Distribution Reports by:
Linda Webb Marlee Ritchie Doug Cunningham Iain Maciver Janet Wilson

By Linda Webb
Etobicoke, Ontario

Wiping his tears and smoothing his shiny black hair, a woman tries to calm her son and cajole him into sitting on the bucket to have his photo taken with the other children. You can sense her apprehension that if her child does not comply he might lose the gift of the bedkit displayed on the ground. Tarak, her son, is inconsolable and clings to his amma (mother). We convey to mother by sign-language and gentle words that it is alright to sit with Tarak on her lap. Her relief and gratitude are palpable. Another precious moment is etched in my memory.

Tarak and his mother

We had the opportunity to make this day memorable, not only for Tarak, but also for six-hundred-and-ninety-nine other children. I am intrigued to learn that about two hundred of this group were transported by river boat and bus to this distribution site from an island in the Padma River. (The Ganges River is known as the Padma in Bangladesh. The Padma meets with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal). Naorpara Island, according to the information I was able to garner from the chaperoning head-mistress, is about five by twelve kilometres and is home to 40,000 people, all without electricity or any other modern conveniences. The Naopara children grow up in circumstances of privation, with poor nutrition and sub-standard education. I am taken with their confidence, ready smiles and gentle manners, a sure sign that they grow up in a loving and peaceful environment. On returning to the guest house that night, I tried to find more information about this island on the internet. I was curious to know how 40,000 people survive on an island that is subject to the whims of the monsoons and spring melting in the Himalayas. I found nothing geographical or historical, but by the miracle of today’s technology, I was able to find a satellite image of the island.

This distribution is really the end result of many little miracles. Three weeks earlier at the Sleeping Children office, we were three thousand bedkits shy of the 7,000 needed for Bangladesh. Following the example of our founders, Margaret and Murray Dryden, we waited trustingly; and yes, several large donations and grants poured in and enabled us to reach our goal.

(Left to Right) Linda Webb, Doug Cunningham, Iain Maciver, Marlee Ritchie, Janet Wilson

So here we are after all, a team of five volunteers from different walks of life, in the vise-grip of Dhaka traffic, surrounded by the cacophony of horns and kamikaze drivers. Vehicles in full throttle swerve, change lanes and pass, completely oblivious to oncoming traffic. What is even more startling to me is the calm of our team members in the midst of this confusion.

One of my most beloved teachers, Sister Theresa, used to say, “God allows confusion. Confusion must be accepted if one is to attain peace of mind.” That seemed like an oxymoron to me till now. It seems our team has accepted the confusion, and I feel utterly at peace as we while away the hours chuckling at Iain’s wicked one-liners or listening to Marlee’s theories about butterflies (more in her report), or the gentle snores of nappers.

I am continually amazed at the teamwork that makes a successful distribution:

• the generosity of donors, some of whom have been contributing since Sleeping Children’s inception in 1970
• the faithful hours of work by the office volunteers and various committees
• the selflessness of travelling volunteers, who contribute time and money to this adventure. This trip, Doug, who had already been on a recent Sleeping Children trip, filled in with short notice as replacement
• the indefatigable overseas Rotary and Lions Club members, who are responsible for the arduous process of procuring, storing and transport-ing the bedkits, as well as for the selection of the children.

I believe we all love Sleeping Children because of its transparency and for the honest way we handle donations. While it is sometimes difficult to suppress the despair of not being able to do more, we are all driven by the same goal. We rejoice in our hearts as we imagine the tingle of joy each child feels as he or she opens the bedkit with the anticipation of a warm and cosy sleep.

By MARLEE RITCHIE
SASKATOON, SASK

My Personal Impressions ­ My first time as a Sleeping Children volunteer and my first Asian adventure! I was unprepared for the visual smorgasbord that greeted me ­ the sights, sounds and smells were almost more than I could comprehend. There were swarms of people rushing, rushing everywhere. The kaleidoscope of colours: the stark drabs of the corrugated tin buildings and mold-covered mud structures contrasting with the bright hues of traditional dress, blue and silver rickshaws decorated with multi-coloured Art Deco star flowers, bright baby taxis, and huge yellow delivery trucks topped crown-like platforms over the cabs and covered with painted designs and symbols. The smells of personal living: factory and vehicle pollution contrasting with the perfume of sandalwood, exotic rose-coloured water-lilies, mauve hyacinths and the bright-flowered vines. The sounds of the city: the Moslem call to prayer contrasting with the incessant beeping of the vehicles and the screaming epithets of the irate drivers. And, above all, water, water everywhere from murky greens, to heavy browns, and thronged with people knee-to-waist-deep diligently planting/tending the rice or casting fish nets.

The first day and the last day of the distributions proved the most difficult for me. The first sight of a long line of waiting children totally pulled at my heart strings, and it was only with the intervention of fellow team member, Iain, that I was able to get on with the program. Again, the last day on the roof top of a school/orphanage high above the inner city, situated on the same level with the “flyover” [highway overpass] that streamed the traffic over the city, I was tested. The final bedkit recipient sat upon his gift for a photo-op with Linda, looking totally bewildered until he finally comprehended that he was not just a recipient, but that he was someone special as number 7,000, not just a an orphan. The smile that broke his countenance was worth the long trip, the hours in the grueling sun, the long drives through nerve-wracking traffic and the many challenges facing a volunteer.

The sadness of it all is that there is a need in the world to minister to children in the first place; however the happiness is that Murray Dryden’s vision allowed another 7,000 children (and in many cases their entire families) to go to bed in comfort. What a vision!

• Happiness of the trip was having a team of like minded participants who laughed/joked and worked our way through the distributions developing a rapport that was second to none.
• Happiness was being taken into so many of the homes to see first-hand the culture, experience their hospitality, traditional foods and lifestyles.
• Happiness was always having a washroom materialize just when we desperately needed it, and only once needing to resort to Mother Nature.
• Happiness was the many butterflies that flitted around our distribution sites, and on two occasions, landed upon team members, the meaning of which we were told is that the recipient is to be soon married. If so, we can expect two separate Sleeping Children volunteer weddings in the future!
• Happiness is the hard work done by the Rotarians, the Lions and the helpers, many of whom are now new friends, all of which eased our work tremendously.

The trip was truly blessed, and I thank Sleeping Children for the opportunity to serve in Bangladesh.

By DOUG CUNNINGHAM
COBOURG, ONTARIO

Well we are back at home from Bangladesh. This was my third trip to that mystifying country. It seems that to travel to, from, and in Bangladesh can never be relaxing. Our first of many trying incidents occurred on our flight there. We were scheduled to fly to Heathrow Airport in London via Air Canada, and from Heathrow we were to go the rest of the trip via Emirates Air through Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and then on to Dhaka in Bangladesh. Our first flight mix-up started at Heathrow, London, because our departure, for some reason was held up for one-and-a-half-hours, which then caused a chain reaction.

The 2005 Bangladesh distribution was a notable event in Sleeping Children history — the first distribution to take advantage of digital photography. This change considerably lowers the cost to Sleeping Children of providing photos to our donors and is due to generous donations from two families: the Zentil family and the Graham family, in memory of Ann Graham.

When we arrived at Dubai, late, our connecting flight had left on time, so we missed it. The only way we could get to Dhaka that day was to transfer to a flight going by Bangladesh Air. We had to keep in mind that we had people waiting to pick us up in Dhaka, who we were unable to contact. When we didn’t arrive on the expected flight, sure enough they worried and tried to contact someone in Canada to be sure we were actually coming.

The plane we had the pleasure of riding in from Bangladesh Air was right out of the archives. The air conditioning did not work so we had to keep the shades drawn. The toilets could not be used by the sit-down gender, what a mess. I later read in a Bangladesh paper that the airline had applied to the government for assistance to replace all 13 of their planes.

Then, when we went to collect our luggage, unfortunately Linda’s was missing. Trying to find the missing luggage, and then completing the required paper work, made us even later getting to the point where our hosts were waiting. I had one Rotarian tell me he had been waiting eight hours! Incidentally Linda did get her luggage two days later.

Our return flight was to be no better than our out-going one. Linda, Marlee, and I started out together. Linda was stopping off at London to visit her son in Bristol. The trip from Dhaka to Dubai went well, but that was to be the only part that went as planned. We were one hour late leaving Dubai for London. We had one-and-a-half-hours scheduled to make our connection at London with Air Canada. The pilot made up the hour and we landed on time. Guess what? We were held up on the tarmac for over 20 minutes while they found a place for us to park. Marlee and I sat three seats from the back of the plane. You guessed it, we missed our connection to Toronto. Marlee had another connection to make in Toronto to Saskatoon, so it was important for us to keep moving. There was another flight leaving for Toronto in an hour. Because we were at the back of the line, we were placed numbers 29 and 30 on a stand-by list. Needless to say we were too far down the list for that flight. Our next choice was to go on stand-by for a flight to Ottawa with a further connection to Toronto. We took it.

Our original flight would have got us to Toronto about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, and I had planned to catch a bus back to Cobourg. However, it was 10-ish when we arrived, so I missed the bus. I ended up renting a car and drove into my driveway in Cobourg at 1:00 a.m. Monday.

Do you think all this has discouraged me from going again? Not as long as I am still able! What I do remember about the trip is the fun of trying to get smiles from 10 children* in group photos as we tried to coax a response by saying, “hasho” (smile). While handing out the bedkits, I remember the grateful smiles and the light in the children’s eyes as we placed the bundles on their heads (if they were big enough to handle them). In most cases you would get a smile, a beautiful smile and a “thank you, sir”. That was the thrill. So I pass that smile on to you and I “thank you, sir or madam.”

[*Editors’ Note - While children are always traditionally photographed in threes, when there is a large corporate gift, or large endowment, children are then photographed in groups of 10.]

By IAIN MACIVER
BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO

How is a Bangladeshi child selected to receive a bedkit?

Sleeping Children’s two overseas partners in Bangladesh are the Rotary and Lions service clubs. Sleeping Children provides the guidelines of age, gender and relationship.

The common denominator is the birth village of the service club member in charge. Bangladeshis are very loyal and proud of their villages and will do whatever they can to help those they have left behind when they ‘migrated’ to Dhaka. Most have what is referred to as a ‘country home’ in the village, which keeps them connected. The general route is for that person to contact the local school authorities, either through the local elder, the school administration, or local head mistresses/masters. The various teachers who handle 6-12 year olds do the selection and pass the names back up the chain of command. Everyone wants to participate with Sleeping Children.

Prior to the actual distribution and the arrival of the Sleeping Children team, considerable effort is expended in creating the actual bedkit. Each bedkit must contain $30 worth of material. The Club in turn will put out a number of contracts to suppliers for the various components making up the bedkit. The club manages the funds sent over by Sleeping Children ­ because if anything goes wrong they are liable. Rotary even goes so far as to put non-performance clauses in their contracts ­ and this worked for them this year ­ one supplier had a 10% penalty imposed.Once completed, the parts are assembled by another group, with the bedkits finally being delivered to a secure spot at the distribution site a few days before the actual distribution. This is an enormous effort on the partners’ side which sometimes goes unrecognized. Sleeping Children is very grateful to have such dedicated partners.

On the day of the distribution the kids will be taken to a central location. The service club members usually cover the cost of this as it cannot come out of the bedkit dollars. The children are then divided by gender, and sent to changing rooms. The girls are all pre-puberty which makes things somewhat easier as the dress code is not yet enforced ­ the burka, etc. Men can speak to them, they can hold their hands to take them somewhere and so on. The boys are treated the same way. In the changing room, each child is fitted-out in a top and bottom from one of three sizes (already known so that the bedkits are ordered properly). When ready the group assembles in two lines outside and near the photo-shoot site. If it is a threesome we alternate, two boys one girl and then two girls one boy. Group photos are the same ­ five of each. All photos have a mix of girls and boys.

There are some minor variations to this process. Regardless, at the end of it, a child receives a Sleeping Children bedkit and another joint venture comes to a successful conclusion.

By JANET WILSON
Renfrew, ONTARIO

Bangladesh ­ A country struggling for its place in the 21th century.

Bangladesh’s history is very complex and has experienced many different rulers. In recent times (1857 to 1947), the Indian subcontinent was under British rule. In

1947, two countries emerged: namely India and East and West Pakistan. Religious and political conflicts resulted in bloody battles between East and West Pakistan. Eventually in 1971, the nation of Bangladesh was born replacing East Pakistan. This young country is surrounded by India to the west, north and east, Myanmar to the southeast and the Bay of Bengal to the south.

Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world with a population of about 140-million in an area the size of Newfoundland excluding Labrador. Urbanization becomes a huge problem as job-seekers head to the largest cities

(Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna) to find employment.

The textile industry is the most rapidly growing industry in Dhaka with cheap labour being the drawing card. Many modern factories are springing up producing name brand items, (White Stag, Cherokee) available for purchase in Canada. The which are available for purchase in Canada. The minimum age for workers is 14. The factory that we visited complied with this law.

In Dhaka, each morning one sees millions of workers walking to work in the textile industry for their 10-hour workday, where they will be earning about 100 Taka ($2.00 Canadian) daily. The result has been a drain on the city to provide adequate services for these workers and slums are a frequent sight. The traffic is a nightmare.

The other industries supporting Bangladesh’s economy include rice, jute manufacturing, food processing, tea, fertilizer, wheat, sugar cane, potatoes, beef and poultry. Although tourism has not yet been developed, the potential exists.

The fact that Bangladesh is 88% Sunni Muslim permeates the flavour of the country. First, the work week is from Saturday to Thursday, leaving Friday for prayer. Secondly, activities come to a halt five times a day for prayers. After performing the cleaning rituals, the men kneel on a mat facing west and pray to Mecca. Women are expected to pray at home in private. However, some mosques have a designated area for women to pray.

The dress of women reflects the Islamic religion. The burka is designed to prevent the beauty of women from tempting men. In recent times, the wealthier and more educated families have become more progressive in thought and dress.

In addition, the hand used for eating must only be the right hand. In homes in Bangladesh, the people are very talented with their right hand and managed to eat successfully without cutlery.

Finally, the relationship between women and men outside the family is very formal. You never see a man and woman even holding hands yet it is a common sight to see men holding hands and less frequently women holding hands.

The climate is subtropical and tropical. The terrain is very flat and dominated by strands of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra and Jamuna Rivers. As these are delta areas, they are prone to floods and tidal waves. As 75% of the land is covered in water during the monsoon season, roads and houses must be elevated. Houses and businesses are frequently on stilts. Roads must be raised four meters and cross the rivers many times. Construction of roads is not an easy job in a country with no gravel. To acquire building materials, people will often be seen using a hammer to break bricks into small pieces. In addition, rocks and stones are obtained from dredging the rivers.

The people in Dhaka are very loyal to their village roots. There is a strong connection to the “ancestral village” to which they return on weekends and holidays. Village life is simple and relatively free of slums and industrial wastelands. Although the people have fewer material items than the city folks do, the quality of life appears to be better. The pollution is lower, they have space to grow a few crops, they have a larger place to live, crime is lower, and if you drop dead a friend or family member will claim your body. (In Dhaka, many of the people who die each day on the streets have no one to claim or pick up their bodies.)

In Bangladesh, the extended family forms the basis of social and economic life although there is some shifting toward a nuclear family. The head of the household (male) assumes responsibility for providing for parents, children, and other relatives, making decisions and arranging for marriages. The extended family usually occupies one house or compound. When a son marries, his wife is brought to the family home and assumes the duties outlined by her mother-in-law.

The people of Bangladesh are very special. They are kind, generous, informed about their country and the world and determined to improve the well-being of all citizens in their country. Rich and poor alike greeted us with warm hearts and large smiles. I am especially happy to report to you, the donor, that your gift was most appreciated, not only by the child, but also by the entire family.