wolf böwig | ...slowly down the rivers

wolf böwig | ...slowly down the rivers - bangladesh

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stone-quarry near the indian border. More than 2000 men, women and children work here. Next to the shore of the Meghna-River they dig for stones which will be used for construction-work in the south

“we have a lot of experience and knowledge about the Jamuna, because we live on the river :

The Jamuna is our mother. And because we live on the Jamuna, we have to cope with the river. We have learned from our anchestors how to deal with the river, how to survive ...”

Rocks are hard to come by in Bangladesh, a large part of whose expanse was formed by the silt carried in by the Ganga and the Jamuna/Brahmaputra rivers. There is a lot of stone quarrying done in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the only mountainous area in Bangladesh. The hardest rocks, however, are the ones that roll down across the border from the Garo and Khasi Hills of Meghalaya in India. The river Pyong brings water and sand from the Meghalaya hills into the district of Sylhet. But more importantly, it brings rocks. During the monsoon, the rushing waters wash down rocks and pebbles from India into Jaflong-area/Bangladesh. With dawn every day, more than a hundred little boats with labourers enter the Pyong river, buckets and spades in hand. Each boat generally has a team of three, and one of them goes into the water to gather a bucketful of stones and pebbles. Then there are others who pick out plots on the dry river bed and get to work digging pits in order to extract stones as there is not enough for all the boats in the flowing river. This is one trade which has a geological limit. The stones that tumble down the riverbed from India are decreasing in volume, and the labourers are already taking the risk of invading the no-man´s land in the Indo-Bangla border

men diging for stones. Later the material will be sold for construction work

women dig, select and carry sand from the nearby Meghna-River which will be sold for construction work on one of the nearby markets

Syhlet-Division; workers argue about money with the owner of a stone-quarry

the shovel reflects the exhausted girl who for years now works in one of the stone quarries along the Surma-River.

“... but you are young so everything will be better this year But this year things have gotten worse, continuing last year´s pattern of degeneration. You are afraid of the future, frightend by the prospect of the twenty first century, that “new era” about which politicians are fond of talking“

day-labourers at the Surma-River. Without housing facilities just calling what they wear their property, they sleep where they work. Everybody who can is in the stone quarries helping the family to survive. Children too young to work are left behind in the burning sun

fishermen near Dhaka

women dig, select and carry sand from the nearby Meghna-River which will be sold for construction work on one of the nearby markets

Char-community during the harvest

boat-puller on his way to the south

fishermen near Dhaka

women dig, select and carry sand from the nearby Meghna-River which will be sold for construction work on one of the nearby markets

fishermen on preparations before leaving for an illegal trip in indian waters

bamboo-cutter arrives at the capital Dhaka.
He brings bamboo -tied to a raft- down from the tribal areas where it was cut. The trunks will be recutted and the sold on the market

women on preparation for Durga-Puja, the most important Hindu festival. Statues of the goddess Durga astride a lion with her 10 hands holding 10 different weapons, are placed in every Hindu temple. Celebrations last four days culminating on the day of the full moon when the statue is moved to the banks of a river or pond amidst much dancing and drum beating. After sunset the goddess is carried into the water to dissolve

drum beating on the last day of Durga-Puja, the most important Hindu festival. Statues of the goddess Durga astride a lion with her 10 hands holding 10 different weapons, are placed in every Hindu temple. Celebrations last four days culminating on the day of the full moon when the statue is moved to the banks of a river or pond amidst much dancing and drum beating. After sunset the goddess is carried into the water to dissolve

marriage within a Char-community

no education and a skyrocketing illiteracy-rate: fieldwork of a local NGO on one of the Chars (floating islands in the river)

after unloading the boat the stone-collectors collect pigs down to Dhaka making the journey as efficient as possible

alcohol-smugglers ariving at Dhaka after a ten-day trip all the way down from the Indian border

worker at Chittagong port

construction worker at the Burigonga-River in Dhaka

collecting of icecubes for conserving the fish-catch during a two-week trip

with proper equipment it took the men in the UK a couple of hours to load the three-container-cargo ship. Here at the port of Chittagong thirty men in three shifts need one week to unload one of the containers with bare hands