Visiting Bangladesh

I was a bit intimidated to go, mainly because of the poverty of the country & the sadness of many artisan's stories. Would I feel desolate and sad? Would I feel hot shame for my wealth and lifestyle?

Well, there were certainly sad stories, for sure. There is injustice that I can't reckon with. But, there is hope. There is goodness. There is so much goodness in Basha's work: literacy & schooling for the illiterate; work that is reliable and devoid of chaos; love and acceptance.

Overwhelmingly, there was humanity (and I don't just mean the masses of tens of thousands of people I saw on some days in the world's most densely populated city). I had previously worried — who am I? I have experienced nothing... I haven't needed a tiny fraction of the resilience you have lived...

But, in reality, we were all just people. Women. Not defined by our stories or backgrounds, but enjoying each other, face-to-face. The time I spent was a redemptive gift for me.

One of the challenges is to take these explosions of color and match two saris to feature as the outer layers of a kantha blanket. This was one of the aspects of production that I wanted to participate in while visiting.

There are different considerations for mini kantha, large throws, Christmas blankets, and specific client requests. 

We began with a tall stack of laundered, folded single saris — sorting them (as best as we could) by color. As you can see, it's more of a broad science  than an exact one! By the middle of the process, there was a huge mess of patterns & color.

•  Eating curries, biryani, samosas and more — all by hand (right hand only!) Everyone took care of me so well and always worried that I was hungry!

•  Many different methods of transit: bus, car, CNG, rickshaw, plane, electric rickshaw ("auto"), and plenty of traffic :)

•  Sourcing repurposed saris to use for our blankets, in Old Dhaka

•  Seeing the indigo dye process in person (incredible!)

•  Staying at the Friends of Basha hostel, where four artisans & trainees live as they transition into independent, safe, living

•  Sitting in on Basha's daily training & devotions, including an English class!

•  Shopping for other textiles and spa pampering

•  Visiting the brothel in Jeshore as well as the Salvation Army office that works across the street and in the brothel

•  Many smiles, laughs, walks, ideas, some tears, and much gratitude & humility!

•  Visit the links above to see my day-by-day reporting on my experience in Bangladesh, on Instagram.

•  Read about brothels in Bangladesh and the link between child marriage and trafficking 

•  Donate towards literacy, daycare support, safe transitional housing for repatriated trafficking victims (Basha staff)) and more with Friends of Basha.

•  Shop dignify! This is the best, long-term, sustainable way to support the success of our business partner, Basha, and the extraordinary work that they do in Bangladesh.