side trip to bangladesh -- a german-us-bangladeshi tale

as some of you might know i had the chance to travel to bangladesh this july to research and report on the situation of women in the country.

while flying i thought it was quite weird to cross over meine Heimat, my home country germany, without stopping. but there is was, slowly -- very slowly -- the tiny plane on the monitor in front of my seat moved over the familiar shape of the german border.

in bangladesh it was neat that not only i was a foreigner but my favorite u.s. american as well. after people found out where we came from, they usually concentrated on my favorite u.s. american: didn't he think it was sad that michael jackson had died? can he help to get access to a u.s. university? what does he think of bangladesh? i was a bit out of the line of fire for the most part, partially also because some people prefer to talk to men.

bangladeshis value education and a lot desire to go to a university in a western country. since english is a second language to most educated bangladeshis, the united states is a quick pick next to great britain.

besides, the united states are trading partner number one for bangladesh and its textile industry. check the "made by tags" on clothing and you´ll notice sooner or later. i will never be able to buy a shirt at one of my favorite stores again without thinking about fatima, a girl in dhaka who i met during an interview, didn´t know if she was 13 or 14 years old, but told me that she works eleven-hour shifts for six days a week to sew pants.

the same tag you might find in a geman store. surprisingly to me, germany turned out to be the second most important export partner for bangladesh. we take in garments, silk, leather, and jute. in turn, germany has given technical equipment. but it has been an important development partner as well. between 1972 and 2006 germany invested €4.4 billion or $6.3 billion in the country, either directly or channeled through contributions to the united nations, the world bank, and the asian development bank.

long story short. i´ve been pretty infatuated by my bangladesh project and could talk and write on for quite a while. although it has little to do with me as a german living in the united states -- other than that the pulitzer center as a u.s. institution gave me financial support to travel there -- i want to present a link collection on this blog for everyone interested.

and i guess only because i moved to the united states and became friends with a bangladeshi, who happened to have german room mates, i got into this trilateral adventure.

the (un)power of women in bangladesh: pulitzer website with my reporting
features stand-ups, slide shows, videos, blog posts, and a narrated video audio clip about the ngos nari jibon, karmojibi nari, odhikar, and the institute of journalism and the institute of women and gender studies at dhaka university, july to september 2009

the (un)power of women in bangladesh: main website of the pulitzer center on my project
gives some background on my project, july to september 2009

hit or miss: bangladesh´s migrant workers seek financial security abroad
an article by me published on the website of the women`s international perspective, september 21, 2009

my orna and me -- walking around as a woman in dhaka, bangladesh
a reflective piece on my personal experience with clothing in bangladesh, published on the blog of the institute for international journals at the e.w. scripps school of journalism at ohio university, july 2009

bangladesh: a woman in power and powerless women?
an earlier piece on the situation of women in bangladesh research by painstakingly organized e-mail interviews with relevant bangladeshi voices, published on my other blog about how to become a u.s. citizen, which also covers legal bangladeshi immigrant, march 2009

need to change -- bangladesh´s election and the hopes and concerns of its people
a report on the national bangladeshi election in december 2008 and the opinion of bangladeshi on the new government and what they want from it, published on my other blog about how to become a u.s. citizen, which also covers legal bangladeshi immigrant, february 2009

eckert discusses experience in bangladesh
video interview by dr. robert stewart with me about working journalistically in bangladesh, published on the website of the e.w. scripps school of journalism at ohio university, august 2009

background on my pulitzer project
article written by dr. yusuf kalyango, professor of journalism at the e.w. scripps school of journalism, about my project, published on the blog of the institute for international journals at the e.w. scripps school of journalism at ohio university, june 2009