Bangladeshi workers attacked by ghosts

September 24th, 2008 | By Kelsey | No Comments »

You live in a country without a government.

You earn $25/month.

The price of rice is increasing, but your wages aren’t.

And if that wasn’t enough, now ghosts are attacking you at work on your bathroom break.

From Bangladesh’s New Age newspaper (9/13/08):

The ghost panic

The so-called ‘ghost panic’ in factories first surfaced after a section of workers vandalised Diganto Sweater’s factory in Gazipur, following rumours of the deaths of a few workers as a result of ‘ghost attack’ in a toilet of the factory.

… Five workers of Diganta Sweater claimed that they saw ‘witches’ before they fainted inside factory’s toilet. They were taken to a nearby clinic where physicians found that none of them had sustained any injury.

What the Doctors are saying

‘They fainted because of weakness. I found that their blood pressure and heart beat was too low,’ said Abdur Rahman, chairman of Sheba Diagnostic Hospital.
He said his hospital treated, on an average, 100 garment factory workers suffering from anxiety-related illness every month.
‘Poor garment workers suffer mainly from malnutrition and anxiety, which make them weak and vulnerable to nervous breakdown,’ said Rahman.

What the supervisors are saying

‘Most garment factory workers lead sad or stormy domestic lives, which affects their behaviour in workplaces,’ Mohammad Hanif, who supervises about 3,000 workers at Shapla Garments, told New Age on Friday.
‘They are too weak because they cannot manage to eat regular meals either because of time constraint or because they simply fail to make both ends meet with whatever wages they get after such strenuous labour in the factories,’ said Hanif.
Most workers have to work for 10 to 14 hours a day and do not even get a chance to sit idle for a minute, he added.

The article goes on to describe some of the ghost attacks and how some are trying to remedy them with exorcisms.

A tip to the Bangladeshi garment industry: Less exorcisms, more food.

While it’s easy to make light of this situation - “simple, uneducated folks think they’re being attacked by ghosts in the bathroom, ha, ha” (heck, even the article calls them “mostly uneducated”), the reality in which this news tid bit exists is truly terrifying.

Ohio companies selling sweatshop wares to state

July 16th, 2008 | By Kelsey | No Comments »

It’s not everyday underwear workers in Bangladesh make the news in Ohio, but there are exceptions:

This story in the Hudson Times

Of all of the Anti-sweatshop movements, I think protesting against how the government spends their money is the most effective. Voters should have a say where their money goes. Besides, if anyone should support American business it’s the government.

The main champions of this cause are the passionate folks at Sweatfree Communities.

Bangladeshi woman goes from child laborer to respected and deeply feared force

June 24th, 2008 | By Kelsey | No Comments »

The story in the Washington Post: On the Factory Floor, an Activist Is Born

Cleaning out my news story files

April 29th, 2008 | By Kelsey | 3 Comments »

Prada – Made in Italy by imported Chinese workers (LA Times)

Excerpt:

Thousands of Tuscan factories that produce the region’s fabled leather goods are now operated and staffed by Chinese. Though located in one of Italy’s most picturesque and tourist-frequented regions, many of the factories are nothing more than sweatshops with deplorable conditions and virtually indentured workers.

Chinese laborers have become such an integral cog in the high-fashion wheel that large Chinatowns have sprung up here and in Florence. Signs in Chinese, Italian and sometimes English advertise prontomoda (ready-to-wear). At the main public hospital in Prato, the maternity ward on a recent morning was a cacophony of 40 squalling babies, 15 of them Chinese. “Mi chiamo Zhong Ti,” one of the crib tags said — “My name is Zhong Ti.”

My thoughts: Made in USA doesn’t always mean what it says either. Sometimes it means made in Saipan or by imported workers in LA.

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Sweatshop Shrimp Made in Thailand/Bangladesh

Excerpt:

Interviews with workers showed arduous conditions including “long hours, low pay, abusive employers, informal work, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, and the vulnerability of migrant workers.” (Bangkok Post)

My thoughts: Like the garment industry, but with unpredictable seas.

—-

Big denim factory opens in Nicaragua

Excerpt:

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may relate to, among other things, ITG’s future plans, revenue, earnings, outlook, expectations and strategies, and are based on management’s current beliefs. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes to the facts or assumptions underlying these statements (from Joshua Berman).

My thoughts: The above excerpt concludes the press release. I would prefer the include their “we made most of this crap up” statement at the beginning so I can not waste my time.

—-

Happiness author writes about servant

Excerpt:

One spring, puberty arrived, and suddenly I was the “father” of a hormonal Indian teenager. Once, while I was out of town, Kailash and a few friends rented porn movies and a VCR. I was appalled but also secretly pleased by his initiative. Whenever I asked Kailash about his aspirations, he demurred. “Whatever you want me to do, sir,” he would say. “As you wish.” (NY TIMES)

My thoughts: I’ve been falling asleep to Eric Weiner’s Geography of Bliss for a few months now. To be fair, it keeps me up on occasion. It’s a worldwide quest to find the happiest place on Earth. It’s worth a read.

Bangladesh garment workers want wages to rise with soaring costs of food

April 23rd, 2008 | By Kelsey | 1 Comment »

15,000 workers go on strike. When you earn $25/month and rice is 25 cents a pound, something has gotta give.

Happy Bengali New Year

April 14th, 2008 | By Kelsey | No Comments »

Last year on this day I celebrated Pohela Boishakh with Bibi Russell and her gang of models, weavers, and fashion designers. Basically the day was the exact opposite of a New Year celebration in the USA.

Instead of staying up late we got up early.

Instead of drinking lots of alcohol we drank lots of water because alcohol isn’t really socially acceptable in Bangladesh; not too mention if we didn’t drink water, we would have died of dehydration.

Instead of dancing with our hips, we danced with our shoulders.

(I’m the one in the yellow shirt)

Fantasy Kingdom on the World Vision Report

March 24th, 2008 | By Kelsey | No Comments »

You might remember my piece in the Christian Science Monitor titled “Frivolous gift or lifelong memory?” in which I take 20 kids and an old man into a Bangladeshi amusement park. If you were too lazy to read it, now all you have to do is sit back and listen to my hick %$#@ redneck accented voice (as a recent YouTube commenter called it) read it to you.

Listen to Fantasy Kingdom on the WVR

Enjoy. Ya’ll come back now…ya hear?

Bibi Russell on the World Vision Report

March 1st, 2008 | By Kelsey | 1 Comment »

The World Vision Report aired my interview with model/designer/saint/UN Ambassador Bibi Russell. They mixed the interview with some Bangladeshi music and I think it turned out quite good. Especially, since it’s my first ever recorded piece to air.

Listen to it now.

Bibi plays an important part in my book. Here’s how the chapter she’s featured in starts out:

“Now is a good time,” Bibi said. “The electricity is out.”

I have never interviewed a supermodel before or even talked to one, for that matter. I never expected that she would be there - up three flights of stairs off the chaotic streets of Dhaka sitting in the dark.

When she stood I almost said, “Boy, you sure are tall and skinny,” but I didn’t. I would say dumber things later.

“Do you smoke?” She asked in her elegant, full-bodied smoker’s voice.

“No…”

“Good,” she said.

“But go ahead.” As if she needed my permission to smoke in her own office.

What’s really happening in this pic

February 21st, 2008 | By Kelsey | 7 Comments »

I was scrolling through photos the other day, searching out details, and I came across the photo below. It seems like a nice photo of me and some Bangladeshi garment workers, doesn’t it? Well, you don’t know the whole story. I had forgotten all about it. Such memories are repressed.

See that dude to the right of me? I don’t want to go into details, but as this pic was taken, he was trying to molest me. If you look close, you can see my innocence drifting away. Following this photo, he received a quick elbow to the ribs and then he disappeared, back to whatever creepy lair he crawled out of.

New World Vision Report Interview

February 19th, 2008 | By Kelsey | 1 Comment »

I recorded another interview for the World Vision Report about Where am I Wearing?. We recorded this one from Ball State’s David Letterman communication center. If you’ve listened to the previous interviews there’s not much new in this one, but it is much clearer. All of the other interviews were recorded continents away over the phone. This one was recorded over an ISDN line in the studio and it sounds like I’m in the same room with Peggy, the host, even though she was in Texas. It’s part of a one-hour special on fashion that will appear on many NPR stations across the country.

I’ve yet to hear myself on the radio, which would be a hoot. But last week a fella I met in China emailed me after hearing one of my previous interviews I recorded via phone in Cambodia, with Peggy was in Texas, with the producer in Seattle, and the editor in North Carolina. The World Vision Report works from a virtual office.

We live in a virtual world. This is a good thing for a writer living in Indiana.