Laying of the foundation stone. Puesta de la primera piedra

Today, 25th of August 2014, we have laid the foundation stone of our project. Here you have the introductory words given by the Brother Director of the Project:

His Excellency Bishop Bejoy D’Cruz,

Father Dominic Sarkar, pastor of Sreemongol Parish, 

Mr. Tapan and Brother Robi, representatives of the construction company,

Dear Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, and Friends 

In the name of the Marist Brothers I welcome you to the bhikti stapon of our future school and hostels in Gyasnogor. Thank you very much for your presence here today which is very meaningful for us. 

First of all I want to give thanks to the persons and institutions that have helped us to reach today’s ceremony: 

1.     In the first place Bishop Bejoy and the Diocese of Sylhet for finding this beautiful piece of land and giving us official and legal coverage to buy and develop it 

2.     Thanks to Fr. Dominic Sarkar and the Parish of Sreemongol for the continual support he is giving us whenever we need something 

3.     Thanks to the Marist Brothers worldwide, especially those in East Asia, Brazil and Spain for helping us to buy the land 

4.     Thanks to the NGOs and agencies that provided funds to start the construction works: Manos Unidas, Solidarity Education Development, Marist Solidarity Australia, FMSI and Aid to the Church in Need.
  

Now that we are starting the works is a good occasion for a declaration of intentions: What we are going to build here is a High School and hostels whose targets are the Tea garden workers’ Children, and the tribal communities. Of course, we will open the school to Muslim and Hindu students, but our main objective is to have 50% of our students from the most needed communities.
1.     In our understanding a school is not something closed in itself: so, we will continue to support and collaborate in the Sreemongol parish program in the many primary schools scattered in the tea gardens.
2.     We will offer our buildings, our personnel and our skills to improve the formation of the teachers at primary and secondary level.
3.     And finally, we intend to develop in our school, in the Diocese and in the Church of Bangladesh awareness on the Children’s Rights, setting up a Child Protection Policy and organizing seminars on this topic.
  

Dear friends, we believe in miracles because so far we have witnessed a certain number of them in the process of developing this project: someone decided to give us a part of his family heritage, a woman gave us a big amount while she was very sick at the hospital thinking of doing something good before dying, others have written books, organized music festivals, and so on… everything for the sake of the tea garden children. We have seen miracles so far, and I am sure God and our Good Mother will continue to help this project. Under their protection we put the starting of the works today.

Start point! Casilla de partida!

Today we have signed the contract to start building the Hostel for Girls. Great day!!! We also demarcated the place where the building will be located. 
We still lack funds for the School building, but God will help us!

Hoy hemos firmado el contrato para empezar las obras del Internado para chicas. Un gran dia. Tambien hemos demarcado la situacion de los cimientos.
Aun no tenemos el dinero suficiente para construir la escuela, pero Dios nos va a seguir ayudando.

With the contractor

Demarcating the foundations area

Our location. Nuestro terreno

Ver mapa más grande

The place where we are going to build our High School and Hostels
El lugar exacto donde vamos a construir nuestra escuela e internados

How can we not believe in miracles if we see them every day? ¿Cómo no vamos a creer en los milagros si los vemos todos los días?

Today one of our small dreams -- which was at the same time a need -- has become a reality. It was to have a vehicle to visit the tea plantations villages. The communities we serve are scattered over an area of 100 km in length by 60 km wide around Sreemongol. We had asked for help to buy the motorized tricycle that you see in the photos; in Bangladesh they are called CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and are normally the vehicles humble people use as taxis to move around. We didn't want a spectacular off-road, but something simple and cheap not getting us too far away from the reality of the poor people we serve. Well, it happened that someone has sent us the money needed for it. How can we not believe in miracles if we see them every day? Thanks to God and thanks to their emissaries, who on this occasion have been Emilio, Merche and Mary, our special angels. Curiously, on our way back home in our brand new CNG people were surprised to see a couple of foreigners driving such a humble vehicle, and more than one has taken pictures from us...

Hoy hemos hecho realidad uno de nuestros pequeños sueños, que era al mismo tiempo una necesidad. Se trataba de tener un vehículo con el que poder visitar los poblados de las plantaciones de té. Las comunidades a las que intentamos servir están diseminadas en un área de 100 km de largo por 60 km de ancho en la zona alrededor de Srimongol. Habíamos solicitado ayuda para comprar el triciclo motorizado que ves en las fotos; en Bangladesh se les llama CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) y son los vehículos en los que la gente humilde se desplaza normalmente utilizándolos como taxis. No queríamos comprar un todoterreno espectacular, sino algo sencillo y barato que no nos alejara de la realidad de la gente pobre a la que servimos. Pues bien, hete aquí que alguien nos ha enviado el dinero necesario. ¿Cómo no vamos a creer en los milagros si los vemos todos los días? Gracias a Dios, y gracias a sus emisarios, que en esta ocasión han sido Emilio, Merche y Mary, nuestros ángeles particulares. Por cierto que en el camino de vuelta a casa montados en nuestro flamante CNG la gente se sorprendía al ver a unos extranjeros conduciendo tan humilde vehículo, y más de uno nos ha hecho fotos.

We wish it could be very soon. Ojalá pueda ser muy pronto

I took these pictures this morning in Gyasnogor, right next to the plot where we will build (soon if God wills) our school. And I post them here so you can see the environment in which we are going to be. Br. César and I, after visiting the site and discuss "serious stuff" about the imminent commencement of the works, we have had a good time with these kids, watching them play, having fun, chatting with them, laughing with them. It has been a wonderful moment. They are kids from very humble families whose parents, brothers or sisters work in the neighboring tea plantation; children growing up without any kind of comfort at home, with huge economic, social and educational shortcomings. But kids who know how to live and have fun together, able to enjoy the simple and natural things of life. This boy playing marbles with his friends is an icon of the childhood to whom we intend to dedicate our efforts in Bangladesh. I wish it could be very soon, with the help of God and many people of goodwill who are helping us.

He tomado estas fotos esta mañana en Gyasnogor, justo al lado de la parcela donde construiremos (pronto si Dios quiere) nuestra escuela. Y las pongo aquí para que veas el entorno en el que vamos a estar. El H. César y un servidor, después de visitar el terreno y discutir sobre “cosas serias” acerca del inminente comienzo de las obras, nos hemos pasado un buen rato con estos muchachos, viéndoles jugar, divirtiéndonos de lo lindo, charlando con ellos, riendo con ellos; ha sido una gozada. Son chicos de familias muy humildes cuyos padres o hermanos trabajan en la plantación de té vecina. Chicos que crecen sin ningún tipo de comodidad en casa, con enormes carencias económicas, sociales y educativas. Pero chicos que saben vivir y divertirse juntos, que le sacan partido a las cosas sencillas y naturales de la vida. Este niño jugando a las canicas con sus amigos es un icono de la niñez a la que queremos dedicar nuestros esfuerzos en Bangladesh. Ojalá pueda ser muy pronto, con la ayuda de Dios y de muchas personas de buena voluntad que nos están ayudando.

Message in a bottle. Mensaje en una botella

The British girl in the photo went to a famous store to buy a summer dress. Once at home, to her great surprise, she discovered that there was a special tag sewn next to those with the size, washing instructions, etc. On the label there was a message: "forced to work exhausting hours” (see article here). It was the message in a bottle which a castaway had launched into the ocean of the global trade. That dress could perfectly come from Bangladesh, and similar messages could also be found in the tea bags from Sreemongol, where I live and work for the tea laborers. The girl has discovered that her dress costs much more than 12.5 Euros; it costs the suffering and exploitation of thousands of unknown persons in unknown places. May God forgive us and give us the strength to change things.

La chica británica de la foto se fue a una tienda de ropa a comprarse un vestido estampado de verano. Cual no fue su sorpresa cuando, ya en casa, descubrió que había una etiqueta especial cosida al lado de las otras donde pone la talla, las instrucciones de lavado, etc. En dicha etiqueta había un mensaje: “Obligados a trabajar horas agotadoras" (ver artículo aquí). Era el mensaje en una botella que un náufrago había lanzado al océano del comercio global. El vestido podría perfectamente venir de Bangladesh, y mensajes parecidos podrían también ser encontrados en las bolsitas de té provenientes de Srimongol, donde vivo y trabajo para los obreros que recogen y elaboran el té. La chica ha descubierto que su vestido cuesta bastante más de 12,5 euros; cuesta el sufrimiento y la explotación de miles de personas desconocidas en lugares desconocidos. Que Dios nos perdone y que nos dé la fuerza para cambiar las cosas.

Wicked human rights infringement in Nihar, Bangladesh. Inicuo atropello a los derechos humanos en Nihar, Bangladesh

Nihar I Punji

by Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI

In the Sreemangal tea plantations area under the District of Moulvibazar, there are two groups of populations. On the one hand the tea gardens workers, and on the other hand the Khasi Tribal people, who live in villages (punjis) enclaves in the tea plantations where they primarily cultivate betel leaves (a stimulant much appreciated in the entire Indian subcontinent). The first group lives in slave-like conditions, with very low wages maximum Tk. 68 per day (65 cents of euro), without the rights to own land or home, without the right to Labor Unions representation. The second group, the Khasi, has been living here for generations but do not have documents to prove it, and are at the mercy of the predatory tea companies, which constantly threaten to expel them from the land of their ancestors.

That is exactly what happened on May 30^th in the Nahar-1 Khasi punji. Mr. Pijush Kanti Bhattacherya, the manager of the Nihar Tea Estate company (Abul Khayer Group of Industries), taking advantage that the Khasi men were out working in the fields, invaded the village in which there were only women and children, trying to evict them by force. The most infamous was that they mobilized for that their workers from nearby tea plantations, that is, they mobilized poor against poor. But no one expected that women and children were to stand up and defend themselves; there was fighting, violence, and some ten people were injured from both sides including four Khasi ladies, with such bad luck that one of the invaders died at the hospital three days later.

As a result, for several days Nihar Punji has been besieged by the police and the tea workers; no one could enter or leave, putting at risk the lives of children and elderly. Now violence seems to calm down, but the company Abul Khayer Group of Industries is trying to take advantage of the death (totally unwanted) of one of its workers to, once and for all, expel the Khasis and take possession of the village to enlarge the surface destined to the production of tea.

The Khasis are also reacting, supported by some organizations for the defense of Human Rights such as Transparency International Bangladesh, some local Indigenous Organizations, the Catholic Diocese of Sylhet and some Religious Congregations (Holy Cross, Oblates and Marist Brothers).

In this situation both the parties have filed cases against each other in Sreemangal Police station. Most of the Khasi men are in fear and out of the village in order to avoid arrest by police. Police from Sreemangal are going to the Khasi village practically every day and threatening by saying “if we do not find men in the village we will arrest women”. The Khasi women are very courageous and saying to the police in reply that “if you arrest us and put us into the custody take our children too along with us”.

We expect the traditional Right to own the land of their ancestors to be recognized.  Hopefully the tea companies will moderate their greed. Hopefully the managers will stop using their poor semi-slaves workers to invade the land of Khasis.  We hope the Government of Bangladesh will be sensitive to the existence of Indigenous peoples governed by a traditional ancestral law even without papers or written documents proving it. And we wish peace and harmony based on the respect for the human beings.

En la zona de las plantaciones de té de Srimongol, hay dos tipos de poblaciones. Por un lado los trabajadores del té, y por otra las gentes de la tribu Kashi, que viven en poblados (punjis) enclavados en las plantaciones y subsisten cultivando las hojas de betel (un estimulante muy apreciado en todo el subcontinente indio). El primer grupo vive en condiciones de semi-esclavitud, con salarios bajísimos, sin derecho a poseer tierra ni casa, sin derecho a representación sindical. El segundo grupo, los Kashi, han estado viviendo en este lugar por generaciones pero no poseen papeles que lo acrediten, por lo cual están a la merced de las depredadoras compañías de té, que constantemente les amenazan con expulsarles de la tierra de sus ancestros.

Esto es exactamente lo que ha pasado el pasado día 30 de mayo en el punji de Nihar. El capataz de la compañía Abul Khayer Group of Industries, aprovechando que los varones estaban fuera trabajando en los campos, invadió el poblado en el que sólo había mujeres y niños tratando de desalojarles por la fuerza. Lo más infame fue que para ello movilizaron a los propios trabajadores de las plantaciones de té vecinas, es decir movilizaron a pobres contra pobres. Pero nadie contaba con que las mujeres y los niños les iban a plantar cara; hubo lucha, violencia, y unas diez personas resultaron heridas por ambos bandos, con tal mala suerte que uno de los invasores resultó muerto después de tres días en el hospital.

A resultas de todo esto, durante varios días Nihar Punji ha estado sitiado por la policía y los trabajadores del té; nadie podía entrar ni salir, poniendo en peligro la subsistencia de niños y ancianos. La situación de violencia parece haber remitido, pero la compañía Abul Khayer está intentando sacar partido de la muerte (por nadie querida ni buscada) de uno de sus trabajadores para, de una vez por todas, expulsar a los Kashi y tomar posesión del poblado para agrandar aun más la superficie destinada a la producción de té.

Los Kashi también están reaccionando, con el apoyo de algunas organizaciones de defensa de los derechos humanos como Transparencia Internacional, algunas organizaciones indígenas locales, la diócesis católica de Sylhet y algunas congregaciones religiosas (Holy Cross, Oblatos de María Inmaculada y Hermanos Maristas).

Ambas partes han presentado cargos ante los tribunales. La mayoria de los hombres Khasi estan escondidos en la maleza por miedo a ser arrestados por la policia, que cada dia visita el punji con la amenaza de "arrestar a las mujeres si no encuentran a los hombres". Las mujeres, que son bastante valientes, les responden que "si nos arrestais a nosotroas tendreis que llevar tambien a nuestros hijos a la carcel".

 Ojalá que el derecho tradicional a poseer la tierra de sus ancestros sea reconocido. Ojalá que las compañías del té moderen su avidez por despojarles de sus tierras. Ojalá que los capataces dejen de utilizar a sus pobres semi-esclavos trabajadores para invadir la tierra de los Kashis. Ojalá el Gobierno de Bangladesh se muestre sensible a la existencia de personas que se rigen por un derecho tradicional ancestral aunque no tengan papeles o documentos escritos que lo acrediten. Y que reine la paz y la concordia basada en el respeto a la persona humana.