The WaterLog

In the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, it can be difficult for the casual observer to perceive the profound effect a water point and a sanitary toilet have on the lives of our beneficiaries. We haven’t experienced a long wait in line at an illegal water point. We haven’t had to pay a substantial proportion of our income for that water. We haven’t had to bathe ourselves and our kids in water drawn directly from the filthy waterways that contain the industrial and human waste from a city of 14 million people. So the simple toilets and water points that they receive may underwhelm a visitor.

But the Water 1st projects didn’t escape the attention of Akbor Hossain, our translator on our most recent visit. Akbor is young, friendly, handsome, energetic. His English is very good. His smile is infectious. I was eager to get to know this person who was replacing our previous trusted guide, Moshir. My initial assessment was that he came from one of the better-off families of Bangladesh. How else would he have the advantages needed to get a good education and land a job with a tour operator?

Early on in the visit, while some of the group was engaged in the inevitable office discussions with our local partner organization, Chris Brown, our photo/video person, asked Akbor to take him to a nearby slum area to get some footage of conditions, hopefully to capture some images of people bathing in open waterways or lining up to buy water from a black market vendor. Akbor, with his customary enthusiasm and endearing smile, said he knew of one very close by. With Akbor’s help, Chris got some of the best footage he’s ever gotten. Near the end of their quick visit to a Dhaka slum, Akbor asked Chris to come meet his wife, child, and mother, who lived in that slum! Suddenly our impression of Akbor changed completely. This individual I had assumed was the product of privilege was a success story of the slums. He understood the struggles and living conditions of the people we are serving.

So his comments to us on the final day made a real impression on me. As we were winding up our last day, Akbor became a little quiet and reserved. I usually start to feel sad about saying goodbye to our translator at that point in every journey myself, so I wondered if he was feeling the same way. Finally, he started to speak and his voice carried a different tone than it had the entire trip. Something between sadness and hope. “Do you think Water 1st could do a water project in my family’s slum?” he asked. Akbor knows firsthand what slum life is like. For one week, he traveled with us and saw the work of Water 1st International through our local partner organization. What he saw was clearly something he wanted for his own community. I already felt good about all the work we had seen that week, but when Akbor said he would like to organize his community to do the same thing, I felt even better about it. I am a outsider who forms an impression about our work based on my observations. Akbor is an insider who lives the needs and challenges every day. His clear desire of a water and sanitation project is an incredible endorsement of our local partner organization’s work.

Thank you to all Water 1st supporters for making these life-changing projects possible. Keep up the good work. One of these days, we may be working in Akbor’s community. I can’t wait to see the size of his smile on that day.