UP: Looking and Dressing

This past weekend was the Opening Symposium for the Asian University for Women (AUW). What a weekend.

It began in Chittagong on Wednesday with some visitors (aka donors to impress) and a really nice dinner--including WINE-- outside at the future AUW site. The next day, we piled onto the $2 train (with 129 students in tow) to Dhaka. What a hot, loud, dusty adventure. On Friday, there were several interesting discussions on woman's rights, and about the university in general. Saturday was the most important of all. Fakhruddin Ahmed, the head of the caretaker government, or basically the acting Prime Minister of Bangladesh, spoke to us, as did Mohammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Some pictures from Wednesday night, in Chittagong, at the future site of the university:

A group of teachers before the Wednesday night dinner.

Set-up chaos:

Security Personnel. I especially liked the female security uniform-- the Security Sharee

This event really came at a perfect time for me. Certain aspects of life at the Access Academy are sometimes quite frustrating, but last weekend reminded me of how incredibly amazing this project is-- check this out, if you haven't already. Its potential is enormous! The school, like any educational institution, is an investment in the future, and I can't wait to see what this place will become in 20 or 30 years. The weekend reminded me why I'm here (for the students). Meeting all the incredible people that support this project renewed my faith in the organization and hearing all the talks reminded me of the importance of woman's education in this part of the world. Its official, I'm an AUW disciple.

Here's a few pictures from the weekend. I wore a sharee for the first time. It was a little stressful! The sharee is basically just a long, long strip of fabric. You tie a petticoat around your waist, wrap the fabric around your body and tuck it in to the waist of the petticoat. Simple enough. Then fold it over, make several pleats, wrap it around your torso and up over your shoulder. Not so easy. The first day, I had a few students dress me. The second day, I put it on by myself, as well as I (plus a bunch of safety pins) could. The sharee made me incredibly conscious of my posture. Slouch, and it looks like I'm wrapped in a towel!

Sharee shopping:

Assembly Required:

with two students, at the events:

After all the hoopla, LauraBeth and I decided to stay in Dhaka for an extra day. We were exhausted, so we didn't get to do too much exploring, but I was fun nonetheless. Although, when people describe Dhaka as the crowded land of traffic jams, they aren't joking.

We took the night bus back to Chittagong. The buses are really, really nice and comfy. I couldn't resist taking this picture of the bus station, with all its dramatic portraits of buses racing through . . . the snow?!
More Nepal pictures are coming, I promise! It just takes forever to load them onto this page . . .