must give our people the chance to love each other and their country. We must bridge communication gaps and build trust so that bigotry and misunderstandings can no longer prevent us from helping each other. Our youth have the greatest role to play in this because we are the generation being torn apart by the dynamics of a rapidly globalizing and changing society. We need to start more collaborative projects and discussion forums while pressing for a more relevant education system for all so that Bangladeshis from every background can be brought to the same page. Bangladesh is a beautiful nation brimming with potential. It is the country that 300,000 people died for to gain independence in 1971. It is the nation that gave many of us the opportunities we so often take for granted. It is time to give back to it.
Words: 769
Author: Alaka Dhara Halder
Age: 17
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
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