badh bhangar awaaj recent posts http://www.somewhereinblog.net http://www.somewhereinblog.net/config_bangla.htm copyright 2006 somewhere in... nobel peace price 2008 ]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28853032 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28853032 2008-10-10 14:44:53

i am still looking at the alexa graphs in front of me. not sure if i believe it or not. alexa, the web information company that compares traffic on website, tries to tell me a very very interesting story after i have put in the urls to compare:
"the bangla bloggers of somewhere in... blog are nowadays creating content and activities that generates more readership than the online versions of india today, the economist and newsweek!"

this was at least my interpretation. but just look at the graph, the page views of somewhere in... blog has actually bypassed the pageviews of newsweek.com the last few days. these international giant magazines do reach more people than we do, they rank higher on the statistics, but in terms of attractive and interesting contents, it seems true that our bangla blogging community beats them all. who could ever believe that?

and there is more, if you compare with other blog communities:


ok, lets not be foolish and compare with blogger and wordpress, yet, but if you have heard about vox, perhaps you also feel good knowing that our bangla blogs are read more than vox blogs?

and finally, aren´t we now the most viewed local website, at least in these days?


yes, prothom alo, bdjobs ++ reach more people. however, the excitement i feel and hope you share with me is that you guys are the creators of content so popular and appreciated that it can be clocked in a few pages views ahead of newsweek. is somewhere in... blog the upcoming michael phelps of cyberspace?

]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28851632 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28851632 2008-10-06 20:20:04

the 1st of may 2005 a tiny company with the curious name "somewhere in..." started its operation in dhaka, bangladesh. three talents, namely shahana, hasin and emran, together with me, jana and espen, could share one room in the apartment, with only three small palm trees, a coffee kettle, a cake-cutting knife and a dining table as the interior decorations...

now, three years later, we celebrated our birthday with our big team of colourful talents, friends and families and here we share it with you. that was really a great party with my chest bursting of pride for what we have achieved.

what makes us so proud is that we have been able to find, keep and structure so many bobs. you know bob, right? best of bangladesh? further, the blurry vision and plans we had then back in 2005 has been proven very strong and we haven´t changed our course at all. we are just seeing our future so much clearer, so much stronger, with a strong faith that we will have a global solution for local communities by 2010.

and most of all, we have turned from a software company to a social organization which is using the new media (mobile phones and the web) to bring out innovative solutions for positive social change.
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28797226 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28797226 2008-05-13 10:03:16
everyone finely tuned to the thousands of details we will take care of during the transfer scheduled for tonight, everyone eager to make a much awaited change.

then mr murphy comes along and takes down the national power grid! our generator runs hot, our ups´ beeps alarmingly and we just have to wait and wait for pdb to give us the electric oxygen back.

notice board will inform you about a possible change in schedule, but since we need 15 hours with power, the release may drag on much longer than planned, for reasons beyond our control. we regret the inconvenience.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28751721 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28751721 2007-12-15 16:38:35
what is so fantastic is that somewhere in... blog is the only media this has been actively promoted through.

we haven´t focussed on the number of sms, we aimed at reaching a large number of people and getting local sponsors to join in. we do not deal with any donations (except receiving advance from amra bondhu), all money will be paid directly to save the children.

we are a local IT company, and we felt that we as a nation must learn to help ourselves through standing side by side. this sms tool can help local businesses, small to big, to join in as fund raisers if their community has the engagement to support.

we will end the campaign on the 16th december, please help save the children by telling all your friends to send just one sms: SAVE to 5455. do also tell any business in your family to consider a small donation through this campaign.

what we must not do is to forget the ones who need us more than ever... if you have any updates from the affected areas, please do share them through the blog.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28749820 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28749820 2007-12-06 19:26:24
it seems we have many good bloggers that would have been in the front line today had the war been on. i have always been happy to see the strong involvement on the blog for the issue of bringing war criminals to court, even 36 years after it happened. that is all good, considering that such crimes should never be forgotten.

but ten days ago, our own country was brutally violated, thousands of people killed, and millions of families homeless, helpless and traumatized, all by the brute force of sidr.

sidr didn´t give us someone to fight against, sidr didn´t give us someone to hate. i can not see much engagement on the blog about helping our brothers and sisters, hit only 10 days ago. the memory of sidr will not last 36 years, i fear that sidr is forgotten by most of us within 36 days... what a scary scenario turning our back to our own victimized countrymen.

why? is it because the victims needs our love, while the war crimes bring out our hate? is it so much easier to hate someone than to love someone?

support the jagoron campaign - send your sms - tell your friends - enlist your donors!]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28747510 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28747510 2007-11-25 16:34:43
i was awakened last night by a strange dream,
as if a voice said to me,
from afar, like the silent scream from the river of death,
and i rose and asked: why do you call me?

- dare not to slumber! dare not to sleep!
dare not believe, it was merely a dream!
yesterday i was given the sentence.
my family was taken away from me,
my time will come soon do you not awake!

the whole village is dying,
and every district has village by village dying,
we lie here, awaiting, in water of death,
we lie here, we rot, have you forgot?

we know not ourselves, what does lie ahead,
who will be the next one, that we will find dead.
we cry and we beg: but do you listen?
is there really none among you that will awake?

no one can see us,
none know what befalls us,
yet more:
none will believe - what the day will bring us!

and then you defy: this can not be true?
that men can be so utterly ignorant,
there has to be someone with minds that are pure?
oh, brother, you are still so defiant!

in ´71 they said: give your life, if commanded,
we´ve given it now, for nothing it was handed.
has the country has forgotten? have we´ve all been deceived?
dare not to sleep in this hour - this eve.

you must not go to your narrow mind,
or think: what´s your loss - or what´s your gain?
you must not excuse with your work or your land,
nor say you have too much in your own hand.

you must not be at rest, sitting calm in your home,
saying: sad it is, poor they are, and alone.
you must not! you dare not!, so easily accept,
the injustice that yourself does not touch.
i scream with the last of my breath:
you must not! you dare not! so easily forget!



allow me to let this free translation of the poem "dare not to sleep" by arnulf øverland, 1937, with help and picks from the english translation of lars-toralf storstrand, describe my view on the jagoron (awakening) campaign.

this is not about poems or rhyme, this is a famous poem raising its voice against ignorance.

this blogging platform is given for your engagement, for your inclusiveness, for you taking responsibility for your local community! there is a lot of engagement to get justice for the war crimes - good is that! just do not lose the engagement for your own countrymen in times of disaster. it is just some 10 days since the cyclone struck, and thousands are still missing (some still floating in the rivers). millions are traumatized and in despair. have you done anything to help?

please, do not engage yourself in trivial daily matter before you at least have done some effort for the victims of sidr. fill the blog with your engagement!

wake up!!!!!!!!!]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28747465 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28747465 2007-11-25 12:57:44
keep in mind that this idea was born last sunday, agreed with save the children last monday and released on the blog by tuesday night. we have mobilised most of our talents for this effort and worked out the technical system as well as the whole campaign ourselves so that we could give a totally free system for save the children. as we develop this system, we hope that we in later instances can expand it so that multiple projects may enlist and donors may choose where to support.

yesterday we had a few technical problems, and we still have things to attach to the campaign to make it more transparent and clear.

today we will be moving out to enlist several more donors, and so far wherever we go the interest and response is 100% positive.

we will of course also lobby the issue with the operators and we feel very confident that they will ensure that no profit is kept on their side for this issue. no reason to blame them at this stage, as they have not yet been formally approached by us. we will keep you updated on our progress.

if you want to join as a sponsor, or have a firm or organisation that want to join in, please do contact us on . when time is up to collect the funds from the different sponsors, save the children personnel will go with us.

together we can make a difference.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28746869 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28746869 2007-11-22 10:02:34
stop! this time we felt that there must be something we can do, after all, with such a great community as somewhere in... blog we are able to jointly mobilize. we have now provided a simple, but very transparent and efficient tool for serial donations. we can line up people and companies that are willing to donate in collaboration and hopefully raise a considerable amount for save the children´s work in the sidr disaster areas.

the service should be well explained in the sticky notice board post. please also be patient with us if we have failed to clear out certain points. whatever done here is done in the very best intention, within the power, opportunities and limitations we have as an sms service provider. we have worked hard the last few days to get this system up and havent got much chance to test out the information part yet.

as you, the blog community, are a part of somewhere in..., amader ghorer manush, we feel that your feedback good or bad, will help us improve our message and service to a level where we can take it to a much bigger participation level.

work with us to spread the news, and we believe that this tool gives an opportunity to get on donors from micro to massive level to join, donors which might not have donated otherwise. you can also enlist as a donor. we help lining up the domino blocks, you trigger the chain reaction of donations!

thanks to your engaged feedback, we have been able to see that some confusions could still be there, and we will try to answer the common questions below (bangla translation to follow soon):

1) is somewhere in... over-comitting itself to donate beyond its limit? we have listed our own companies; somewhere in..., escenic and aawaj as the first donors, while orion bread is our first external donor. we do of course have limited funds, but every donor will be able to set how much they will donate pr sms and how much will be their max limit. we will get new donors lined up to jump in with fresh funds once another donor has reached their limit. with this tool, we are probably willing to stretch our funds more for this cause than we would have had with a one time donation. in this case, the donors challenge you to give (with as many friends giving as possible) and they will give with you.

2) why only 1 sms? we feel that it is important to create awareness and to get as broad movement as possible. with one sms per person, we can get a much larger participation throughout the campaign.

3) why not donate instantly, why delay it through counting sms? save the children do have more funds than they can spend for the first few days/weeks. their problem is more logistics and reaching there. however, the more funds we can raise for them, the bigger reach they get and the more sustainable projects they can initiate for the victimized children. these people will need massive help for the next years, and this campaign could roll over a long time with your help.

4) why should the operators take a share of my sms? well, we are a sms provider and have been given opportunities but also limitations from the operators. we came up with this idea and got it started within 2-3 days, keeping the system loss at a minimum. this is the first day of this campaign, and we are already preparing info material for the operators, where we request them to support us by sending the money you pay for the sms directly to save the children. if you help make this a success, we stand a very good chance of getting the operators to join us so that the system loss goes to absolutely 0%.

5) how can people abroad help? be happy that we have manage to establish this local campaign, add the link to this post in every email you send to your friends in bangladesh and send your payment directly to save the children as explained on http://www.savethechildren.org/

6) does anyone make money out of this for business? all donations from the donors will go directly to save the children, and not through us. the break up of the sms charge is as such: the operators normally keep 1.2 tk, somewhere in... gets 0.8 tk and the government gets 0.3 tk in vat.

a) operators 1.2 tk: we started by applying the existing commercial agreement with them not to loose time, and we really believe that we will be able to get them forward your 1.2 tk to the relief work so that they in the end do not profit from this.
b) somewhere in...s 0.8 tk: we have already committed a bigger amount per sms to save the children, so we are giving with you. we will also keep forwarding these 0.8 tk to the campaign after we reach our own donation limit for the entire period, so that not a single paisa is kept.
c) governments 0.3tk: we will not try to negotiate on this. anyway the government will need all the revenue it can get to rebuild the country.

7) how to donate more than 2 tk? please do donate directly to any organisation you feel is spending the money wisely. besides that, do inform all your friends to join the campaign, so that your recommendation triggers even more donations. probably you interact with 10-100 different people every day in normal conversations, so use every opportunity to get your friends and family to join in. we have thousands of registered bloggers, and if each blogger tells everyone they meet we get a chain reaction, without this having to cost you extra money.

8) why only one project? somewhere in... has offices just below save the children, we highly respect them for their noble work for distressed children and we though that we can join in with them. if this becomes a success, our tool can be made into a multiple cause service where we can enlist several causes and both you and the donors can choose which one to support. for the local community by the local community.

if you still have any confusion, please raise these issues and we will be here with you to explain. if we have failed to see certain issues, your feedback will be extremely important to ensure a fair and efficient campaign. we, the whole blog family, are all wanting to do something good for the victims. here is an attempt to reach out far, be with us the whole journey to bring smiles back to the faces of traumatized and distressed children.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28746720 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28746720 2007-11-21 12:27:14 http://www.aawaj.com (...munity) during eid, so why not sign up now so that you have something to do during the long eid vaccation?

how many of you guys use facebook? or hi5? or orkut? or are you more the mobile type which use twitter or jaiku more? have you ever asked yourself why you spend these endless hours in a community and whether it adds any value to your life or not? yes, the togetherness and networking with friends is attractive, also to pick up what is hot and not from other peoples favourites and activities. so what can http://www.aawaj.com offer you?

1) aawaj is your 24/7 local community, go mobile as well as have it on your web.
2) add your friends, share your status on the go and link up with celebrities.
3) we want to share our sms revenues with you, as you become our marketers.

to start using it just send a single sms from any mobile (not yet open for warid users):
- if new to our sms services, sms: reg to 5455
- if already registered, sms: reg to 5455 to retrieve your pin
- login to http://www.aawaj.com with your mobile number and pin number, set your profile and start contacting me and the other few people who are there by now and imagine the place full of buzzing people, activities and events.

how cool this will be highly depends on you and how fast you test it out and fill it with your own updates. being a crash test dummy may be painful, but at least you get the honour of the maiden trip... and you are sure to be among the early adopters of what could become the next big thing (at least in our community). except for the first sms, you can use most of the services for free. you will get no payback, you will get no benefits, but there would be great honour and perhaps some happy surprises later for early users that help us grow fast.

how this relates to your blog?
- you can soon use the same mobile login at the blog. and you can soon set up the aawaj shoutbox on your own blog (as badh bhangar aawaj have its own sms shout panel @bba).
- with mobile login, other bloggers can contact you offline through your mobile aawaj nick.
- with mobile login and aawaj nicks, the community feature will help you organise feeds and status updates from your blogging friends.
- if you have a popular blog and get a lot of sms traffic from your readers, you may get a new small income source.

and what more do you have to do? tell as about your experience, bugs you find and your experience and wishlist. should the earning counter suddenly make a big jump (:-o), you will, eh, hopefully report it. and of course, do blog about it if you like or hate it. thats what blogs are for.

aawaj is, as somewhere in... blog, 100% made in bangladesh, for bangladeshis. my special eid wishes goes to rhythm which is the lead developer for aawaj and who has ridicullated the word “impossible”...]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28737366 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28737366 2007-10-13 17:25:48
i encourage you to write about burma, your feelings, your visits, your pictures and your hopes. we are the people who know what dictatorship and military rule can do to our lives. i still guess we have only got the light touch compared with what the people of burma have lived with for decades. have your say, leave them not alone in their fight.
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28734336 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28734336 2007-09-29 09:51:03
here are the joint statistics for the two days 19th and 20th september, and these two days only:

7104 visits, whereof
3737 absolute unique visitors, whereof
2587 new visitors

82584 page views

visitors from 60 countries
where 60% came from bangladeshis living abroad (normally 60-70% local traffic).

401 refering sites, topped by e-bangladesh (thanks)

sudharamblog got some 2500 hits
sujonmcblog got some 2000 hits
kayesmahmudblog, omipialblog and shondhabatiblog all got close to 1000 hits. all writing about the cartoon.
the registration page got nearly 600 hits!

what more can i say than that i and the whole somewhere in... team are immensely proud of being able to bring the world a tool that enables the best talents of bangladesh to express themselves freely!

islam is a religion of tolerance and forgiveness, and whatever has happened, i still cannot see that the cartoon was made and published with evil intentions, at least not a conspiracy to destabilise the country. apologies in aboundance have been issued and the muslim leaders have forgiven.

from all of my heart, as a simple person with a great love for bangladesh , i just want to say:

free arifur rahman
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28733131 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28733131 2007-09-23 21:02:48
keep up the good work!]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28733107 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28733107 2007-09-23 19:20:10
we are happy to see that our success has inspired others to develop similar services, especially with reference to sachalayatan. the more bangla services that are created, the better choices and wider reach for local talents to express themselves.

i would really love to hear from you about other services which are not so widely known yet but deserves better publicity. perhaps we could give them some push forward through deeper discussions and highlights here on somewhere in... blog?

you all know somewhere in... blog, and you all have an opinion about our service and features. i think it would be healthy to maintain a debate on all services so that the lessons to learn for us all could be better highlighted.

why should we promote other services through somewhere in... blog? well, in my eyes, there is no competition, as there is not a finite number of users to fight for. the main challenge is to reach out to all the people who do not know about blogging and the opportunities that exist for free expressions in bangla. that can best be done by joining hands and spread the word. whether people blog on somewhere in... blog, sachalayatan or other services is not the issue. the important thing is to get more and more people to start blogging, and let the really talented people get more exposure and reach for their writings. only in this way can we as bloggers make a real impact on the society in a positive way. i guess we all agree on some issues: that we need internet, we need free expression of thoughts and we need a massive collaborative effort to build bangladesh as a strong, modern country which is well respected internationally. i can only contribute in english, but i am lucky to have the capacity to contribute to strengthen bangla as a language through the internet.

we always try to improve badh bhangar aawaj, and if you find other services that you are more happy with than ours, then we have even better reasons to look for improvements within ourselves.

let this be a positive discussion towards the other services. do you have any feedback to us about what they do better than us, why you like them more and what new services that deserves a better publicity? leave the negative criticism for us. we are not interested in what they do wrong, as we cannot fix that. but if we do things wrong or lose out in opportunities, do tell us, so that we can learn from your observations and make somewhere in... blog a better service. we often wish we had a magic wand to create the ulimate service, but developing revolutionary services really takes time, much more than we wished for, though we all work hard for new updates.

i got inspired for this post by seeing the fantastic response the blog gets in times of trouble, this time after the arrest of arifur rahman. modernising the society we live in is too serious to leave to a handful of people in the government and a one-way media. we need interactive media and multiple channels for people to share their views and raise their voices. i therefore welcome any good initiative that can create more bangla bloggers.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28732829 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28732829 2007-09-22 12:06:04
somewhere in... shall be your trusted partner and whatever personal details you provide us through registration will be protected by us and never shared. your email, phone number, address, full name or any other personal details will never be given out to others.

when someone, probably with a lot of good effort, make a software bot which goes to the blog site continuously to check login status or other activities of all members, this of course provides exciting details of user habits. however, such kind of automatic monitoring by third parties not accepted by us, is highly objectionable as it exposes individuals and their habits.

if and when such incidents happen, we will delete posts that publishes such results and inform the blogger about the objections from a privacy point of view.

if such results are published on a third party site, we cannot remove that, but we will kindly request the responsible person to remove the posting, in order to maintain the membership and access on this blog.

we are using third party services like google analytics etc., for our internal purposes to monitor the user habits. we may share with you some results from the tools we have installed for use, but never in a way that any individual get exposed in any way.

if you have any concerns regarding how we secure your privacy, please reply to this post or use "kono shomosha" - arild]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28730810 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28730810 2007-09-12 18:12:51
today, our espen spontaneously and blindly shared some stats with the bloggers who harvested most hits.

just to avoid creating an imbalance in the blog, i want to add:
a) the congrats are not official congrats from the blog team and is no official endorsement of anyones blog.
b) the stats shared was probably ment to inspire, but may have caused questions of bias.
c) somewhere in... blog has sent strict warning due to objectionable content to one of the bloggers congratulated by espen. we applologize that this blogger was congratulated.

espen´s statements are totally his personal, and his views may not in all cases be shared by the blog team. espen appologize for the confusion it may have created.
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28727699 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28727699 2007-08-25 12:29:29
the moderator is nobody but a person we appointed to blindly enforce the rules we create. we will permanently delete the accounts of the offenders who insulted our moderator including other nicks of the same persons as well as their attempts to re-enter. we will also suspend the accounts of the bloggers who shamelessly supported the attackers until they apologize to us through mail.

we have implemented a clear set of rules for moderation and we will enforce these in a transparent and strict way, also for the harassment of other bloggers.


badh bhangar aawaj shall reflect the sound of great talents released, not quarrels. when we spend a lot of time to develop the best tool we can for your free expression, please do take good care of it and be positive and constructive.

in the search of colourful blogging moments,

arild]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28722578 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28722578 2007-07-25 13:55:13
সামহোয়্যার ইন বাংলা ব্লগ ‘বাঁধ ভাঙ্গার আওয়াজ’ এর বয়স মাত্র দেড় বছর । এরই মধ্যে মাতৃভাষায় ব্লগিং করতে পারার অপার আনন্দে দেশ – বিদেশ থেকে প্রায় ৬০০০(ছয় হাজার) ব্লগার এখানে ব্লগিং করছেন স্বাধীনভাবে ।

বন্ধুত্ব, বিতর্ক, সাহিত্য, আলোচনা–সমালোচনা, সংবাদ, তথ্য ও পরিসংখ্যান, পর্যবেক্ষণ, দর্শন, ভিন্ন মতামত, হাসি–কান্না কি পাইনা আমরা এখানে । এমনটাই হওয়ার কথা, এটাই আমাদের উদ্দেশ্য ।

এখানে ছোট্ট ‘প্রাপ্তি’র হাসি অম্লান করতে, ওর জন্য আপনাদের ভালোবাসা; সম্প্রতি চট্টগ্রামের মর্মান্তিক পাহাড় ধ্বসে ক্ষতিগ্রস্থ অসহায় মানুষগুলোর জন্য আপনাদের সহমর্মিতা, সাহায্য - সহযোগিতার প্রসারিত হাত, ওদের জন্য অর্থ তহবিল সংগঠন, ওদের ভবিষৎ নিয়ে উদ্বিগ্নতা; চমৎকার সব পরিক্ল্পনা আর পরামর্শ আদান প্রদান – এ, সবই ত এখানেই পেয়েছি আমরা । বোধ আর দায়বদ্ধতার এমন উদাহরণ কেবল আমাদের আরও সজাগ আর দায়িত্বশীল করে ।

শুরু থেকেই আমরা অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বের সাথে আপনাদের চাহিদা আর পরামর্শগুলো মাথায় রেখে প্রতিনিয়তই চেষ্টা করে যাচ্ছি সাইটটি সুন্দর, সহজ আর গ্রহণযোগ্য করে রাখার । প্রতিনিয়তই কিছু না কিছু আপডেট চলছেই । এ ব্যাপারে সকলের সহযোগিতা প্রশংসনীয় ।

ব্লগিং এর জন্য একটি স্বাধীন, উম্মুক্ত আর সুস্থ পরিবেশ অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় এবং তা আমাদের লক্ষ্য । এ জন্য এখানে একজন স্বাধীন ব্লগার হিসেবে আত্মপ্রকাশ করার আগে আমাদের কিছু শর্তাবলী রয়েছে যা মেনে নিয়ে এবং মনে রেখেই আপনি একজন ব্লগার হয়েছেন এই সাইটে; আমাদের বোধ, আমাদের স্বাধীনতাকে উপভোগ্য আর সজীব করতে ।

ইতিমধ্যেই আমরা বেশ কিছু ব্লগ,পোস্ট আর মন্তব্য মুছে দিয়েছি যা স্বাধীন – সুস্থ্য ব্লগিং পরিবেশের জন্য ক্ষতিকর। হাতে গোণা কয়েকজন ব্লগার যারা উদ্দেশ্য প্রণোদিত হয়েই কেবল অশালীন, হিংসাত্মক ও আক্রমণাত্মক পোস্ট দিয়েছেন – আমরা তাদের ব্যান করেছি । আমাদের এই প্রচেষ্টা আর কার্যক্রম অব্যাহত থাকবে ।

সামহোয়্যার ইন ব্লগ, বাঁধ ভাঙ্গার আওয়াজ । এটি আপনার ব্লগিং সাইট, আপনার স্বাধীনতা চর্চার, আপনার সুন্দর মনোভাব প্রকাশের খোলা জায়গা । বাংলা ব্লগের সুদৃঢ়, মসৃণ আর গৌরবময় অগ্রযাত্রায় আপনার সহযোগিতা আমাদের কাম্য ।
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716936 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716936 2007-06-21 20:23:21
did you know that all talents of somewhere in... gets to own a part of our company? here we show you how it happens.

finally the financials for the second year of somewhere in... operations is done -slightly later than scheduled due to somewhat longer implementation time of our own somewhere in... accounts. we are proud to announce the t-shares and the talents how now build up their ownership in somewhere in...

we have set the internal rate of return to 50% annually meaning one must invest 15tk today to match a 10tk investment one year back. effectively it means that the earlier the investment you made in somewhere in... the more value for money you got. but of course, for the first talents that joined our start up this investment was more risky thus yielding higher return. hence, for new investors, the earlier you buy shares through savings, the more you’ll get (with 50% return on investment).

for those investing, but not yet been ‘upgraded’ to owner don’t despare -your options will eventually, when "the styret" accepts, be converted to t-shares.

new this year is the p-shares or project shares. there are certain projects that somewhere in... "styret" allows to be put up as separate investment (or separate virtual companies with its own profit and loss accounts). somewhere in... have currently issued p-shares for escenic bangladesh, somewhere in... accounts (where shahed has invested), somewhere in... music and digitania. more projects like somewhere in... blog may also be converted to the p-shares system. the methodology for buying p-shares is almost the same as for t-shares; somewhere in... will not go lower than 60% of the initial share (eg, if swi starts by owing 70% of a joint venture or a project the company will maximum sell down to 42% (=70% x 60%) of total.

but enough technicalities, currently somewhere in…’s assets are financed by 88% debt of which 100% is owned by the start-up trio (no external debt). this debt is a non-yielding bullet loan with maturity some time in the future (time is not yet fixed). the equity is split 12% on t-shares and 88% a-shares (which is owned solely by the start-up trio). the t-shares will continue to grow until 40% so there is still ample opportunity to get a bigger hold of somewhere in.. as a company.

when the somewhere in... accounts are fully operational the intentions are that in ‘my account’, the talents will be able to see their current t- and p-shares.

for those not listed in as t-share holders, but have invested, it means your somewhere in... options are not yet converted into shares. this decision lies with somewhere in... styret where all t-share holders have a vote.

we feel that it is important that all talents being part of creating somewhere in..., existing and new talents to come, have their ownership and can realise their own dream of a business, here within the business. there are as such no employees at somewhere in... only entrepreneurs and owners.

have a colorful day,

espen/head of growth, arild/head of opportunities, jana/head of alliances
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716862 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716862 2007-06-21 11:14:41
এখানে ছবিগুলোতে মোটামুটি স্পষ্টভাবে ফুটে উঠেছে আকলিমার দুর্দশা; যে বস্তিটিতে তারা থাকত সেখানে সাক্ষী হয়ে দাঁড়িয়ে আছে শুধু একটা দেয়াল । যেখানে একদিন ছিল একটি সুখী পরিবারের বাসস্থান, আজ সেখানে কেবলই ধ্বংসস্তুপ।

হুমায়ূন এবং ফাহিনূরের মত আকলিমাকেও আমরা কথা দিয়ে এসেছি, আগামী তিনমাসের জন্য সবরকম সাহায্য তাকে আমরা দেব । তবে তারচেয়েও বড় কথা হলো সে এখন আমাদের বোন। যখনই আমরা কেউ চট্টগ্রাম যাব, দেখা করব তার সাথে । নতুন করে অর্থসাহায্য যদি না দিতে পারি, তবুও । অর্থ অবশ্যই বড় ব্যাপার, তবে অর্থ কখনোই ফিরিয়ে দিতে পারবে না তার পরিবারকে। প্রচুর টাকা তার হাতে ধরিয়ে দেয়া যায়, কিন্তু সেটা হবে শুধু তার দূরের আত্মীয়দের ‘অভিভাবক’ হয়ে বসার জন্য যুৎসই প্রলোভন ! আমরা তাকে জীবনধারনের জন্য প্রয়োজনীয় সাহায্যটুকু দেব, এবং প্রধানত চেষ্টা করব মানসিকভাবে তার পাশে থাকার।

কোন মানুষ যখন চারিদিকে শুধুই অন্ধকার দেখে, তখন মানুষই পারে আলোকবর্তিকা হয়ে আভির্ভূত হতে । আকলিমার মত মানুষগুলো এখন অন্ধকারে, আমরাই তাদের ফিরিয়ে দিতে পারি, আশার আলো, পথ দেখাতে পারি আলোকিত দিনের । কখনোই আমরা নিজেদের মনে হতে দেব না- “এটা আমার ব্যাপার নয়।” আকলিমা আমাদের বোন; এখন তার প্রয়োজন আমাদেরই ।
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716789 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716789 2007-06-20 18:45:07
ফাহিনূর ছিল একজন পোশাকশ্রমিক, নিজেদের আয়ে তার বাবা মাত্র একমাস আগে কিনতে পেরেছিল ছোট্ট একখন্ড জমি আর নিজেদের একটা বাড়ি । পাহাড়ের কোলে ছোট্ট সবুজ আবাসের গর্বিত মালিক ছিল তারা । নিষ্ঠুর নিয়তি যে কড়াল থাবা বাড়িয়ে এগিয়ে আসবে, একদিন আগেও কি কেউ সেটা ভাবতে পেরেছিল ?

মাটির দেয়ালের ধ্বংসস্তুপ, টিন ও বাঁশের কিছু টুকরো ছাড়া সেখানে আর কিছুই এখন অবশিষ্ট নেই । পাশে বসে থাকা ফাহিনূরের ছবি তুলে নিয়ে সংবাদকর্মীরা যতটা দ্রুত এসেছিল, তার চেয়েও দ্রুত চলে গেল । আমরা পাশে বসে ছিলাম বেশ কিছুক্ষণ, চুপ করে, সামান্য সান্তনাও যদি বা দিতে পারি । অশ্রু রুদ্ধ করে ফিরে আসার আগে কথা দিয়ে এসেছিলাম, আবার ফিরে আসব । ফিরে গিয়েছিলাম এবং অবশ্যই বার বার ফিরে যাব ।

পরদিন ফিরে যেয়ে আমরা জানলাম তার মার দেহ পাওয়া গেছে, সেনাবাহিনী হাল ছেড়ে দিয়েছিল, কিন্তু হাল ছাড়েনি স্থানীয় লোকেরা, যেখানে খোঁজ চলছিল, তার কিছুটা দূরে অল্প একটু খুঁড়তেই পাওয়া গেল মৃত্যুর পরিচিত গন্ধ । ফাহিনূর আর তার আহত পিতা অন্তত সম্মানের সাথে সমাহিত করবে মৃতদেহটি ।

ফাহিনূরকেও আমরা সাহায্য করব হূমায়ূনের মতোই, আগামী তিনমাস দেব সব ধরণের সাহায্য । তারা এখন আমাদেরই পরিবারের অংশ । আমাদের সাথে থাকুন, সাহায্য করুন ফাহিনূরের স্বপ্নকে নতুন করে গড়ে তুলতে ।
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716786 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716786 2007-06-20 18:19:52
হুমায়ূনের বাবার কোন নির্দিষ্ট কাজ ছিল না । আরো বেশ কিছুদিন তার পক্ষে কাজ করাও সম্ভব নয়। তার পা আহত, আর ফেরীওয়ালা পেশার মানুষের পা নেই মানে কোন কাজও নেই। তার ওপর বিক্রীর জন্য রেখে দেয়া জিনিসগুলোও আপনজনের সাথে চাপা পড়েছে মাটির নীচে।

বারো আর পনেরো বছরের তার দুভাই এখনো হাসপাতালে। বড়জনের পায়ে ক্ষত ও সেলাই, তবুও তার ক্ষতি কিছুটা কম। ছোটভাইটির অবস্থা আরো খারাপ, ভাঙ্গা পা ও থেতলে যাওয়া নিতম্ব নিয়ে তাকে আরো অনেকদিন হাসপাতালে থাকতে হবে। তাদেরকে মানুষের মতো মানুষ করার, মুখে অন্ন তুলে দেবার দায়িত্ব এখন হুমায়ূনের কাঁধে।

হুমায়ূন একটা কাঁচ তৈরীর কারখানায় কাজ করে, মাসিক আয় ১০০০ থেকে ২০০০ টাকা। বাবার আয় ছিল ২৫০০ টাকার মতো, তাও যে মাসে সবচেয়ে বেশী বিক্রী হত। ব্লগ কমিউনিটির সদস্য হিসেবে হুমায়ূনকে কি আমরা আরেকটু ভালো কিছু দিতে পারি না?

নতুন করে জীবন শুরু করার একটা সুযোগ হুমায়ূন পাবে; আমরা তাকে সাধারণ কিন্তু নিত্যপ্রয়োজনীয় দ্রব্যাদি সহ একটা থাকার জায়গা আর তিন মাসের খাইখরচ দেব। এর মাঝে তাকে জোগাড় করতে হবে একটি নতুন চাকরি। ক্ষমতাবান অনেকেই হয়তো ব্যবস্থা করতে পারবেন একটি চাকরির, তবে প্রশ্ন হলো কে এবং কিভাবে?

একটি শক্তিশালী কমিউনিটির সদস্য হিসেবে আমার দৃঢ় বিশ্বাস আমরা আমাদের সাধ্যের সবটুকু করব, খুঁজে দেখব আমাদেরই কারো অফিস বা কারখানায় হুমায়ূনের কোন ব্যবস্থা করা যায় কিনা। আমার দৃঢ় বিশ্বাস প্রতিদানে কর্মঠ এবং বিশ্বাসী একজনকে আমরা পাব। চট্টগ্রামের সবার প্রতি আমার অনুরোধ রইল এই গল্প সবাইকে বলুন, চেষ্টা করুন একটি দুঃখী পরিবারের পাশে এসে দাঁড়াতে।
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716656 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716656 2007-06-19 19:14:52
মাঝরাতের আগে থেকেই বৃষ্টি শুরু হয়েছে; টিপটিপ করে নয় রীতিমতো ঝুম বৃষ্টি । যে মানুষগুলো স্মৃতিতে পাকাপাকিভাবে স্থান করে নিয়েছে ধ্বংসের বিভৎস কিছু ছবি আর নৃশংস কিছু শব্দ ; আমি নিশ্চিত তারা আজ সারারাত আর ঘুমাতে পারবে না । তারা তো আমাদের কাছে আর শুধুমাত্র ধ্বংসের শিকার কিছু মানুষ নয়, তারা আমাদের বন্ধু, ভাই ; এক ধরণের আগ্রহ আর ভালোবাসা নিয়ে আবার যাদের দেখা পাবার জন্য আমরা বসে আছি ।

লেবুবাগান সম্ভবত সবচাইতে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত এলাকা গুলোর একটি । জল কাদায় মাখামাখি হয়ে যাবার প্রস্তুতি নিয়েই আমরা লেবু বাগান পৌঁছলাম কিন্তু কোন ত্রাণতৎপরতা দৃষ্টিগ্রাহ্য হলো না । অথচ একদিন আগেই, যখন মাথার উপর ছিল উজ্জল সূর্য, আমরা দেখেছি অনেক সংস্থা ত্রাণ নিয়ে এগিয়ে এসেছে । আজ কেউ নেই এর কারণ কি তাহলে এই যে বৃষ্টিতে ভেজাটা খুব স্বস্তিকর নয় ? যে মানুষগুলো হারিয়েছে তাদের আপনজন, তাদের সর্বস্ব; রোদ আর বৃষ্টি তো তাদের কাছে কোন ব্যাপার নয় ! তাদের সাহায্য প্রয়োজন এখনই এবং তা স্বল্পমেয়াদী নয়, দীর্ঘ সময়ের জন্য ।

গতকাল বিকেলে নূরজাহানের দেহ খুঁজে পাওয়া গেছে । ফাহিনূর আর তার ভাই অন্তত মর্যাদার সাথে চিরনিদ্রায় শুইয়ে দিতে পারবে তাদের মাকে । কিন্তু লেবু বাগানের শূণ্যতাটা আজ বড় বেশী লাগলো । গতকালও যেখানটা ছিলো সেনাবাহিনীর জওয়ান, অগ্নিকর্মী আর সাধারণ মানুষের পদচারণায় মুখর, আজ তাই পরে আছে রিক্ত, হতশ্রী চেহারা নিয়ে ।

দ্রুত জমে ওঠা পানি নিষ্কাষণের ব্যবস্থা করতে বৃষ্টির মাঝেই মানুষগুলো বের হয়ে এসেছিলো । তখনই প্রথমবার পাহাড় ধ্বসে পড়ে এবং চাপা দেয় তাদেরকে । আর্তচিৎকারে ছুটে আসে আরো মানুষ আর এর পরপরই আরো তিনজায়গায় পাহাড় ধ্বসে জ্যান্ত কবর দিয়ে ফেলে সবাইকে । বেঁচে যাওয়ারা চিরজীবন বহন করে যাবে সেই দুঃসহ স্মৃতি, প্রিয়জনের বাঁচাও বাঁচাও চিৎকার । শত চেষ্টা করেও যাদের একজনকেও বাঁচানো গেলো না, শুধু খুঁড়ে বের করা গেলো তাদের প্রাণহীন দেহ ।

পুরো কাহিনী বলে ফেলাটা আমার পক্ষে সম্ভব নয়, এত নিষ্ঠুর বাক্য গঠনের মত শক্তিশালী আমি নই । যা বলতে পারছি তা পুরো ঘটনার কিছু টুকরো মাত্র ।

যাই হোক, আমার মনে হয় যাদের আসলেই সাহায্য প্রয়োজন তাদের কয়েকজনকে আমরা চিহ্নিত করতে পেরেছি । স্থানীয় সমাজও এ ব্যাপারে একমত । যৎসামান্য কিছু অর্থ দিয়ে এসেছি তাদের জিনিসপত্র কিনবার জন্য, আর কথা দিয়ে এসেছি ফিরে যাবার, ব্লগ কমিউনিটিকে নিয়ে নতুন করে তাদের জীবন গড়ে তুলবার । ত্রাণ সামগ্রী বিতরণ করতে আমরা যাইনি, সে জন্য সুসংগঠিত পেশাদার সংস্থা রয়েছে । আমরা শুধু কথা দিয়ে এসেছি দুঃখি কিছু মানুষকে তিনমাস পূর্ণ সহায়তা দেবার । বাড়ি ভাড়া, বাড়ির জন্য নিত্য প্রয়োজনীয় আসবাব ও দ্রব্যাদি, কাপড় এবং অবশ্যই প্রয়োজনীয় অর্থ সাহায্য আমরা দেব, যেন তারা ইত্যবসরে ভালো কোন চাকুরির খোঁজ করতে পারে । এই অন্ধকার সময়ে তাদের পাশে থাকাটা পরবর্তীতে মাথা তুলে দাঁড়াবার রসদ জোগাবে ।

ব্লগ কমিউনিটি এখন তাদের পরিবারের নতুন কিছু সদস্যকে পাবে, তাদের ছবি ও ইতিহাস যতটুকু সম্ভব আমরা উপস্থাপন করব । সম্ভবত এই প্রচেষ্টার সবচেয়ে বড় ফসল হবে একটি সংগঠিত ব্লগ কমিউনিটি, যারা পরবর্তীতে সাড়া দেবে আরো বড় দুর্যোগে, পাশে এসে দাঁড়াবে দুর্দশাগ্রস্থ মানুষদের । দুঃসময়ে হাতে হাত রেখে সান্তনা দেয়া, তাদের মনে এই অনুভূতির জন্ম দেয়া যে ‘আমি একা নই’, ভবিষৎতের বন্ধু হিসেবে পাশে পাবার আশ্বাসের চাইতে বড় সাহয্য আর কি হতে পারে ? হূমায়ূনের ভাইদেরকে দেখতে তৃতীয়বার হাসপাতালে যাবার পর প্রথমবারের মতো তাদের মুখে ফুটে উঠেছিলো এক টুকরো হাসি ; নিশ্চয়ই এই ভেবে যে তাদের পাশে থাকার মত কেউ আছে ।
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716651 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716651 2007-06-19 19:03:47
landslides happened at three-four places in this large settlement of poor people. people seemed better off here than the other places; many good clay houses, tv sets, bigger rooms and many families with domestic animals. still nature doesn´t make a difference when it releases its forces onto helpless people. the worst sufferers were still among the poorest of this community, as the only space they could afford was the most exposed places in the hillside, not in the more low lying areas.

in the pictures, you can read about the tragic sufferings in aklimas blank stare. you can see the place where her family enjoyed their togetherness, now just a flat ground where the remains of a corner wall can be seen. in the last picture, what once was a house is now a pile of rubble.

aklima is a girl we want to follow up as we will follow up humayun and fahinoor. we have promised them three months of aid, but more important is that we include them as our family and go to see them everytime we are in chittagong, with or without further financial aid. money is not a problem, we will not let them down, but money is not the most important thing here. money can not buy back her family, she has to struggle with the trauma and sorrows for years to come. at the same time she has to go to work so that she can support her small remaining family. showing off money will only put her in trouble as remote relatives will find a new interest in promoting themselves as her "guardian". we therefore keep our support very low-key, ensure the basics and rather focus on standing besides her.

when people are in total darkness, everyone of us can be a small candle for htem to bring back hopes and guide the way through the night. just do not leave them alone. never allow yourself to say "it is not my concern"! indifference is the most dangerous stand you can take! aklima is our sister, she needs us.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716564 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716564 2007-06-19 10:45:57
fahinoor was working in a garments factory, but how would she be able to concentrate on her work now? her mother was buried somewhere under the rubble in front of her, and though she knew she would be devastated seeing her dead mother, she needed to know that they would find her.

lebu bagan is probably the worst affected area of the chittagong landslide and the army had established a camp there to organise the relief work. they told us that 40 people had died, whereof 39 bodies had been found. in the para besides, also in lebu bagan, probably another 35 people had died.

one month ago, fahinoor was so proud of their new home, as their father had managed to purchase a small pice of land and a house in lebu bagan. such a beautiful place under the green hills of chittagong. here she felt safe, and she knew that her younger siblings would be happy here playing around with the other kids. how could she know what gruesome destiny was waiting for her ahead?

now, the only thing left of their house was one of the clay corners and sharp edges of tin and bamboo stick out of the mud.

word are difficult to find when talking to fahinoor where she is sitting. several photo journalists came and took pictures of her after they saw that we sat down to talk with her. they took her details, stuck a lens up in her face, asked about how many family members she lost, and then they left as quick as they came. we felt bad, knowing that taking her pictures would expose her in all her naked sorrows and helplessness. but we sat with her for a good while, in silence, trying to comfort her as her new friends, sincerely feeling her pain. we said goodbye holding back our tears, but promised to come back the day after. which we did, so will we come back to see her later.

the next day we came back and got confirmed that they found her mother, by chance. the army people had given up around 3pm, they had so many other bodies to search for elsewhere. as the villagers were left alone knowing that the body of nur jahan was still somewhere under the ground they walked on, they had started to clean up the site. a few meters away from where the search had been on, they thought they saw some blood on the ground. when they started digging, the now familiar smell of death was there and soon they saw a toe in the sand. the body was excavated and without seeing or knowing fahinoors reaction, we could only feel some peace that she would be able to bury her mother with some respect.

if you want to help fahinoor, stay with us and follow up what our contributing chittagong bloggers and readers, jewel, sami and others, are able to do. we hope to help her as we help humayun, taking care of their needs for the next three months, and including them in our extended family. be there with us and help fahinoor rebuild her hopes and dreams for the future, though for her still hidden in the total darkness.
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716460 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716460 2007-06-18 15:37:49
humayun´s father had no regular work, and may not be able to work for quite some time as he got injuries in his legs. their whole little community were ferri wallas, and not being able to walk is equal to no job. adding to the trouble, their small stock of sellable items together with all their belongings also got buried in the rubble.

humayun´s brothers, 15 and 12 years, are still in chittagong medical hospital. the elder you can see sitting in the hospital bed with a stitched and infected leg, but still being ok. his youngest brother will have to stay in the hospital with his severely injured leg stretched for at least six weeks. his hips, back, legs and throat got cut by the rubble, and he was pulled out of the mud alive.

the mudslide tumbled mud, tin, bricks, furniture, rods and people around as if they where in a gigantic washing machine. many people died by the cuts and internal injuries, even if they were not buried in the mud.

now humayun has to shoulder the responsibilities to raise his brothers as the fine men their mother would have loved to see them become. he has to care for them as well as feeding his family.

humayan works as an assistant in a glass factory, drawing some 1000-1200 tk in monthly salary. his father could in good months earn 2500 tk, but that income would now also be gone. are we as a community able to get humayun into a better place?

we want to help humayun to restart his life and bring up his two brothers. we will give them a simple, furnished place to live, feed them for three months but within that time he will need to find himself a job, hopefully better. it is not difficult for resourceful people to give him a better paid job, but how and who?

what we as a blog community could do is to search through our own networks and see if we have anyone that agrees to give humayun a new chance in their factory or office. we feel sure that this young man, in return for the support he is given, will be a very reliable and hard working guy. tell his story to your friends in chittagong, make them see that helping him is helping a family in need, so that he both can feed them and be there for them as their mother was there.
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716451 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716451 2007-06-18 14:51:32
there was heavy rain for days, intensifying during the night/morning of monday 11th june. rain can cause landslides, but if landslides was caused by the heavy rain only, wouldn´t it be reasonable that these occurred at different times during the night/day? in chittagong, it seems landslides happened more or less at the same time in many places, between 8 and 8:15. probably 7-8 different places, was affected by simultaneous landslides which deadly result you have seen in my previous posts.

to us it seems that a small earth quake may have destabilized the totally soaked hills, causing them to dissolve into a brutal force of destruction. we have not seen or heard anything about an earth quake, but it would be nice if someone could check out reliable sources to see if such a teory could be true.

have anyone seen any report of an earth quake in chittagong in the morning hours of 11th june? i am no expert on this, but it seems very strange that rain alone will cause multiple landslides as if remotely detonated.

i will follow up with more pictures from our chottagong trip now, as well as present each of the victims we would like the blog community to help through our chittagong bloggers. we will continue collecting clothes, but cannot receive money. however, we will advice people who collect funds about when we go to chittagong next and how they can possibly go with us, etc.

we hope that we together with the blog community can develop and share a good model of how we best can help affected families in a way which is best for them, being there for them over time while they fight their way through their trauma and back to life.]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716334 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716334 2007-06-17 19:55:21 " style="border:0;" /> we are back in dhaka, and i am trying to share our experiences with you. i so much want to write about what we saw and try to use words to recreate pictures of the disaster for you. but after three days among the people who lived through a real hell, my brain is also tired. we left so many people to be alone in their darkness and despair, while we headed back for our regular comfort zone in dhaka. i wish we could have stayed back and worked with them until all tears were wiped of every face and until every face could again break into a smile. i wish we could have told them that we would come back again tomorrow and every day thereafter. here is my report from yesterday:

it started to rain before midnight, not a light drizzle but a rather heavy downpour. we felt bad for the people we had learned to know who would now spend a night in fear of what might again happen. no doubt that they have painful pictures and sounds forever etched into their brain. i am sure they would remain alert throughout the night for sounds that could be similar to what they heard seconds before the tragedy. for us they are no longer just victims, they are real people that we shared time with, they are people we would like to see again as soon as possible.

we prepared ourselves to get soaked and dirty and headed for lebu bagan inside the cantonment, possibly the most affected place of the many landslide spots of chittagong. the day before, a nice sunny day, we had seen distribution of aid at several places. on this rainy day, no aid activities were seen at all until we left the place at mid day. was it uncomfortable to be out in the rain? for the people that lost everything and everyone they had, rain or sun makes no difference, they need help now and for a long time.

the first thing we learned arriving at lebu bagan was that they had found the body of nur jahan yesterday afternoon. at least then fahinoor, her little brother and her disabled father would be able to bury her mother with some respect and with a last farewell prayer. yesterday lebu bagan was the spot where 50 army and fire brigade men searched for nur jahans body in a surreal scene. today we only found a strange emptiness at the same spot. it seemed that the small settlement had been ravished, raped and torn apart by a gigantic monster.

with an unbelievable strong voice, the man who lost his whole family, his wife and his four children, told us what he witnessed when the hills suddenly dissolved into an ocean of mud and came towards him with a big roar, in huge waves just sweeping away whatever was in their way. he said that you only see such things in cinema, but that no movie could ever be made as scary as what they saw. he would never spend a single night in the same place, even if he got all the riches in the world.

several of the men had got out in the heavy rain in the morning to clear obstacles in the drains to release the water that rapidly built up. when the first hill came down in waves, several people got fully or partly buried in mud. their screams brought the attention of many neighbours which came out of their houses (some of which still stand and would have been safe). in just minutes the hills dissolved at three more places and buried them all. the now survivors will have to live the rest of their lives with the memories of their wives or husbands, sons or daughters, mothers or fathers being carried away or quickly being buried under more mud pouring. for the rest of their lives, they will hear the voices of their dear ones calling out for them: “save me! help me!”. despite the frantic effort of the whole community, they could not save a single person, they could only dig out their bodies days later.

i am not able to write everything i was told, i am not strong enough to get through such sentences, what i have told here is just small pieces of the whole story.

however, as we were searching a way to gradually bring back hope, to gradually add some light to the lives of those in the deepest despair, we spent time talking with selected people which the community also could agree were in a special need of attention. we could leave some small money for simple purchases or medical expenses, and we could leave a sincere promise to come back and see them and extend the hand of the blog community to partner in rebuilding their lives. we did not rush into distribution, as there are professional organisations better equipped than us to provide immediate assistance. what we are doing is to give a promise of a three month support, to rent a new house, fill it up with basic furniture and utensils, get some clothes and finally, have the financial freedom and support to search for a better job. if we stand beside them during the darkest days, they will be capable to sustain themselves later.

the blog community will now get some new family members, and we will present them with pictures and their history as far as we can retell. perhaps the best outcome of this mission will be a more engaged blog community able to respond to later disasters, a blog community that unites and adopt the selected people. sometimes the best help in difficult times is a hand to hold, a feeling of not being alone and the faith that we will there for them in the future as well. when we on the third consecutive day went to chittagong medical hospital to see humayun´s two brothers, both of them for the first time gave us a smile, in the happy knowledge that we came there to be with them for a while.
]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716147 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716147 2007-06-16 13:33:54
ক্যান্টনমেন্টের মাঝে লেবুবাগান ছিল আমাদের পরবর্তী গন্তব্য। সেখানে বিধস্ত এলাকায় ছড়িয়ে আছে আহত ও ক্ষতিগ্রস্থ মানুষেরা। রেড ক্রস ও রেড ক্রিসেন্ট সাহায্য নিয়ে পৌঁছে গেছে আগেই, এখন প্রথম আলো ও গ্রামীনফোনের রিলিফ সামগ্রীপূর্ণ বাহনগুলোও দেখা যাচ্ছে।

শেষ নিঁখোজ ব্যক্তিটির জন্য খোঁজাখুঁজি চলছিল। বালুময় টিলার মাঝখান দিয়ে হেঁটে আসার সময় ভূমিধ্বসের ধ্বংসলীলা আরো ব্যাপকভাবে চোখে পড়ল। পন্ঞ্চাশজনের মতো অগ্নিকর্মী ও সেনাবাহিনীর জওয়ানেরা পানির তোড়ে বালু, কাদা শিকড় বাকড় সরাচ্ছে খুঁজছে, নূরজাহানের দেহ। পাওয়া যাবে কি না কে জানে! টিলার ওপর বসে থাকা ছোট্ট মেয়ে ফাহিনূর কান্নায় ভেঙে পড়ে জানতে চাইল, "আমার মাকে কি পাওয়া যাবে না?" মা ও ছোট ভাই বোনকে সে হারিয়েছে, বেঁচে আছে শুধু ভূমিধ্বসে পঙ্গু বাবা আর বারো বছর বয়সী ছোট ভাই। সম্ভবত: আগামী দিনগুলোতে গার্মেন্টস কর্মী ফাহিনূরের যৎসামান্য আয়েই চলতে হবে পরিবারটিকে। মাত্র দেড়মাস আগে তারা কিনেছিল নিজেদের একটি বাসা; আশায় বুক বেধেছিল একটি নতুন গর্বিত জীবনের। কে বলবে, এখন তাদের ভবিষ্যত কি?

এই একটি জায়গাতেই মারা গেছে আঠারো জন, পাঁচ-ছয়টি বাড়ির একটিও অবশিষ্ট নেই। এখানে ভূমিধ্বসের ঠিক আগে আগে বড় একটি গাছ ভেসে একজন লোক চাপা পড়ে। তাকে বাঁচাতে এগিয়ে আসে সবাই। ঠিক তখনই ধ্বসে পড়ে পাহাড়, ঘটনাস্থলেই মারা যায় সব কজন।

বড়, সুখী আরেকটি পরিবার বাস করত এখানেই। পুরো ঘটনা আমরা শুনতে পারিনি, লুকিয়ে চোখ মুছে ফেলেছি, বেঁচে থাকা লোকটির ছিল আট সন্তান, বেঁচে আছে মাত্র দুজন।

এই দূর্ভাগা মানুষগুলোকে আমরা আর কি বলে সান্তনা দিতে পারি? স্নেহময় কিছু বাক্য আর তাদের জন্য কিছু সময় হয়ত লাঘব করবে কিছুটা যাতনা। সেই বাক্যগুলো গঠন করা যে এত কঠিন তা কে জানত?

একটু সামনে এগিয়ে গিয়ে দেখা গেল মানুষজন লম্বা সারিতে দাঁড়িয়ে আছে একটু রিলিফ পাবার আশায়। মুড়ি, চাল, ডাল, তেল আর পানি, পরিমানে অপর্যাপ্ত, সবাই হয়তো পাবেনা। বেলাল নামের এক বালককে আমরা পেলাম সেখানে। মা, বাবা ও দু'বোনকে হারিয়ে এখন সে পুরোপুরি একা। এক কাকা যশোর থেকে তাকে নিতে এসেছে। দূর্ভাগা এই বালককে আমি একটুক্ষন জড়িয়ে ধরে থাকলাম, মন ভেঙে যাওয়া তার কথাগুলো শুনলাম। বললাম পড়ালেখা করে বড় হও, মানুষ হও, মা তাতেই শান্তি পাবে।

সম্ভবত: সবচাইতে মন খারাপ করা মুহূর্তটি ছিল সন্তানহারা এক মায়ের সাথে কথা বলার সময় তার হাহাকার, "আমারে আর কেউ মা কইয়া ডাকবো না..."। দু'সন্তান ছিল তার, দুজনই মৃত।

আমি আরো বলে যেতে পারতাম, এ গল্পের কোন শেষ নেই। শত দু:খের মাঝেও আমাদের মনে দাগ কেটে গেছে এই সব হারানো মানুষগুলোর মনোবল ও বিশ্বাস। হঠাৎ করে এক বিশাল শুণ্যতার মাঝে এসে পড়বার পরেও তারা সেই বিশ্বাস হারায়নি, আশার বুক বেঁধেছে আরেকটি জীবন শুরু করবার।

আগামীকাল এখানে আমাদের শেষদিন। আমরা চেষ্টা করবো হুমায়ুনকে পুনর্বাসিত করতে, নতুন একটি বাসস্থান ও জীবনধারনের জন্য প্রয়োজনীয় জিনিসগুলো দিয়ে যেতে। সে আমাদের একজন নতুন করে পাওয়া ভাই, তাকে আমরা ভুলে যেতে পারিনা। তার আমাদেরকে প্রয়োজন; যেমনটি প্রয়োজন সেই বিধবার, ফাহিনূরের, বেলালের এবং নাম না জানা আরো অনেকের।

আমরা নিশ্চিত যে আমরা আসল মানুষগুলোকে খুঁজে পেয়েছি, আমাদের সাহায্য যাদের আসলেই দরকার। তাদের সামনে এখন শুধুই আঁধার, কিন্তু আমরা বিশ্বাস করি আমাদের সাহায্য তাদের আবার ফিরিয়ে দিতে পারে জীবনের রংধনুগুলো। আমার অনুরোধ, আমাদের পাশে থাকুন।]]> http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716044 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/arildblog/28716044 2007-06-15 15:38:57