Where in the World is Shammi?
HOME!
I got home on June 11th, flew in at Zia International Airport in Dhaka at night which is Bangladesh’s capital and not my home. Home sweet home is Chittagong. The first person I saw was Abba (Bengali for dad). I put out my T-mobile phone card from my razor and inserted my local SIM card and dialed my father. We talked through the glass coz I hadn’t been cleared through my immigration paperwork yet. A year is a long time not to see abba.
I couldn’t rest very long at Chittagong. Although I am home, I have a HUMONGOUS project to carry out. I am working, with a friend, to implement a youth leadership training program that incorporates three different types of kids in my hometown. There are three schooling systems here: English (of which yours sincerely is a product of) a.k.a. rich, spoilt kids, (which yours sincerely is NOT), Bengali (the state language and state supported schools) more middle class, and Islamic madrassas (which focus a lot on Islamic/religious education). There is great disconnect between peers of these three mediums. We want to bring these kids together in the spirit of responsible leadership through community service. The project was one of the winners of the Davis Peace Prize 2008 (
English kid: OMG! Doooddee, I just learnt this killer break dance move from Step Up2.
Bengali kid: I must have perfect grades so that I can go to a good university to support my family.
Madrassa kid: I am sidelined because people think I am a ‘Islamic fundamentalist’. I will get rejected from a top-brass job because I have a beard and wear the Islamic cap.
Disclaimer: I am grossly stereotyping and would probably get shot if any of the kids saw this blog!
I started work on this almost immediately after I got here. We are working here with a partner organization. So the rest of June and the WHOLE of July has been swallowed up in getting applicants for the program, screening applications, getting a venue, training facilitators, keeping track of thousands of dollars, making ten gazillions phone calls, answering ten gazillion phone calls, and basically going nuts. But by the grace of God, the program has kicked and is running with AMAZING colors. The kids are so enthusiastic, so positive, they have been bonding really well, and they really believe they can make a change in their community and country. We went for a field trip to a local slum yesterday. The kids have to design community service projects that cater to the need of the slum dwellers. Example: one group came up with the idea of directing a play with the children of the slum to demonstrate the dangers of illiteracy, so that families send their children to school.
Program will end on August 16th with a huge graduation ceremony inshAllaah. The kids deserve it, they have been working their gluts off. True my summer is being swallowed whole with backbreaking work, and I am actually looking forward to the time when I will be back on campus doing solid mechanics classes and annoying psets (aaahhh good times ;))) But this will be an experience for me to remember for the rest of my life and it might have even changed the course of my life.
P.S. I am also guilty of treason. I have returned to my karate club, and have been training there for the whole summer. BUT I have been practicing my TKD kicks on my kicking bag and on my karate-mates. I made my club use the same warm-up drills like plyo jumps that we do at practice. There were a lot of groans when I made everyone do the plank for 40s!
P.P.S The whole credit for this entry to THE Mary. She threatened never to cut weight to make me spar heavy for the rest of my life.
05 Aug 2008 ShammiQ
Shammi, I am so proud of you! The program you are running sounds incredible. As much as you are never going to forget the experience, I am certain it is even more memorable for the kids whose lives you have changed through your vision for your country and community. You will become their inspiration for the great things that *they* themselves will carry out in the not too distant future. Stories like your make me believe idealism is not dead, and that it *is* possible to make the world a better place.
PS As far as the INCTL goes, I’m so solidly middle weight, there’s no chance I’m ever going to be legitimately heavy. On the other hand, if I ever actually start getting better at sparring, you might get a break from being faux-heavy. But think of it like this:
There is a chinese story of a man who raced horses. The horse races were conducted so that each person enters three horses, and the winner is the one who has the most number of overall wins. Most people raced their best horses against each other, their second best horses and their least favored respectively. This man knew he did not have the fastest horses. But, he had a clever plan. He entered his worst horse in the tier I race, then placed his best horse against everyone else’s second best horse. Then raced his second most-favored horse against his challengers’ worst horses, winning the overall race.
So, maybe, on C team, (I hope) Master Chuang will put the best player (you) against the slowest/heaviest, and keep me on middle…I just realized this isn’t very complimentary for the light weight, but this is a horrible example. After all, why use that strategy when you can win all three. In any case, take one for the team. And keep bloggin!
Come back soon, we miss you.
shammi, i still have your helmet. come back soon and get it or i’m selling it to the yellow belts.