My name is Marianne. I am a fourth year Geography student from Paris. My brother works for an NGO in London. A daughter of one of his colleagues had a good experience in CRP and this is how I was introduced to CRP.

I first visited CRP with my friend Abdou for one month in August 2002. We worked as general volunteers and were involved in activities with the patients and the Special Needs School. We also assisted with painting the Halfway Hostel’s rooms for patients.

I returned to Paris very enthusiastic about both the centre and the country. Thus, I decided to write my Masters Degree dissertation about the geography of health care access for disabled people in Bangladesh. This required a three month placement. CRP warmly welcomed me again. It was a real challenge because English (the language of most other volunteers and the second language of most of CRP’s employees) is not my mother tongue. In addition, Bangladesh is a hard country and it was the first time I had carried out any research. During the three months I tried to understand the particularities of Bangladesh as a Muslim country and as a developing country. I also studied the way CRP is run. For that, I made home visits with the Social Welfare Department and micro credit visits with the Micro Credit Officer. I interviewed patients and staff members and spent lots of time reading files and books for reference in the Bangladesh Health Professions Institute (BHPI) library. In addition, I attended clinical placement in several hospitals in Dhaka with occupational therapy and physiotherapy students and supervisors. As I am not even used to the hospital environment in France it all came as a big shock to me.

In my study I wanted to stress the comparison between access, quality, quantity and equity of the provision of healthcare. I managed to establish a good network of links with other NGOs and institutional bodies to conduct interviews and to compare their activities with those of CRP. These organisations included Centre for Disability and Development (CDD); Immunisation and Other Child Projects (IOCH); World Health Organisation (WHO); National Forum of Organisations Working in the Field of Disability (NFOWD). I was interested in making a comparison between the location and the type of treatment provided and particularly in the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) context which could be the key to reducing inequality to health care access in such a rurally dominated country.

My Life in CRP

For three months I stayed in the Guest House. The accommodation is basic but Mary, who is in charge of the Guest House, took care of us. It was a privilege to be in CRP as a student (as opposed to a volunteer) and that’s why I tried to get involved in some CRP events: CRP Open Days in January; patients’ outing to Mymensingh in February; organisation of a children’s party in March. I would like to take this opportunity to thank CRP staff for giving me the opportunity to carry out my research.

I also tried to travel around Bangladesh. I went to the Sunderbans with two physiotherapy volunteers and to Cox’s Bazaar and Chittagong with another three physiotherapists. On the latter trip we attended a VSO conference and visited a hospital and a leprosy mission. I was also planning to go to CRP-Gobindapur (one of CRP’s sub-centres in the Sylhet area). Unfortunately the political situation prevented me from doing this but luckily I managed to visit the centre on my first trip to Bangladesh.

In my research I tried to explain how geography is important to understand the way people have to move from their homes to get treatment according to social, cultural, economic and religious factors. The networks between NGOs and institutional bodies and the location of the health centres determine the health care access of people with disabilities.

My Life in Bangladesh

I would like to highlight some points about life in Bangladesh. The fact that I had been to CRP before was helpful for me in terms of re-adapting. People’s lives are difficult in Bangladesh and sometimes the cultural differences are hard to bear, more especially as a female. There are some rules which have to be obeyed in order to show respect in Bangladesh as a Muslim country. I think that understanding these basic rules (such as dress code and behaviour) is essential to enjoy and appreciate the country. It was important to share feelings and experiences with other volunteers as things are so different from Europe. Bangladesh is a country in which we have to be patient and flexible but you can never get bored! On returning from Bangladesh you’re likely to feel different about things. My second trip has definitely complemented my first one. Perhaps I shall come back a third time. Who knows?