MCC, Prokritee & HEED Handicrafts

This will be very short, as we just got back from a very long day which included 3 hours on vans travelling on roads best described as 'not yet completed' (or even started in some places).

It was interesting to learn about MCC's operations in Bangladesh from Larry Fisher. We presented him with a letter about the $22,000 we had raised towards Cyclone Sidr relief. It will be used to build approximately 70 houses in one of the worst-hit areas ... where other agencies had promised to work, but have not yet done so. The government is so impressed with MCC's work that they're now being invited to work in these neglected areas.

At Prokritee we learned from Sajid and Suraiya about how they are about to become a completely separate entity from MCC. I found it very moving to learn how the producers trust Prokritee to look after their interest, while we trust them with the same, and our customers trust us. It was great to make this connection.

MCC also fed us a wonderful lunch ... we're certainly not losing any weight on this tour so far!

HEED is located some way outside Dhaka and it was fascinating to see green rice fields, boats on the rivers, etc. Though we did witness some of the worst poverty along the way.

John told us a lot about the 11,000 artisans they have trained, and the 3500 they currently work with, then took us around the workshops to see cloth dyeing, weaving, quality control, packaging. We also paid a brief visit to one of the pottery workshops nearby.

Then we had another wonderful dinner, received very generous gifts from the staff at HEED, then made our way slowly and very bumpily back to Dhaka.

Off to Agailjhara early tomorrow morning, so no posts for a couple of days. I'll try to post much more about all of the above if I get computer time later in the week.