Hello Bangladesh!
My name is Johanna Reichel and I am a volunteer at Mati Bangladesh. In the following weeks, I will write something from time to time for this news portal where I share my thoughts and experiences with you all. Today, I just want to present myself to you all.
As you say, here, I am a “Bideshi”, a foreigner. My home country is Germany where I live together with my mother, father, sister, and a dog in a small house near to Munich. In my free time, I do a lot with my friends, like to visit museums and play volleyball.
I arrived Dhaka one month ago and I already feel at home here. Back in Germany, I was not really productive. I just have finished my A-Levels and did not know what to do afterward. I just knew that I wanted to take a gap year between A-Levels and studying. And because I love exploring new countries and adventures, I wanted to travel.
Johanna Reichel in Germany
So, I sat down in Germany and thought how could I see new things in a new country? Well, in Germany, the most common thing to do in the gap year is work and travel to Australia or New Zeeland. It is known that the places over there are packed with German people and also the work you do there is not really the best one.
I did not like the idea of doing the same thing as 100,000 other people. I always liked the idea of visiting Asia as I have never been there before. After doing some research on the Internet, I found out that I wanted to do volunteer work. With the help of my mother, I quickly found the NGO Mati Bangladesh and now I am here. At the Mati office in Mymensingh, I’m writing my first ever article which has got published.
Johanna Reichel in Bangladesh
The question might arise what I am doing here at Mati. Well, the great thing is that I can participate in every project here if I want to. My main work is the SSP interviews. SSP is short for Student Support Program. This program supports poor families with money so their children can go to school and are not forced to marry somebody or to work at an early age. For this, I write German summaries about the families so the German people who pay them money can have an insight into their lives.
I hope, I can get to know the Bangladeshi culture better in the nine months I will stay here. Furthermore, I hope to be able to help this country to prevent some bad difficulties in the long run.
