BREAKING: Tremor Hits Dhaka, Bangladesh

Reporting from Dhaka - A moderate (5.6 on the Richter scale) earthquake recently hit Dhaka (the capital city of Bangladesh) a little more than 3 hours ago (at 12:52 am local time) as reported by The Daily Star. I...

YouTube With a Purpose - Helping Kids in Bangladesh

How about something a bit more substantive than "Leave Britney Alone!" and Diet Coke & Mentos videos? Many in the NowPublic community might already be aware of my project in Bangladesh - how I'm using YouTube to...

Changing the Conversation about Poverty

"Innocent children of war, famine, and disease - will you help them?" WELL THEN PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL RIGHT NOW! Operators are standing by! It only costs as much as a cup of coffee a day! Does this sound...

The Young Hardworking Poor of Rural Bangladesh

In rural Bangladesh, eight years old is old enough to start putting food on the table. That was the first, but not last, surprise in my recent trip to a rural village in Bangladesh called Madhupur. Madhupur is a...

"No Good Deed..." - The Trouble of Raising Awareness in Bangladesh

As soon as I saw the look on his face, I knew something was wrong. I was in a DHL shipping office in Dhaka City. Just outside was a dusty back-alley full of the pungent aroma that can only be caused by the mixture of open sewers and rotting garbage. Inside, however, was...

$130 Million Donated Anonymously to Bangladesh

As reported by the Associated Press, an anonymous donor has just made the single largest individual donation to Bangladesh totalling $130 million. Money was donated to the Islamic Development Bank to help rebuild after the damage caused by Cyclone Sidr.Details from the...

The Hard Lessons of Disaster Relief

When it came to Cyclone Sidr and disaster relief - I thought I knew it all. I knew I couldn't help them all. I knew the media would be coming. I knew the local population knew the area better than foreigners. I knew...

Bangladesh Rings In New Year With a Curfew

For many people around the world, New Year's eve means partying, celebrations, and bubbly. Not so for many residents of Dhaka City, the capital of Bangladesh. Many residents here were celebrating New Years under the auspices of a government-imposed curfew. As of 8 pm on New...

Bangladesh Beats Canada in Cellphone Service

Piotr Staniaszek was no doubt in shock after he received a cellphone bill totally nearly $85,000. This 22-year old oil field worker from Calgary had purchased a cellphone plan with Bell Mobility which included a $10...

Cyclone Sidr: Death Toll Now Exceeds That of Sept 11 Attacks

"We really got to make sure that we educate - not just the [local] people, but also ourselves," explained Nick Downie. Downie, a British national, had come as Operations Co-ordinator for an alliance of Save the...

Cyclone Sidr - Disaster Area - Day 2: Life at Basecamp and the Beginning of D...

Overwhelmed and burnt out - that’s all I can say about this. Everywhere I look I see destroyed homes and destroyed lives.I interview a girl today - she lost her mom to the storm. She spoke of it like I was asking...

Cyclone Sidr - Disaster Area

“Why are they waving at the car?” I naively asked the driver who was taking me to basecamp in Bagarat. “Their homes have been destroyed - they are asking us to stop and help,” the driver somberly replied. It...

Cyclone Sidr - Brings People Together to Help, Risks Becoming Old News

Reporting for The Uncultured Project and NowPublic.com from Bangladesh - on the road to a dissaster area caused by Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh..... “We need you here in an hour” said my contact at Muslim Aid - one...

Cyclone Sidr Recovery - The Search for Loved Ones Begins

[From Dhaka, 6:20 pm Local Time] For residents of Dhaka, the road to recovery is more than just bricks and mortar. It's also about rebuilding lives. The city of Dhaka's repair efforts have been impeccable. On the day...

In The Eye of the Storm - Cyclone Sidr, Bangladesh, and the Rich

The biggest impact of Cyclone Sidr may be that it has shaken up the local complacency towards the plight of the poor. Bangladesh, a small country in South Asia with large a population of over 150 million people, is...
 

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