Normally I’m not a fan of volunteer tourism. I don’t think it does much good beyond making the volunteer feel like a charitable person. But when I was planning my trip to Dhaka, I knew that it was going to be really hard to have an enriching or positive interaction with Bangladesh if I didn’t find some sort of something to plug in with.
What I found was JAAGO.
Waking up in Dhaka I hear the ringing of bells on rickshaws, people yelling, and dogs barking. I am staying on the 9th floor of an office building that rises high over the slums on Dhaka’s southwestern outskirts. I look out the window, and I can see a rainstorm blowing in from the south. The Muslim call to prayer eerily wafts over the half-finished buildings all around me from the local mosques.
This article is a brief guide to Dhaka, as well as a narrative of my arrival and experience in this chaotic city. And it's been moved! This article has become a city guide in it's own rite, so when you click on this article, you'll be prompted to visit this guide in its new location.
(It's better this way, I promise)