Bangladeshi Traffic

Ever since I was a child, I have loved to travel even if it was only to visit relatives in a neighboring city. My favorite part is all the different modes of transportation we use to get around.　In countries like the U.S. and Japan I think that our perception of space and distance can be distorted by the ease by which we travel. We start to think of ourselves as being transported to a different place rather than physically going from one place to another. On our journey to Bangladesh we were forced to actively participate in getting ourselves from one place to another whether by running to catch our bus or bargaining with a rickshaw driver. In this way, we used all of our senses to experience another lifestyle and way of ‘being’.

Active Participation: From the moment we stepped off the airplane we could see, smell, hear, taste, and feel that this was a place drastically different than the ones we’d come from. Our participation in this journey continued on into all of our daily activities like eating using our hands, taking cold bucket baths, washing our clothing by hand, or cooking a meal using fresh ingredients. These activities reminded me the importance of making time to take care of myself. In Japan or the U.S. there are machines that do all of these things for me and free my mind to do ‘more important things’. But these ‘more important things’ are what distract me from seeing what is going on around me and who is there.

Language: Communication was often a stumbling block when most of our group spoke only Japanese and most of the people in Bangladesh only speak Bengali and the language of their village. Some of the young people we met at L’Arche did not speak at all. I learned from Naomi when I stayed at Pushpo Nir that young Bengali women are not different than Japanese women in that they are shy and often speak amongst themselves. Japanese and Bengali share a common unspoken dialect even with all the differences in culture and language. The same is true for the core members of L’Arche. They are human just like us in that they need to eat and bathe and be loved even when they are trapped inside their own minds unable to communicate.

Hospitality: While we were in Bangladesh we could not go anywhere without help and almost everyone was willing to help us (even if they didn’t know the way). Our 10 days in Mymensingh would have been infinitely harder if we had not had the guidance and hospitality of the Taize brothers and the‘Taize boys’ or Naomi and Ayako. They were constantly checking on our health and well-being. I will always remember the way that Ayako described life in Japan as being very stressful because a person could go from their homes to Narita airport all by themselves without talking to anyone or asking for help. I know that this was difficult for some of the members of our group because we are used to doing things for ourselves but perhaps this is because we are not yet acclimated to this form of extravagant hospitality. We learn if we can trust those around us that perhaps we can make a new friend along the way.

I was touched by the stories of everyone we met in Bangladesh. And I was inspired by how all the various projects have come out of the work that the Taize brothers began about 20 years ago. I’m sure we were only able to see a small bit of it but I’m excited to see what will happen in the future.

As my life continues on after Bangladesh one story always stands out in my mind from our conversation with Brother Joseph. He compared life to riding a bicycle in Bangladeshi traffic. If you hesitate or look back for even a moment you could be crushed between two buses or hit by the rickshaw behind you.

After returning from Bangladesh, my life has definitely felt like a long-distance bicycle race in Bangladeshi traffic. It is comforting to imagine travelling through life this way when I remember all the different modes of transportation we used to navigate these hazardous roads; both actively participating in our journey and accepting the guidance and wisdom of our hosts.

What an amazing journey both physically and spiritually. Thank you to everyone who was there to experience it with me, both seen and unseen.