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June 2008 Welcome to the first issue of the Symbiosis Newsletter for 2008. Sorry that we have not formally communicated with you for a while, but much has been happening in Symbiosis in Bangladesh and in Australia as we move the organization forward in its new life as Symbiosis International. We promise to send out more regular newsletters from now on.
Life for the majority of Bangladeshis continues to be tough - when was it not so? The floods and Cyclone Sidr last year destroyed much of the rice crop and the effects of that, combined with the world shortage of food, are still affecting average Bengalis – seen in long queues of people waiting for rice from aid stations.
But that’s why we are here and why Symbiosis exists. It only increases the urgency of the work we are involved in. Symbiosis continues to grow. Our Bengali staff are becoming more educated and skilled and are being provided with more tools to improve their outreach. Village children are being educated, women are being empowered through basic education, families are healthier because they are learning about nutrition and about more effective ways to grow vegetables and families are earning more income as a result of participation in savings groups. Lives are being transformed in a way that is long term and sustainable.
 The McClintocks
As Jeff and Leah McClintock and family return to Australia in late June, after four years of great service to Symbiosis and the people of Bangladesh we want to reflect on some of the terrific achievements they have been associated with.
JEFF
Jeff McClintock has had a great impact on the work of Symbiosis in Bangladesh over the last four years. He initially spent a lot of time helping the local Bengali staff write and polish Project Proposals and Reports, but he also spent a lot of time teaching the staff, both formally and informally, and improving their ability to do these tasks themselves. It’s known as “capacity building” and has been part of a process of ensuring that the Bengali staff will be able to communicate far better in the future with Funding Organizations and Visitors.
A highlight of this work was the production of the Symbiosis Annual Report for 2006-07, a professionally presented report in full colour with a good balance of statistics and personal stories of staff and beneficiaries of the Symbiosis projects. As Jeff has said, it is a far cry from the very basic first Annual Report that he also helped staff with when he first visited Bangladesh about 11 years ago (You can still get a copy of the latest report from the Symbiosis web site – see below). 
MADARGANJ MULTIPURPOSE COMMUNITY CENTRE
Jeff has also recently been involved in the development of a new community centre at Madarganj. This is one of our project areas and was particularly affected by the very bad flooding in Bangladesh last year. When Jeff was near this area after the floods last year he asked to see some of the houses of some Symbiosis group members that had apparently been “damaged” by river erosion. He says: “I was totally unprepared for the situation I found myself in. There were no houses at all - they had been completely swept away. In true Bengali fashion, there were no tears amongst the families present, just a sense of resignation.”
In response to this Symbiosis has purchased some land and begun construction of a building that is above flood level and that can be used for Symbiosis project work year-round, but also be used as a flood shelter when the next floods come – as they surely will. The land also includes a large pond which will be used to train the villagers in basic fish farming and an area which will be developed as a kitchen garden for training in vegetable growing. We have been blessed to get some initial funding for the building from the Australian High Commission in Bangladesh which is a significant achievement for us. LEAH & SPECS
The SPECS (Symbiosis Primary Eye Care Service) project has been a big step forward for Symbiosis and for eye care in  Bangladesh. Symbiosis had been running ad hoc Eye Camps in rural communities for some time using outside eye care professionals, but Leah saw a need for a more systematic program using professionals employed and trained by Symbiosis in Bangladesh. The SPECS Project that has resulted is a pioneering initiative in the field of eye care in Bangladesh. This is really taking eye care to the villagers rather than waiting for them to come to the eye care.
After many setbacks and frustrations over two years, SPECS is up and running and doing good work. Symbiosis has two newly graduated refractionists to carry out the eye testing – Mizan and Laki. Laki is probably the first female refractionist in Bangladesh.
As well as writing a training manual, Leah has developed a set of Flip Charts, consisting of pictures on one side and text on the other side. This sort of resource is vital when working in villages where many people are illiterate. This resource will hopefully be used by other eye care organizations.
According to our CEO, it is likely that Symbiosis is the only organization doing systematic eye testing of children in Bangladesh.
Stephanie Chen, an optometrist from Australia, will be in Bangladesh for two months from early June to continue teaching our new refractionists after Leah leaves. It helps to have a sense of humour Bangladesh has a big electric power problem – they don’t have enough! The country’s power stations don’t have the capacity to generate all the power that people need. The situation has been getting worse as secondary industry tries to expand and domestic demand increases. “Load shedding” is a fact of life throughout Bangladesh as the authorities attempt to share the available power around and maintain supplies to valuable export industries.
As some people in Australia (and other parts of the developed world) were observing Earth Hour earlier this year, from our position of great wealth and comfort, Jeff McClintock sent the following message from Bangladesh: “Just wondering how everyone went with Earth Hour? With help from Bangladesh's 'Ministry of Loadshedding', the McClintock family have been doing our bit by marking 'earth hour' two or three times per day for over a month now. Candlelit dinners are no longer romantic.” Diary of events and travels
4 June for 2 months Stephanie Chen (optometrist) in Bangladesh.
5 June – 2 July Morris Lee in Bangladesh and Thailand for Team Leader’s Conference.
8 June – 26 June Cavan and Lyn Brown in Bangladesh.
14 June – 2 July Graeme Johnson in Bangladesh.
19 June Jeff, Leah, Calum, Tilly and Meg McClintock return home toAustralia.
26 June- early August Jenyns family on holidays and attending conference in Thailand and Australia.
27 June – 17 July Dave Vance in Bangladesh – monitoring the fisheries project.
14 July – 24 July Kyle and party from South Australia in Bangladesh. Kyle is State Director of in South Australia.
20 July for 6 months Steve and Jeanette Noolan in Bangladesh. They will be helping with English teaching and Computer training/Fisheries/BIO Fuel Research.
21 July – 8 August Morris Lee in Bangladesh.
Saturday 25 October Symbiosis International Annual General Meeting in Brisbane, including some guests from Symbiosis, Bangladesh. Needs
Anthony Jenyns has recently had to spend an excessive (and unexpected) amount of his time in Bangladesh in helping with repairs to the Symbiosis vehicles. We really need an expatriate to go to Bangladesh, preferably long term, who can identify mechanical problems, ensure quality of repairs, oversee the maintenance of the vehicles, as well as the Fisheries Project generators, water pumps and tube wells and, in particular, train those who look after them. If you can help or know someone…………. Symbiosis on the Web
Check out the following sites on the Web for more information on Symbiosis and for images of people and work in Bangladesh. Symbiosis International Home. Still being developed. Download the Symbiosis 2006-07 Annual Report and see short videos of some Symbiosis projects. www.symbiosis-int.org Phil Hirst from WA visited Bangladesh early in 2008. He has posted many wonderful images of Bangladeshi people and the training work carried out at Symbiosis by 4 hairdressers from WA. (NB You will be asked to log in or join Facebook) Album 1 Album 2 Album 3 Dave Vance has posted some images of people and work in Bangladesh. David's Album A Symbiosis Group has been started on Facebook. (NB You will be asked to log in or join Facebook) Symbiosis Facebook Group  Membership Renewal Form
- Click here to view form - Please click on the small print icon to print the form off to be sent away. |
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