You laugh because you have to

Sharna Bremner
Outreach Blogger
9 June 2010

Today was a momentous day. After much planning, some lengthy discussions and some minor hiccups, the ActionAid Bangladesh blog went live.

It might not seem that exciting to any of you, but for us and the ActionAid staff, it was roughly the equivalent of Australia winning the World Cup. Or for the Bangladeshi’s, it was the equivalent of Brazil or Argentina winning the Cup.

Not only does ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) now have an amazing blog where you can follow projects such as one of the Happy Home’s or the innovative Community Journalist Group’s, but they also have a Twitter account. Yep, the gang at AAB will now be tweeting, blogging and taking over the world, one social media outlet at a time.

I won’t go into the nitty gritty of our daily training session because, let’s face it, most people aren’t that interested in widgets and plugins. And I won’t prattle on about the work AAB does (even though I think it’s fantastic) because now they can tell you themselves. Instead, I thought I’d share some of my observations about Dhaka so far:

• Road rules here are strictly a suggestion. There’s no need to break, indicate or give way. You just honk your horn continuously, or if you’re a rickshaw wallah, you ring your bell and hope for the best.
• Being a pedestrian can be risky business (see above point).
• If I were to be here for an extended period of time, I would have to find a way to get myself on the next season of The Biggest Loser Asia. The food is exceptionally good. I just keep eating. Even if I’m so full I think I could throw up, I’ll still cram just a little more pakura or dal in.
  
• Eating with your hands is an art. Despite everything we in Australia are told, it is entirely possible to use your hands instead of cutlery. Well, not for me. I’m clumsy, completely uncoordinated and being left-handed makes it next to impossible to eat with your right hand.
• I will never be pretty in Bangladesh. The heat, the dirt and the wind have ensured that any hotness quotient I may have possessed is long gone. The Bangladeshi women on the other hand, will always look fresh and unflustered by the humidity.
• Something is always funny. Well, at least for Joel and I. We’re surrounded by poverty, beggars and sad scenes every day but we still find something to laugh at. Now, before you judge us and think we’re terrible malevolent people, we’re not laughing at the misfortune of others. Instead, we find little pleasures to share a giggle over such as a room attendant who lingers a little too long, or an ever-so-helpful police officer who looks like Bangladesh’s answer to Mr. Bean holding an 1800’s-style musket.

Laughing or even a simple smile is sometimes sorely underrated in our society. We can always find something to complain about, something that has upset us, made us mad or stresses us out. But here, people smile. A lot. Even those who have nothing have given us the biggest smiles they can muster. The kids often look like their faces might explode because they’re smiling or laughing so hard.

In a place like Dhaka, where pain and sadness is ubiquitous, we laugh because we have to. And because the alternative is just not an option.

Learn more about ActionAid and Project TOTO:

• ActionAid Australia website
• ActionAid Australia on Twitter
• ActionAid Bangladesh Blog
• ActionAid Bangladesh on Twitter
• Joel Katz profile
• Sharna Bremner profile