Guru Geri in Bangladesh

I was in Bangladesh for the first time in 2001. Raisul from the Agricultural University BAU had invited me to Mymensingh in the north of the country. I was there for two weeks, gave a few lectures, got to know the poverty but also the dignity and friendliness of the country under the conditions of the monsoon. Have made a trip north to Rangpur to the Indian border. Very beautiful country, little touristic and therefore very special. The second and third time I was in Bangladesh in 2005, this time with Klaudia. I had a bilateral research project with Raisul for two years, where it was about the use of woody plants for feeding animals. We were first in Mymensingh and then in Cox's Bazaar in the south. We also got to know Dhaka well with our travel companions Raisul and Sultana.

The country is so beautiful and poor. It has about Ökotopia: rickshaws (traffic jams in the centers), no or few cars, live in the country. It turned out that all this means poverty. The people are nevertheless very dignified and friendly. The many children make the problem. The textile industry is very important as an alternative for agriculture, but very dependent on our buying behaviour. Bangladeshis work worldwide as industrious economic slaves. A rickshaw driver works so hard all day long and earns just as much as he needs to live on food. This world also exists. The waters are all very dirty. But the land is so fertile: three harvests are possible. Were also in the forest with a mission that takes care of a small people that does not live as Muslims and Bangladeshi.