Grade 5 Boat Trip

I've been on a lot of boat trips since arriving in Dhaka, once during new staff orientation, once with the book club.  Yesterday, was my third!  This time, I went with the entire grade 5.  In the spring, the 5th graders begin working on something called Exhibition, where they get into small groups and research a global or local issue they are passionate about and prepare presentations.  It's a very intense project that takes quite a while to develop and make it a worthwhile experience for everyone.  I'll be starting this at the tail end of my stint in grade 5 this spring, so I'm already trying to be involved in their planning.

The boat trip was to get students out of their "Dhaka bubble."  It's easy for expats to simply go to school, go to the American club (or other nationality clubs), vacation in Thailand, etc, never really seeing what it's like to actually live in Bangladesh.  So, the boat trip was organized to be a sort of "in your face" exposure to the issues that Bangladeshis face.

We took 3 boats down the river, observing life on the water and the villages near the edge.  Each boat stopped at a different village to walk around, observe, and learn what life there is like and how it compares to ours.  Really interesting trip and really got the kids thinking!

So excited to see one of the other grade 5 boats!!

We drew quite the crowd.

One of the nicer houses.  This was a pretty wealthy village, quite a few cement structures and lots of cows!

This village's school.  The younger kids come to school in the mornings and the older kids come in the afternoons.

Inside the classroom.  Also, our kids found it entertaining that the teacher here just carried her baby around on her hip... They said Mrs. Kitto should do that... but then I disagreed because I'd be out of a job!

Welcome to Bangladesh!  Everyone is always so interested in you and what you're doing.

Kitchens are much different than ours!  The kids were fascinated to learn that the people here use their hands to dry out cow patties to later burn as fuel!