Sylvia's Journal

Despite taking a double dose of the Ayurvedic sleep medicine it did not deliver on its name (‘I Sleep Soundly) during the final stretch to Dhaka. Aside from the medicine there were the wide seats that practically extended horizontal and several soft pillows, but none of that helped. I think I was beyond tired by then.

As luck had it, the gentleman across the aisle was heading exactly the same way as I was, to BRAC, and a co-conspirator in the sense that he too wants BRAC’s school of public health to be the best that it can be. He is a fellow OD (public admin) person, who flew in from Kenya. He introduced himself by saying, “I think we have a friend in common.” That was Jon.

This coincidence added a new dimension to my preparations for the retreat and I flooded him with questions. He could describe the BRAC side (as opposed to the university side) and clear up some things I did not understand about the financial part of the picture. The best things I retained from our conversation is that things at BRAC evolve rather organically – like stem cells dividing and coming together in clusters that then form a system that performs a particular set of tasks. This appeals greatly to me.

And then everyone around me went to sleep (and I tried). It was another half empty cabin (only the business class) and things were quiet while we overflew the enormous subcontinent. One of the flight attendants was studying safety procedures. I peeked over her shoulder at the questions. The answers were sobering, like: ‘How long do you have before impact after the captain says ‘Brace!”?’ (Answer: half a minute.) I hoped she’d never have to put that knowledge to the test. Knowing is one thing, but acting wisely and according to the lesson plan in an emergency another thing entirely.

Getting through immigration and out of the airport was a cinch with my shiny new virgin passport and its only stamp, good for multiple entries into Bangladesh. There was no waiting for luggage and I hitched a ride that was waiting for my companion to the BRAC Inn where I installed myself for the duration of my short stay in Dhaka.

Around lunchtime I walked over to the school and had a very productive meeting with some of the key actors to whittle the agenda down to two main challenges. Lunch consisted of a glass of coca cola, a white (Western) sandwich and two very spicy fried veggie-curry balls, everything washed away with an authentic Nescafe which always brings back early coffee memories from home (I was blissfully ignorant that Nescafe was actually not really coffee until I was 18).

Back at the hotel I cross checked with my travelling companion whether the new design made sense and then took a badly needed nap. After that more cross checking with Jon (in South Africa) and preparing soome flipcharts.

I was too groggy to eat out and ordered a vegetable Thala (like the Indian Thalis) that was brought to my room. And with that I have come to the end of the runup for tomorrow’s event. The only thing left to do is a warm bath, pack my bag and have a normal night of sleep.