Gerrit ten Broeke in Bangladesh

Yesterday we agreed with Pankash in the village Santospur to become our second mushroom farmer in partnership with Renaissance, he started immediately preparing his land for construction. Today we visited Partho, brother of my friend Shuvo, in hospital in Khulna, he broke his leg seriously in a motorcycle accident. During our trip we met a shepherd with pigs ! Renaissance created a computer training room for all the youthclub members of their 5 VSO villages.
I enjoy my morning walk with Sattay, we visit several strawberry field and meet a lot of people
The first strawberry started coloring red.

Sunday evening I finally arrived in Chitalmari. Traveling outside Dhaka is very difficult , only a few busses are available because of the violent strikes. The best way is to get a domestic flight to Jessore and therefore I had to stay in Dhaka for an extra 2 days. In the meantime I visited the brand new VSO office and repaired my computer. I stay in my apparment at Renaissance office and was welcomed very heartly by a lot of people, even my old spider was there !

Wednesday 21 of January I will leave for Bangladesh. I stay 2 weeks in Chitalmari at Renaissance,my former employer by VSO. The main goal is to support strawberry and mushroom farmers in the rural areas. I received money from a local Dutch foundation , Winkel van Sinkel Grubbenvorst ( http://winkelvansinkel-pmc.nl) and also from some close friends to buy strawberry saplings, build mushroom cultivation houses, invest in marketing and distribution ect. The strawberry saplings are already planted in December, so hope to taste the first fruits.
I look forward to meet old friends again and to taste the atmosphere of this dynamic country.