Kristin Boekhoff

2010-05-26T08:33:00.001+06:00

Typical Day
March 25, 2010

Many people have asked me what is your typical day like? I think that yesterday was a good example:

Drive to my bank in Farmgate
When I get there they tell me I have gone to the wrong branch, so I drive down to Motijheel
My motorcycle runs out of gas on the way
I walk my motorcycle to the gas station and refuel
I arrive at the Bank and they tell me I have to go home and get more paperwork
I go to an investor meeting at the Sonargaon Hotel
I go to Dhanmondi to visit my architect and discuss the resort master plan
I drive back to Gulshan, run home, shower, and change
I go to tango practice
I go to a party at the U.S. Ambassador's house
I drive to the airport to pick up my interns
I take my interns out to dinner and tell them they will have a crazy summer!

2010-03-18T16:26:00.005+06:00

Company Formation in Bangladesh - Part VII
Annual Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC) Filing
March 18, 2010

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

In this blog entry I will discuss:

First Annual General Meetings
Overseas document attestation
Annual RJSC Filing
Filing documents with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC)
Audited Financials

First Annual General Meeting
Within 18 months of forming your company with the RJSC you are required to hold a first annual general meeting. There you can make resolutions, update the shareholders on the progress of your company, etc. Before the meeting, you need to create an agenda, signed by either the Managing Director or the Chairman; after you have the meeting, you need to type up minutes of the meeting (which can include any resolutions you may have passed). These minutes need to be signed by all of the Board Members present at the meeting. The signed minutes then need to be filed with the RJSC (see below).

Overseas Document Attestation
If one (or more) of your Board Members resides overseas (or is traveling overseas at the time when they need to sign a document), you will need to have the foreign signature attested by the Bangladesh Embassy in their country of residence (or visitation) before it can be filed. The process for each country is different, so check with the Bangladesh Embassy in the country where the signatory resides for the specific rules.

I can tell you that the rules for the U.S. are quite cumbersome; it took me six weeks to have one document properly attested. The Bangladesh Embassy in the U.S. said that for them to attest it, it had to be signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka (if the document originated overseas, which it did) and the United States State Department first. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wouldn't attest it until the Ministry of Commerce had attested it, and the Ministry of Commerce wouldn't attest it until the Chamber of Commerce had attested it, and the Chamber of Commerce wouldn't attest it until it was notarized. Also, the U.S. State Department wouldn't attest it until it had been attested by the Secretary of the state where the signatory resided, and they wouldn't attest it until it had been notarized by a U.S. notary; hence the six weeks! So if you want to have a document (that originates in Bangladesh) signed in the U.S., you must follow these steps IN ORDER:

Have the people who live in Bangladesh sign the document
Have the document notarized by a Bangladeshi notary public
Take the document to the Chamber of Commerce and have them attest it
Take the document to the Ministry of Commerce and have them attest it
Take the document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have them attest it
Send your document to the person in the U.S. who will sign
Have them sign the document in front of a U.S. notary in the state where they reside
Send the document to the Secretary of the state where they live (i.e. Florida Secretary of State) and have them attest it.
Send the document to the U.S. Department of State and have them attest it.
The U.S. Department of State will then send the document directly to Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, D.C. for the final attestation.
The Bangladesh Embassy will send the document back to the U.S. signatory who can then mail it back to Bangladesh.

The U.S. State Department and the Secretaries of the various states all have websites that explain the exact procedures for their attestations. Start with the Bangladesh Embassy website in the country you need the signature from though...

Annual RJSC Filing
Each year Bangladeshi companies are required to file certain documents with the RJSC:

Minutes of the annual meeting
Annual Report
Audited Financials
Form 23b
Schedule X

Fortunately, they have simplified this somewhat by allowing you to file various forms online (though because Bangladesh law does not accept the submission of hard copies you will still need to drop off the originals at RJSC...)

Filing documents with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC)
The best place to start is the RJSC website: http://www.roc.gov.bd:7781. (Note: this system ONLY works in the Internet Explorer internet browser!) All of the forms are online, so you can take a look at them, but my recommendation is to sign up for a user ID. First, you will need to create a General User ID. Go to the RJSC home page and scroll to the "Online User Access" section; there click "Create New User (General)". Create your user ID. This ID gives you limited access, but what you really want is an entity ID because that allows you to file documents online. It is a bit more difficult to get an entity ID because obviously they don't just want anybody to create an account for your company! (Which is a good thing!)

To get an entity ID, you need to first have a General User ID (which you signed up for above). Then you need to click the "Create New User (Entity)" link under the "Online User Access" section on the home page. If you are the managing director (MD), you should get permission, if you are not the MD, you will need to get a letter from the MD to be able to get an entity ID; just follow the steps on the screen. I went down to RJSC in person and they set up the account with me online, so the RJSC technician just cleared me for permission right away (since I am the MD). I am not sure how easy/ difficult this would be if you were sitting at home trying to do it. If you can afford the trip and are the MD it is probably just easiest to make a trip to the RJSC and have them do it for you (if you are not the MD, go with a signed letter from the MD giving you permission to set up the entity ID).

After both of your IDs are set up, you can log in to file your forms. "Under Online User Access" click "Entity Sign In". Enter your user ID and password (again, you must use the Internet Explorer browser). The first page it will take you to is the list of all of the annual files (annual returns) that you need to submit. You need to submit these four items:

Balance Sheet
Form 23B
Profit and Loss Account
Schedule X

Before you are allowed to submit any other changes (including your minutes of your first annual general meeting (AGM), board resolutions, and annual report).

Click on the file name to edit the information. You can save your file at any time by clicking the "Save" button on the right. You need to pay the fee and submit all of the paperwork to the RJSC the same day that you click the "Submit" button, however, so don't click "Submit" unless you are sure you can get everything done that day! To go back and see your saved files, go back to the Home page and click "View/ Edit Submitted Returns". (Even though you didn't actually submit them yet, your forms will still be there...)

When you are ready, click the Submit button, print out the Acknowledgment Page and take that to any BRAC Bank branch to pay the required fees. Then take the Acknowledgment Page and the bank receipt with printed copies of the online documents and any other hard copies that you might have (like your audited financials) down to the RJSC ON THE SAME DAY.

After you have submitted these four documents, you will be able to submit your minutes, resolutions, etc.

Audited Financials
Every year you will need to have an independent auditor review your books and create an audit. My auditor is Nurul Faruk Hasan & Co. and they are absolutely fabulous! If you need an auditor I highly recommend them; they are efficient, professional, timely, and reasonably priced. Unfortunately they don't have a website, but their phone number is: +88-02-884-0438. Each year the audits need to be filed with RJSC.

2009-06-08T07:06:00.009+06:00

Hamida's House
June 8, 2009

I have sad tidings today. My boua's village house was completely destroyed by hurricane Alia. Her parents, two brothers, and two young sons are now all living together in a tiny one room jute hut. Hamida's possessions are bundled together outside under a makeshift shelter. With the monsoon season upon us, the living conditions are quite desperate.

Hamida has tried to go to a bank to get a loan, but they would require her to repay the loan in 6 months, something which she just can not afford to do. I am trying to help her out as best I can, but because all of my money is tied up in my company right now, I am unfortunately not able to offer as much assistance as I would like. Consequently, I am asking my friends and family to contribute anything they can. I am trying to help her raise $1,500 to rebuild her home. If you can find it in your heart to donate something (even $25 helps), please click the "donate" button below. The money will go to my personal account, then I will withdraw the money in taka and give it to Hamida to rebuild her home.

Here are some photos of her home:

Hamida and Her Brother
A photo of Hamida and her brother with what remains of her house in the background.

Hamida's Possessions

All of her things are tied together outside, exposed to the monsoon rains.

Hamida's Old House
What remains of their old house.

One Room House
This is the small jute house where Hamida's parents, her two brothers, and her two young sons currently live.

Hamida thanks you for your support!!

2009-06-01T07:35:00.002+06:00

Company Formation in Bangladesh - Part VI
Amending Your BOI Registration
June 1, 2009

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

On the back of my Bangladesh Board of Investment (BOI) registration letter it says that I need to get prior permission from the Board of Investment to change anything material about my company, including the ownership. Since I will be selling shares to raise equity for my resort, I went to the BOI yesterday to find out what the procedure for that is. Apparently I don't need approval before I change the ownership, I just need to file for a registration ammendment.

When I first registered my company, my sister and I were the only two owners, so I had to register the company as a 100% foreign-owned. Some of my investors will be Bangladeshis, however, so I now need to change the type of company to a joint venture company.

In order to ammend my BOI registration I need to submit the following to Deputy Director Jebun Nessa:

Cover Letter - addressed to the director (Mamdood Alamgir) requesting a registration amendment
Revised Form 117 or Form 12 from the Joint Stock Registrar - this should list the old/ existing owners and the new owners
Joint Venture Agreement with Stamp - this should be between the original person and the new person. Needs to outline who gets how many shares as a percentage and what the roles of the new investors will be (i.e. shareholder, board member, etc.)
Particulars of the Shareholders - chart of all of the shareholders that includes: name, address, designation (i.e. "shareholder" or "managing director"), nationality, and equity percentage
Decision of the Board of Directors - minutes with date outlining the decision to change the ownership from 100% foreign owned to joint venture which includes the names of the new shareholders, position, etc.
Amendment Fee of 1,000 Tk - needs to be a pay order or bank draft made out to: "Executive Chairman and Member Secretary BOI"
Passport Copies - of all of the new shareholders. She said this was optional, but I think it is better to submit it; probably just the first page with the photos and particulars is sufficient.
Copy of the Original BOI Registration Letter - she didn't mention this, but I think that it would facilitate them finding your file. (I would staple it to the back of the cover letter.)

2009-05-17T16:29:00.002+06:00

Company Formation in Bangladesh - Part V
Investor Visas and Work Permits
May 17, 2009

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

In order to apply for my work permit, I needed an investor visa; in order to apply for my investor visa, I needed my Board of Investment (BOI) registration letter. As I mentioned in my previous post (Company Formation in Bangladesh - Part 4: BOI Registration), I submitted my BOI registration documents. They told me it would be ready in 10-12 business days, so I went back about 15 business days later to pick it up. They hadn't even started it. They told me to come back in two days; which I did. Again, they hadn't even started it and told me to come back in two more days.

Though I was quite annoyed, I remained positive and upbeat, but I firmly refused to leave that day until they had given me the BOI registration letter. I sat in Deputy Director Mizanur Rahman's office until he got annoyed and kicked me out. (For the Industrial Side of the BOI, this is who you talk to about getting BOI registration.) Then I followed my registration folder around making sure that it got to the next person in line andthat it never sat on anyone's desk longer than a few minutes. They were all very annoyed with me, but I was always friendly, so they didn't get angry. The document was almost done, but then the power went out at 4:30pm. I knew the power would not come on again before they left at 5pm, so I reluctantly agreed to go home that night after making them promise me that they would finish it first thing the next morning.

The next day I came back at 10:00am (a half an hour before the BOI opens to visitors) and again sat in the manager's office until I did finally get my registration document around 1pm.

With my BOI Registration Letter in hand, I was ready to apply for my investor visa ("PI Visa").

Investor Visa
You apply for your investor visa at the Board of Investment. It is on the same floor as registration (18th Floor), but you need to speak with Deputy Director Nafriza Shayma. Fortunately, she does seem genuinely concerned if you do not get your documents in the alotted time. Unfortunately, her staff is not as on top of things as she is.

To apply for your investor visa, you need to submit the following to Nafriza's department:

Cover letter addressed to Mamdood Alamgir (for the Industrial side of BOI) explaining that you are applying for a PI visa which lists the documents that you are submitting; also say where the letter of recommendation should be sent. It can only be to one location and it needs to be to a Bangladesh embassy or consulate in your home country (i.e. "the Bangladesh Embassy in New York.) (You need to return to your home country to get your investor visa. You can not get it in Bangladesh and you can not get it in a nearby country like Thailand or India; believe me, I tried!)
Copy of the BOI Registration Letter
Copy of the decision of the Board of Directors of your company to employ you (needs to be signed by the Chairman and Managing Director and stamped with your corporate seal.) This letter must list your name, what position you will have, your annual salary, housing allowance, "dearness" allowance, overseas allowance, house rent, conveyance allowance, entertainment allowance, bonus, other fringe benefits, monthly expenditure for household expenses like servants, car, club subscriptions, etc., and any remittance. (Only list those items that are applicable.)
Copy of your company memorandum & articles of association
Photocopy of your passport (all of the pages)
Several attested (signed and stamped with corporate seal) passport photos

They told me it would take 7-10 days to complete. I came back on the 11th day, and of course it was not done. So again, I waited all day and Nafriza made sure that her team finished it for me that day. (She was quite polite and offered me tea which made waiting much less frustrating than the first time around.)

After I had the letter, I had to go back to the U.S. to get my visa. I went to the Embassy in New York. To apply for my visa in New York, I needed:

Local Visa Application Form
Cover letter explaining why I wanted the visa. I included all of the particulars of my company: company name, company address, names of managing director and chairman, certificate of incorporation number, trade license number, tax ID number, and BOI registration number. I also wrote a flowery paragraph about how much I love Bangladesh and its people. (Which I did on recommendation of a friend and I am happy to say that it was so well received that I was given a five year investor visa when I was told that it was only possible to get a one year visa when I applied!)
Several passport photos
Copy of the BOI letter (BOI sends it directly to the Embassy, but it is good to submit a copy along with your application just in case it didn't arrive.)
Copy of my resume
Money order for $131 (check the visa fees in your country as they may vary)

I dropped off the visa application form in the morning and was able to pick up my visa in the afternoon. Unfortunately, they made a mistake on my visa and stamped it to say that "working was prohibited" which of course negated the whole point of the visa, so I needed to go back the next day and have them redo it. (Fortunately I checked before I left the country!!)

Work Permit
Upon returning to Bangladesh I was (finally!) ready to apply for my work permit! Two days after I got back, I went back to BOI and submitted the following paperwork, again to Nafriza's department:

Cover letter addressed to Mamdood Alamgir (for the Industrial side of BOI) explaining that I was applying for a work permit and listing all of the documents that I was submitting
Four copies of the Work Permit Application Form (with passport photos attached)
Copy of my BOI Registration Letter
My resume
Decision of the Board of Directors regarding my employment (see Investor Visa section above)
Full copy of my passport (all pages, including my new investor visa)
Pay order for 5,000 Tk (see below)

Again they told me it would be 7-10 business days. When I returned 14 days later, again, it was not done. They told me that I needed to submit a pay order for 5,000 Tk. Annoyed I asked them why they didn't tell me this before and they said that I only needed to pay it if my application was approved. So my advice to you is to call Nafriza 3-5 days after you submit the application and ask if you now need to bring down a pay order. Or, assume that your application will be accepted and submit the pay order when you apply. (Though I am not sure they will accept it from you at this point...)

You can get the pay order downstairs at The City Bank in the BOI building. Just go first to the side WITHOUT the tellers and tell them you need a pay order. They will fill out some paperwork and direct you to the teller side to pay. Pay for the pay order, then bring your papers back to the non-teller side and they will issue the pay order to you.

After I submitted the pay order, the man who works for Nafriza told me to come back in three days. Of course, I didn't listen to him and I waited to speak to Nafriza herself. When I did, after a bit of coaxing she agreed to push through the paperwork that day and about two hours later I had my work permit!

I have discovered that the best way to deal with the BOI is just to schedule several days to go down there and wait for all of your paperwork to go through. Sit in the hallway so that everyone sees you as they go by. Be polite, but resolute that you will not go until everything is done. Give them the time they say it will take (i.e. 10 days), but go on day 11 at 10:30am when they open and tell them that you won't leave until you get your documents. Then sit there all day (bring food, water, and some form of entertainment with you!) Every 30 minutes ask what the status is of your paperwork to make sure that it doesn't just sit on someone's desk collecting dust.

Opening Your Bank Account
So today I FINALLY opened my bank account! I went down to my bank (HSBC) and submitted my tax ID, trade license, BOI registration letter, and work permit to my banker. She told me that she would open my account by the end of the day and mail me my checks. (My banker is VERY efficient!)

When I commented on how convoluted the company/ bank account process is here, she told me that because of the craziness that I went through with my bank account, they talked to the Board of Investment and made it standard procedure to open a non-operating bank account for people who are trying to set up companies. (If you recall, I had to get special permission to open mine...) Well at least going through this process improved the system a tiny bit!

Conclusion
I would love to say that this will be my last company formation post and that I will no longer have to deal with the BOI since my company is now registered, but (alas!) I still have to apply for my liquor license. Plus, I need to get prior approval from the BOI to change ownership of the company, which means that whenever I get a new investor I need to talk to the Board of Investment first. So, alas, I am afraid the saga is not over yet...

2009-05-08T09:12:00.004+06:00

New Panigram Blog!
May 8, 2009

I have been a bit remiss in my blogging lately due to an unscheduled trip back to the U.S. to get my visa upgraded. (Yes! I now finally have my investor visa!! I will finally pick up my work permit next week!)

I did want to write a quick post to announce that I have completely revamped the Panigram Resort website. There is a lot more information up there now and the look and feel is more professional. Plus, I have started a new blog for Panigram Resort. Right now the subscription process is a bit awkward (we are still tweaking several things on the site), but if you want to subscribe to the Panigram Resort blog, click the photo of the yellow mustard field that says, "Sign up to be notified when Panigram opens". There you can select if you want to receive a resort opening notification and/or subscribe to our blog.

To avoid spamming everyone, I will just be sending out a monthly digest notification to blog subscribers so they can see the new postings for the month.

Other exciting news, Panigram's Responsible Hospitality page now ranks 13th on Google's results list (second results page). Since this is our mantra, I am happy that it ranks so prominently. Maybe it will even make it to the first page soon!

I have had more press lately too. You can check out the latest news in the Panigram Press Room.

Finally, I have also created Facebook and Twitter accounts for Panigram Resort:

Panigram Resort on Facebook: Become a fan of the Panigram Page!

Panigram Resort on Twitter: Get our tweets!

In the next few weeks I will be continuing my blog postings on company formation in Bangladesh and rammed earth mud construction...

2009-03-19T06:36:00.001+06:00

Rammed Earth Construction Part III - Preventing Erosion
February 29, 2009

(For a list of all of the Rammed Earth Construction blog entries, go to the Index Page.)

Coming soon!

This is Part 3 in a 6 part blog series. For a list of all blog entries on rammed earth construction, please see the index page.

2009-03-10T08:45:00.025+06:00

Rammed Earth Construction Part II - Mixing the Mud
February 28, 2009

(For a list of all of the Rammed Earth Construction blog entries, go to the Index Page.)

Selecting the right mud mixture is key to building a successful, durable mud or rammed earth building. Different kinds of earth have different qualities, and mixing them in the right ratio is what provides cohesion. First, here is a brief overview of the different types of mud that we will be using:

AGGREGATE
The aggregates will bear the weight of the walls and strengthen the structure. Any of these aggregates can be used in rammed earth construction. You should chose the one that is most easily available in your area. For our rammed earth project we used both pebbles and brick chips.

1) Pebbles
The pebbles are about 1/2" to 1" in diameter. Pebbles are large (comparatively) and round; like marbles, if we pile them on top of each other, they will just roll apart. Consequently we need other types of earth to adhere the pebbles together.

2) Brick Chips
This is a readily available form of aggregate in Bangladesh as there are many brick fields. The brick chips are also 1/2" to 1" in diameter. Though they are not as round and smooth as the pebbles, they will also slide if merely piled on top of each other.

3) Crushed Concrete
This is a great way to recycle old buildings. Pieces of old, crushed concrete (or rubble) can be ground into 1/2" to 1" pieces and used as aggregate.

4) Gravel
This is another good form of aggregate that is often also used in concrete. Gravel is not very easy to come by in Bangladesh, however.

EARTH
The earth is what holds the walls together. It is important to get the right mix of earth and aggregate so that you minimize shrinkage (and therefore cracks) and erosion while maximizing strength and durability.

5) Sand
Sand is important for strength, cohesion, and shrinkage. As any child who has ever played on the beach can tell you, wet sand is a great building material. The water molecules act as a glue that holds the sand together. Wet sand can be molded into an infinite variety of shapes. When the water evaporates, however, the bonds are broken and the sand reverts into a shapeless pile. Conseqently, another type of earth is needed to hold the sand particles together...

6) Clay
Clay is a very plastic material. Because of its oblong shape, clay particles slide easily over each other. Wet clay slides the easiest (picture two pieces of glass with a thin layer of water between them and you will get the idea.) When the water dries, the clay shrinks, bringing the clay particles closer together and making it very hard. Because clay shrinks quite significantly, however, many cracks will form in the wall (picture a dry field of mud) unless aggregate is added. There are different types of clays ranging from sandy to sticky. The stickier the clay, the tighter the bond, but the more cracks you will have. On our project we used two different types of clay: "sticky clay" and clay that we dug up from the project site which was redder and sandier. You can tell how sticky the clay is by squeezing it in your hand. The more it holds its shape, the stickier the clay is.

The trick is to find the right mixture of clay, sand, and aggregate. A good rule of thumb is 40% aggregate, 30% sticky clay, 30% mud from the site. You should do tests, however to determine what the right mud mixture is for you.

On our project, the "sticky clay" was too wet to mix in with the aggregate and site mud. (If it is wet, the mud just clumps together and doesn't blend in with the other components.) We tried to break it into smaller pieces and set it in the sun to dry, but it was too labor intensive to be able to practically implement on a large scale. We did end up using the dried sticky mud to create the clay plastering, however. Our final ratio was 5 parts clay from site, 1 part brick chips, and 1.5 parts pebbles. Because we had to omit the sticky clay, our mixture was not as strong, so we had to insert more erosion breakers. (See Part III - Preventing Erosion for more information.)

TESTING YOUR MUD
There are several tests that you can do to determine what type of mud you have and how well it will work in rammed earth construction.

1. Squeeze Test
This is a simple test to determine the quantity of clay in your mud. You take a handful of moist earth (not wet, not dry) and squeeze it. The degree to which it holds its shape after you open your hand is an indicator of how much clay is in the mix.

Red Earth Squeeze Test
This earth was taken from the project site. Unfortunately the photos are a bit out of focus, but I think you can still get the idea...

To determine how much clay is in the earth, squeeze it tightly in your hand.

Because it retained its shape, there is clay in the soil.

Sticky Clay Squeeze Test
This clay was brought in from another site. It is true "sticky" clay.

You can see that it keeps its exact form after performing the squeeze test

2. Rolled Arch Test
This is a simple test to determine if your clay is "sticky clay". Take some moist clay or earth (again, not wet, not dry) and roll it into "snake" then bend the "snake" into an arch. If there are cracks at the top of the arch, it is not sticky clay.

3. Shrinkage Test
This is the best test to do to see if your mud mixture will be appropriate for your walls. I suggest making several different mud mixtures altering the quantities of the various components and then do shrinkage tests for all of them to see which one works the best.

To do a shrinkage test, you put your mud into a cylindrical container and ram it. We used large plastic pipes that were cut on the sides and then bound back together with rope. Using two pipes (so the mud did not come out of the seams) worked the best. You add a layer of mud mixture to the depth of your knuckles if you stick your hand into the dirt. Then you ram it until it sounds more like you are ramming stone than mud. You add another layer and continue ramming until the pipe is filled.

When the ramming is finished, remove the pipe. Then on the top of the rammed sample draw a ten centimeter line - clearly marking the ends. (Make sure the measurement is exact.) Then let the sample dry for a couple of days and come back and re-measure the line. The rammed earth should shrink less than 1% if properly mixed.

If your sample shrinks too much, try using less water or adding more sand. It is also better to let the sample (and your walls) dry slowly instead of quickly in the sun.

Shrinkage Test Sample
This mud was rammed in a cylinder and then marked with a 10 cm line.

CREATING THE OPTIMAL MUD MIXTURE
In order to create the optimal mud mixture, it is important to understand the properties of the various materials and how increasing or decreasing their quantities will affect the performance of your mixture.

The most important component of the mixture is the clay. The shape of the clay particles gives it its unique properties. Clay particles are long and round, so they slide over each other easily when they are wet. When the water evaporates, the particles move closer together, making the clay very strong.

Furthermore, the dried clay acts as a water barrier. The molecules pack so tightly that water is not able to enter the wall.

The degree of the stickiness of the clay depends upon its shape. Thinner, oblong shapes are more sticky thank round shapes.

While sticky clay is very strong, it also cracks and erodes more easily. It cracks because of the shrinkage. To decrease shrinkage, aggregate is added. The more (and larger) aggregate you have, the less shrinkage occurs.

While mixtures of 100% clay or clay with only sand would not be good for exterior walls, they would make very strong compressed bricks. (Rammed earth bricks are another great, sustainable building material. You can even make interlocking bricks that eliminate the need for mortar.)

Erosion occurs because of the speed of the water running down a wall. Clay only walls are very smooth, so the water builds up speed and takes particles off of the wall as it runs down. Clay is naturally water resistant, however, so a clay and sand wall would actually have more erosion than a clay only wall even though it would be slightly rougher because the shape of the sand breaks some of the "locks" that the clay particles have with each other. Using a large aggregate, like pebbles or brick chips, however would significantly roughen the wall surface which would decrease erosion. (See Part III - Preventing Erosion for more tips on how to reduce erosion.)

So when creating your mud mixture, you should consider the following factors:

1. Will the wall be inside or outside?
Inside walls can have more clay and less aggregate because they will not get wet (and therefore will not be subject to erosion).

2. How many external erosion barriers will you have?
External erosion barriers are architectural elements that break the speed of the water. (See Part III - Preventing Erosion for more details.) The more erosion barriers you have, the less sticky the clay you can use and/or the less aggregate you will have to add. Because we were not able to use the sticky clay on our project, we had to add more external erosion barriers to compensate.

3. What type of mud is available to you?
One of the primary goals of using rammed earth construction techniques is to be sustainable. Consequently you should try to use as many materials from on the site as you can. (This will also help reduce your costs.) Determine what you will need to add to your local mud to make it work for your project.

After you have created your mud mixture, do some shrinkage tests to fine tune your mix.

MIXING THE MUD
Finally, when you actually begin mixing the mud, you want to mix it in smaller batches to make sure that all of the different elements are well blended. (We used small baskets called "tukri" to measure out our parts.) You also need to make sure that you wet the aggregate before you mix it with the mud. Wetting the aggregate makes the mud stick to the sides of it, making it "dirty" for optimal mixing.

The clay should be fairly dry when you first mix it, however. If it is too wet, it will clump together and will not mix in with the other elements. We ran into this problem on our project site and attempted to dry out our sticky clay.

Drying the Sticky Clay
Several of the local children joined us to make mud paddies to dry out the sticky clay. Unfortunately, even with all of the extra help it would have taken us weeks to get enough dried clay to add to the walls. (And our workshop was only 10 days!) Consequently, we decided to just use the clay from the site in our mud mixture and we compensated for the reduced strength by adding additional external erosion barriers.

We also "graded" our earth before mixing it. We put it through a metal screen to separate out the larger particles and then used the fine clay particles in our mixture. Again this helped us achieve an even consistency and a good mix.

Grading the Mud
We poured the mud through a wire sieve to separate the course particles from the fine.

After you have mixed your mud, you want to make sure that it is damp. Add just enough water so that when you squeeze a handful of your mud mixture together it retains its shape. If the mud is too wet, however, it will be difficult to ram.

You should mix your mud mixture a day before you want to actually ram it. Be sure that you cover your mud mixture so that the water doesn't evaporate. Waiting over night allows the water to more fully penetrate into the clay making it more malleable and ideal for ramming.

We mixed the mud both by hand and using an electric mixing machine.

A NOTE ON ADDING CEMENT
You will notice that cement is not listed above under the possible mud mixture elements. Many people mistakenly believe that adding a little bit of cement to the mud mixture will make it stronger. The opposite is actually true. Because cement particles are small and round, they actually interfere with the natural locking mechanism of the clay particles. As an analogy, picture our two plates of glass with the water between them acting as the clay particles. They move smoothly and when the water evaporates the plates move together and become stronger than just the single glass plate. Now put some sand (our analogy for cement) in between the two glass plates. Not only do they no longer move as smoothly, but when the water evaporates, the two plates of glass no longer sit close together. If we were to apply pressure to them, they would probably crack because of the sand holding them apart in some places.

The moral of the story is: do NOT add cement to your mud mixture!

CLAY PLASTERING
Clay plastering is used to bind elements (foundation, bricks, lintels, etc.) to the rammed earth. Because the clay plastering is wet and is made with sticky clay, it gets into all of the crevices of both the mud and the attaching element, working like a glue.

Here is the recipe that we used for the clay plastering:

1 part sticky clay (dried and ground into a powder)
1 part red clay from site (sifted through a sieve until fine)
2 parts sand
water

Mix all of the dry elements together until well blended. Form into a pile and hollow out the center of it. Fill the center hole with water. Then bring material up from the sides to fill in the water hole. Let this sit for a couple of hours so the water can really sink in to the sticky clay. Then come back and mix everything together, adding more water until the plaster is the consistency of clay slip (if you do ceramics) or fairly wet mortar (if you are a construction worker). Make sure you cover the clay plastering when you are not using it so the moisture doesn't escape. The longer it sits with the water, the better the plastering will be because the clay will be able to better absorb the moisture. It is best to prepare the clay plastering in a bucket 1-2 days before you need it.

Mixing the Plastering
After the dry elements have been mixed, form a pile with a hole in the middle.

Adding Water
Add water into the hole, then bring up the sides to cover the water and let it sit for a few hours. Then come back and mix it with more water until it is the consistency of ceramic slip.

This is Part 2 in a 6 part blog series. For a list of all blog entries on rammed earth construction, please see the index page.

2009-03-10T08:07:00.010+06:00

Rammed Earth Construction Part I - Creating the Foundation
February 27, 2009

(For a list of all of the Rammed Earth Construction blog entries, go to the Index Page.)

The foundation construction that Martin and Anna developed is the key to durability of the mud structures. A concrete and brick foundation with a vapor barrier prevents the moisture from the ground from seeping into the mud walls, weakening them from the bottom. Traditional Bangladeshi mud structures build the mud walls directly on the ground. The monsoon rains and annual flooding severely weaken the lower portions of the walls making them susceptible to cracking, collapse, and pest penetration. The brick foundation, however, goes two feet down into the ground and two feet above the ground, raising the walls above the flood plain. A vapor barrier keeps the lower portion of the walls dry. There are mud buildings in Europe that are still standing after over a hundred years.

To create the foundation:

Dig a foundation hole
Build a four foot high course of bricks with cement mortar. The walls should be approximately two feet thick.
Plaster the walls with a layer of cement
Put a vapor barrier down on top of the brick foundation.
On top of the vapor barrier you need to put a thin (half cm) layer of clay plastering; this helps the rammed earth stick better to the foundation. (See Part II - Mixing the Mud for clay plaster recipe.)

Vapor barriers can be made from:

Polythene sheet (use a double layer and make sure there are no holes in it),
Coat of bitumen,
Layer of ferro cement (steel mesh with a coating of cement over it; this is what we used on our project)

Building Foundation
The foundation had been prepared for us when we arrived. It is constructed of bricks with cement mortar and a thin plastering of cement on the outside. The top has a layer of ferro cement.

Detail of Ferro Cement
In this photo you can see the steel mesh of the ferro cement. The craftsmanship of the foundation was quite poor; if the foundation was properly constructed you should not be able to see the mesh! Exposed mesh like this will eventually rust and create many problems down the road.

Illustration of the Foundation Construction
An illustration I did of the different parts of the foundation.

This is Part 1 in a 6 part blog series. For a list of all blog entries on rammed earth construction, please see the index page.

2009-03-10T08:04:00.002+06:00

Rammed Earth Building Workshop
February 27, 2009

I recently had the pleasure of attending a 10 day mud workshop with my friend Anna Heringer and her mentor Martin Rauch sponsored by the BASE Habitat, the Institute of Architects in Bangladesh (IAB) and the Housing and Building Research Institute (HBRI). They taught us how to construct a rammed earth building and we got to test our education by constructing a small structure at HBRI in Dhaka. I think that mud construction could be the future of architecture in Bangladesh. It really is the best construction medium for this climate because the thick walls keep the interior temperature and humidity fairly constant. Plus, it is a durable, renewable, and readily available building material here. I am happy to share all that I learned in the workshop here on my blog.

Because it is a lot of information, I will be breaking the information down into several different blog entries indexed here:

Rammed Earth Construction Part I - Creating the Foundation
Rammed Earth Construction Part II - Mixing the Mud
Rammed Earth Construction Part III - Preventing Erosion
Rammed Earth Construction Part IV - Ramming the Earth
Rammed Earth Construction Part V - Ring Beams, Lintels, and Windows
Rammed Earth Construction Part VI - Rammed Earth Floor

2009-02-12T12:33:00.005+06:00

Company Formation in Bangladesh - Part 4
BOI Registration
February 12, 2009

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

Now that fundraising for my resort is progressing, I have to make my bank account an operating account so that I can take money out. If you recall from previous company formation posts, until all company registration/ work permit issues are completed, you can only open a non-operating bank account, which means that you can put money in, but you can't take money out!

I knew that the next step in resolving this issue was to get my Board of Investment (BOI) registration, but after meeting with Mamdood Alamgir, the Director of the Industrial Division of BOI, I learned that in order to register with the BOI, I would need to have my land. Of course, in order to buy my land I need my equity money and to take my equity money out of my bank account I need an operating bank account, but to get an operating bank account I need BOI registration - so the "chicken and egg" cycle starts again!

The last time I spoke with him he mentioned that a lease or registered baina would work as well as a purchase deed. Because a registered baina costs 1/3 the price of the land, I decided to take out a five year lease for just one bigha (out of the 60 bighas) of the land that I intend to purchase. I was hoping that this would satisfy the BOI requirement for some sort of land prior to registration.

I collected all of the documents on their list and went to BOI to register. Of course, when I sat down with Mr. Alamgir again, the rules and the form had changed and I was now missing my tax ID number (TIN) and my trade license. I was told by the group that I initially hired to register my company that I couldn't get these until I had BOI registration. (Another chicken and egg cycle.)

The Director assured me that I could get these things, however, if I applied for them in the district where the resort would be located. Dubious, I had no choice but to agree to try to get those items before returning to the BOI to register...

Items Needed for Bangladesh Board of Investment (BOI) Registration:
Here is a list of items that you need to submit for BOI Registration. Be sure to check with BOI before submitting, however, as the list and forms seem to change frequently! ALL documents need to be stamped with the corporate seal and signed by the Managing Director or Chairman.

BOI Application for Registration of a Foreign Investment Project Form (2 copies)
Background of Promoters (name, permanent address, mailing address, position in company, nationality, experience) (3 copies)
Résumé of officers (Managing Director at a minimum) (3 copies)
Machinery/ Equipment List (3 copies)
Certificate of Incorporation along with Memorandum & Articles of Association (1 copy)
Copy of Trade License (1 copy)
Copy of TIN Certificate (1 copy)
Attested copy of lease agreement, deed of sale, or registered baina (1 copy)
Project profile with financial statements (if the company is greater than 50 million taka) (1 copy)
Pay order/ bank draft to: Executive Chairman and Member Secretary for the registration fee

Fees for BOI Registration
As of this writing, the fee schedule is as follows. Definitely check with BOI before ordering your bank draft, however, as the amounts may have changed.

Project Cost up to 100,000,000 Tk = 5,000 Tk
Project Cost up to 250,000,000 Tk = 10,000 Tk
Project Cost up to 500,000,000 Tk = 25,000 Tk
Project Cost up to 1,000,000,000 Tk = 50,000 Tk
Projecdt Cost over 1,000,000,000 Tk = 100,000 Tk

Updating changes in BOI registration costs 1,000 Tk each time.

Getting a Bank Draft
Getting the bank draft for the Registration Fee, was, of course, a bit tricky. Banks will not issue a bank draft for money unless you have a bank account with them (that you can take money out of!) Fortunately, earlier I had opened a personal taka bank account that I could take money out of. Sadly, I can not put money into this account, unless it is a wire transfer in or a salary check. (Yes, crazy as it sounds, I have one Bangladeshi bank account that I can put money into, but not take it out of and one Bangladeshi bank account that I can take money out of, but not put money into!)

Fortunately, the day I went to the bank (where I have my personal account) the man at the counter was sympathetic. I did not want to waste time or the money going through a wire transfer from the U.S. Of course I did not know about the "you can only get a bank draft by taking money out of your own bank account rule", so I did not have enough money in my account to cover the registration fee. Luckily, I had just withdrawn some money from my U.S. ATM card and the banker was able to accept that receipt as proof that I had just brought the cash that I was using into the country.

Unfortunately, I think that having a personal bank account here is the only way to get this bank draft. It is relatively easy to open a foreign currency (i.e. dollar) bank account in Bangladesh from what I understand, but opening a personal taka account is much more difficult (another "chicken and egg" scenario!) I was able to do it because I originally came to Bangladesh on a student visa. You might check with the bank to see if you could get a bank draft from a foreign currency local bank account though...

Bangladesh Tax ID Number (TIN) and Trade License
After the BOI rejected my application because I did not have my tax ID number (TIN) and trade license, I contacted my local agent in Jessore to see if he could get them for me. He found out that we had to get our tax ID number first, and that as a foreigner I could not get that in Jessore (the district where the resort will be developed.) I could either apply for it in Khulna (the main town of the division that Jessore is in) or Dhaka (the capital city). Since Khulna is closer to Jessore, I had my agent go there. He was able to get the TIN quite quickly (the next day). There was no fee for the TIN, but apparently we had to pay a 6,000 Tk "expediting fee". Bangladesh is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and I would love to say I flat out refuse to pay bribes, but sometimes you just can't get business done unless you do!

With the TIN we were able to apply for our trade license. The BOI guys told me that I had to apply for that in the upazila where the resort would be built. My agent had reservations about applying there, however, because the land owners don't know that it is a foreigner buying the land, and we don't want them to find out until we have purchased all of the land, because otherwise the prices will go up a lot! Fortunately, Koli is quite smart and resourceful, so when he applied for the trade license he told them that HE was Kristin Boekhoff! I had a good chuckle about that since a few months ago I had disguised myself as a Bangladeshi man to go look for land, and now a Bangladeshi man was disguising himself as a white, Christian woman in order to get a trade license! Ah, what we will not do to get this project off the ground!!

The trade license application took a little bit longer, because the councilman had a death in his family and was out of the office for a few days. I did get the license about a week later, for 1,000 Tk - plus a 2,000 Tk donation to the Chairman's "poor fund" (as Koli calls it). I am not at all happy about these bribes, but I honestly don't know what I can do about it. If I don't pay, I can't get my trade license which means that I can't start my company...

To apply for a trade license you need the following:

a certified copy of the company’s articles and memorandum of association
a copy of the certificate of incorporation
statement of bank solvency (I used a copy of the initial bank statement for my corporate account - the one that showed the two initial wire transfers into it)
the company’s tax identification number certificate
a copy of the rent agreement for the company’s office
three passport photos
particulars of the managing director (name, marital status, address, parent's names, etc.)

Land Requirement
Originally Mr. Alamgir told me that I could use a lease, even for an office space, to fulfill the BOI land requirement. When I went to him with the lease agreement for the one bigha for five years, however, he told me that would not be sufficient to operate a resort. I explained to him that I knew that, but that I couldn't buy all of the land until I get my equity money, and I can't use my equity money until I get an operating bank account, and I can't get an operating bank account until I get my BOI registration!

Fortunately, he understood my dilemna and said that he would try to help me out... (And no bribe was needed! At least there is one honest man in the government!)

Submitting the BOI Registration
Surprisingly, after I did have my trade license and TIN (and all the rest of the required info), submitting the BOI Registration Application was quite easy! I just went to the reception area on the 19th floor, handed it in, and waited while the woman there entered the information into her computer. When she was done she gave me a receipt with a number that I could use to check the status of my application online. Yes! Online!! (http://www.boi.gov.bd/boi_service_tracking.php) Sadly, the online status doesn't seem to be working for me; I keep getting a page load error... but, theoretically it is still exciting!

I was told that it should take 10-12 business days to get BOI registration. After that, I apply for my investor visa...

2009-01-19T13:47:00.002+06:00

Hamida Goes to Cooking School
January 19, 2009

We decided to send Hamida to an Italian cooking school to increase her food repertoire. We told her that we would pay for the classes and if she learned well and did a good job of preparing food for us for three months we would increase her salary by 1,500 Tk/ month (which is a significant increase in salary for her!) She was extremely excited by this. I think that cooking is her favorite part of her job and she likes learning how to cook new things. She was also very happy about the prospect of increasing her salary, so she told us that she would work really hard and learn the new menu.

Today was her first class. I was quite surprised to learn that the class was entirely in English because we were told that there would be someone there to translate into Bangla for her. The foreign language didn't seem to phase Hamida though. She was very excited by the class and told us that she was trying very hard to learn. She proudly showed me her new Italian cookbook (which thankfully is in both Bangla and English) and pointed out which items she learned to cook today.

Normally Hamida works from 8am-1pm and then goes home. Since we really depend on her now, it would be very troublesome for her to go without working for two weeks, so she will now go to school in the morning and then come to our house in the afternoon to do her regular chores. Tomorrow she will cook her first Italian meal for us. I am so excited!

2008-12-29T17:21:00.003+06:00

Election Day!
December 29, 2008

Today is finally election day in Bangladesh! I gave Hamida the day off so that she could go vote.

Motorcycles are not allowed on the road today, so I have been staying inside. So far there does not seem to be any violence...

The polls closed about an hour an a half ago here. I am interested to see who won the election - the Awami League or BNP... Either way Bangladesh will still have one of the battling begums in power, but hopefully they will have learned a little from the two years that they have spent in jail and will keep some of the positive, anti-corruption policies instigated by the Caretaker Government.

I have read several articles in the paper about the police arresting people who are trying to buy votes here. Apparently in the past this is the main way that candidates won elections - by giving poor people money, food, or clothing to vote for them. Despite very strict rules set by the election commission, it seems that some people are still trying to work around the system.

It is very interesting to have been in Bangladesh these past two years. I arrived in October 2006, three months before the originally planned election. I witnessed the hartals and riots that crippled the country as the two main political parties fought over who would run the Caretaker Government during the election period. The fighting became so bad that the army stepped in and took over the government. They set up an Election Commission and have spent the last two years trying to create a fair voting system.

Since the ballots here are not electronic, it will probably take several hours (if not days) to get the final results. I am now interested to see if the losing party accepts the election result or if they will result to rioting. I hope it is the former... Bangladesh has been so peaceful for the past two years!

2008-12-29T16:56:00.005+06:00

I Visit My Land and the Nearby Pottery Village
December 26, 2008

The best Christmas present that I could have received was finally being able to visit my land! It was even more beautiful than I imagined it. For photos, you can visit my Flickr site at: http://flickr.com/photos/37702165@N00/sets/72157604389628506/.

I also discovered that there is a pottery village only a ten minute walk from my property! I think that people would be really interested to visit it. When I was there they were making tila (pots) for collecting the sap from the date palm tree which is cooked into ghur, a delicious brown sugar. I even got to taste some of the juice directly from the tree!

The Potter
The potter spins his wheel, which is made from a board on a tire.

Forming the Pots
He then begins to work the clay into the pot.

Pottery Building
The pottery wheel is in a small bamboo and thatch building. There are several of these pottery wheel buildings in the pottery village.

Woman and Rice
An old woman is grinding rice in the same building. (It has nothing to do with the pottery, I just like the photo!)

Drying the Pots
The pots are actually made in two pieces - the top half and the bottom half. After they have dried a bit, they are assembled. These are the top halves. Manure (used for fuel) is drying on the wall in the background.

Whole Pots Drying
The assembled pots drying before they are placed in the kiln.

Kiln
After the tila have dried they are placed into the kiln.

Inside the Kiln
This is what the kiln looks like on the inside.

Final Tila!
After the tila pots are finished, they are hung from the date palm trees to collect the sap. This sap collection is done every winter. Each tree will fill two tilas a day.

2008-12-29T16:30:00.003+06:00

Christmas in Jessore
December 25, 2008

I took my motorcycle from Dhaka to Jessore on Christmas Eve. I needed to go deal with some issues with my land and couldn't bear the thought of being in a crowded bus for 6 hours, so I strapped a bag to the back of my bike and took off. It was cold and foggy in Dhaka when I left. As I drove further south, the clouds lifted and the landscape became cleaner and greener; I knew I was approaching Jessore!

I don't celebrate Christmas anymore, but Koli (my agent) really wanted me to celebrate with his family. He is Muslim, but as a child he went to a Christian school and would go out singing Christmas carols with his friends. While I was there a group of Christian carolers did pass by his house. They sounded more like a political rally than "Silent Night", however!

Koli wanted me to bake him a "Christmas cake", which I believe is the tradition in Bangladesh. Since we don't really have Christmas cakes in the U.S., I was going to make them a gingerbread house instead. They didn't have an oven, however, so we had to buy a cake from the store. Bangladeshi food is prepared on burners, so most Bangladeshis don't have ovens. Only a few rich people who like to eat Western food have them.

Instead of the gingerbread house, I decided to do stockings for the children. This too proved to be a bit of a challenge since most Bangladeshis don't wear socks! It is so hot here and you take off your shoes whenever you go inside, so most people wear sandals. Some of the men wear socks when they wear suits, however, so we were able to scavenge up a few. I suppose that I complicated things a bit too when I told them that all of the socks had to be different so the children could tell which ones were theirs... In the end, we scavenged up several socks, a couple of hats, and one glove for Koli!

I explained about Santa Claus and his reindeer which really amused the children. I also told them that each year Santa makes a list of the children who are naughty and nice. The nice children get presents and the naughty children get coal or rocks.

Then when all of the kids went to bed, Koli, Shompa (his wife), and I filled the stockings with candy and oranges. I was surprised that the socks (real socks!) were only half full. In the U.S. we use giant oversized socks and every year they are brimming with presents. I honestly think our Bangladeshi stockings were probably more authentic!

Since they don't have fireplaces in Bangladesh (it is hot here!) we pinned the stockings on a line above the door to the kitchen. In the morning the children all came down and got their socks. The kids were particularly delighted with all of the candy which is relatively expensive here and therefore is not eaten as often (and certainly not in such large quantities!)

After the stockings were open, they wanted to sing Christmas carols. (Bangladesh has a strong tradition of singing.) I taught them how to sing Jingle Bells. Duti, Koli's six year old daughter, caught on really fast! She only knows a few words of English, but after just two choruses she was able to sing along!

All in all it was a very nice Christmas. Next year though I want to bring them a gingerbread cake...

Hanging the Stockings
We hung the stockings (and hats and glove) over the door to the kitchen.

Stockings After Santa
One of the full stockings (which for some reason is inside out.) We kept adding children who would be celebrating with us and so had to keep finding socks! Santa eventually ran out of candy so Koli (the glove) ended up getting a rock for Christmas. The children found this hysterical!

Duti and Candy
Koli's adorable daughter, Duti, with the candy from her stocking.

2008-12-23T16:35:00.001+06:00

Bangladesh Election
December 23, 2008

The election is coming in just a week (December 29)! There are now signs posted all around Dhaka and men and women with bullhorns ride rickshaws through the streets shouting out support for their favorite candidate.

Apparently this year the candidates are only allowed to post black and white advertisements, so you see them taped to power lines all around the city like little flags. Sadly, I think the signs are pretty ineffective, because you can make out anything on them unless you are standing right next to the sign.

So far the election has been quite calm; it is very unlike the scene two years ago when I arrived - the time when the elections were supposed to be held. So far neither party has rioted or decided to boycott the polls. I will be interested to see what happens on election day and the few weeks immediately after it...

Flags and Fliers
Gulshan-2 Circle was decorated for Independence Day (December 16th). They kept the flags up and candidates have put up their fliers all around the circle.

Black and White Banners
You can see all of the advertisements on the power lines in this photo.

Close-Up
Here is a close-up of one of the posters. All of the fliers have the photograph of the candidate on them.

2008-12-09T10:07:00.002+06:00

Hamida Makes Me Cry
December 9, 2008

Today is Eid ul-Azha, the biggest holiday in Islam. It is a day when Bangladeshis celebrate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Issac by sacrificing an animal - usually a cow or goat. One third of the meat goes to the poor, one third to neighbors, and one third to friends and family.

In the days leading up to Eid ul-Azha the streets of Dhaka are filled with animals in the markets and tethered outside of people's homes. I normally prefer to stay inside on this day because while I respect the cultural practices of the Bangladeshis I don't like to see the actual slaughtering.

This morning Hamida came into my office and excitedly told me that I can see cows from my window. I thought she meant that there were a bunch of cows tied outside in my neighbor's yard, so I followed her to the balcony to see. Sadly, what she really meant was that all of my neighbors were slaughtering animals in the yard! I was quite disturbed by the scene and yelped and ran back inside. Hamida started rolling on the ground she was laughing so hard...

I guess cultural differences can be entertaining from both sides of the fence...

2008-12-01T16:52:00.007+06:00

Forming a Company in Bangladesh

Like the road system of Bangladesh, the path to company formation is fraught with potholes, u-turns, and unpaved roads, but for the intrepid entrepreneur starting a business here can be very rewarding – both economically and personally. Foreigners are allowed to 100% own land and companies and they can repatriate 100% of their profits – a rare financial find in the developing world. Businesses also bring jobs to the country’s 150 million inhabitants, many of whom live on less than a dollar a day.

Since forming a company in Bangladesh is a complicated process, I have decided to document the process in the hopes of saving the next entrepreneur a bit of time navigating through the system.

I will use this as the index page for my blog entries so others will be able to link to this single blog entry and will be able to easily find all of my other posts on the subject. I will update this page whenever I add a new entry. If any one else has any other tips that they would like to add, please feel free to add them here.

Company Formation in Bangladesh:

Company Formation Part I - 5/8/08
Company Formation Part II - 5/26/08
Company Formation Part III - 6/17/08
Company Formation Part IV - 2/12/09
Company Formation Part V - 5/17/09
Company Formation Part VI - 6/1/09
Company Formation Part VII - 3/18/10

In Part 1 I cover the following things:

Starting the process
The different types of companies in Bangladesh
Forming/ incorporating a company
Registering with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies
Obtaining encashment certificates

In Part 2 I cover the following things:

Steps you need to take to form a company (from A to Z!)
What order everything needs to be submitted in

In Part 3 I cover the following things:

"Commercial Side" vs. "Industrial Side" of the Bangladesh Board of Investment
Opening a corporate bank account
"Non-operating" vs. "Operating" bank accounts

In Part 4 I cover the following things:

BOI Registration
Fees for BOI Registration
Getting a Bank Draft
Getting a Tax ID Number (TIN)
Getting a Trade License
Land requirement of BOI Registration

In Part 5 I cover the following things:

Investor Visa Application Process
Work Permit Application Process
Finally Opening Your Bank Account!

In Part 6 I cover the following things:

Amending Your BOI Registration Letter

In Part 7 I cover the following things:

First Annual General Meetings
Overseas Document Attestation
Annual RJSC Filing
Filing Documents with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC)
Audited Financials

2008-11-13T07:57:00.005+06:00

Photographic Boat Tour on the Padma River
November 9, 2008

I just got back from a two day boat tour that my roommate, Mikey, organized. He also taught a photography class while we were on board. I was eager to sign up because: a) I would like to improve my photography and b) I was eager to finally see the wooden Contic boat that I have heard so much about.

The boat was very nice. It had six cabins that held two people each. Mikey and Osama (from Contic) slept on the deck and the crew slept in the back by the kitchen. The food was very good and it was lovely to be out on the river, watching the scenery go by.

My only complaint was that I would have chosen some more picturesque villages to stop at. The first site wasn't bad - we saw some boats being fixed which was quite interesting - but the second site was a manure farm by a brick factory. I think that a river boat ride on the river near Panigram would be much more beautiful! :)

Contic Boat
This is the boat with its sails unfurled. Contic is trying to revive the ancient wooden boat making techniques. This boat design is thousands of years old. Boats like this are still around, but now they are powered by engines instead of sails. The sails on this boat can't be tacked, so it can only go one direction - the direction the wind is blowing! In olden days the boats would be filled with cargo and sailed to their destination and then pulled back by men and cows! These sails are mostly for display. We used the motor most of the time we were on the water...

Boat Deck
The roof of the boat is made of bamboo. We went up here to take photos and enjoy the breeze.

Driver
This is the guy steering the boat. I really like the carved elephant rudder.

Mending a Boat
At the first village that we stopped at, men were mending a boat. They were putting a new bottom on it. Even the locals stopped to observe the work.

Boy Carrying Pack
I took a few photos of the kids on the beach.

Girl on Beach
This is my favorite photo. This girl was really charming, and I love how you can see the boats in the background.

Photographing the Photographer
The villagers were just as eager to take our photos as we were to take theirs.

Fishing at Sunrise
The next morning we got up early to take photos of the sunrise. These fishermen were up early to take advantage of the morning light.

Sunrise
This is my favorite sunrise shot.

Village by the River
I love this picture because it really captures Bangladeshi village life - the house by the water, the wooden boats, the banana trees, and the villagers in brightly colored clothing curiously watching the foreigners sail by... I just wish the photo were more in focus!!

Manure Village
The second village that we stopped at was a manure farm. Most rural Bangladeshis use manure as their primary fuel source. It is better than cutting down the trees, but I could have selected a more picturesque location than a manure farm by a brick factory. Still, as this photo shows, beauty can be found anywhere!

2008-11-03T13:33:00.004+06:00

Cricket!
October 11, 2008

At the Durga Puja celebration I met Kym, who is the wife of the coach for the Bangladesh cricket team. She invited me to come to the game, and since I have wanted to see a game for about two years, I happily agreed!

Since she is a VIP, we got nice, air conditioned box seats right over the middle of the field. Kym tried to explain the rules to me. It seems a bit like American baseball, except the batters run back and forth between two sets of sticks (called wickets, though apparently there are six different meanings for wickets in the game!) instead of around bases. Each batter continues to bat until is gets out. Because of this, games can continue for days. The game that I was watching was a one day came, however, so it was capped at 50 overs. Even so, it was quite long and so we just arrived for the second half of the match where Bangladesh was batting. (New Zealand batted earlier in the day.)

The stands were packed and there was an air of excitement, because two days before (on the same day we went to the Durga Puja festival) Bangladesh had won their first cricket game in years. Sadly, they did not fare so well today...

Cricket Stadium
The stadium (as seen from our lovely air conditioned box seats!)

Batters
Batters running back and forth trying to score.

Scoreboard
The score board was very low tech! There were many guys standing behind it who updated it after every play.

2008-11-03T13:06:00.003+06:00

Durga Puja
October 9, 2008

My friend Mikey arranged a trip to go to Savar today to see the Hindu Durga Puja ceremony.

Durga Puja is a Bengali Hindu ceremony that celebrates the goddess Durga. Durga is a ten-armed goddess of invincibility and feminine power. She came to embody the idea of Indian independence during the British occupation.

For the five day festival, wealthy villagers create painted idols out of clay and straw:

Durga - goddess of invincibility and feminine power
Shiva - god of destruction or transformation
Lakshmi - goddess of wealth and prosperity
Ganesha - god of the arts and sciences; remover of obstacles
Saraswati - hindu goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts
Kartikeya - god of war
Mahishasura - demon who could not be defeated by men, but who was vanquished by Durga (a woman)

On the morning of the fifth day the eyes are painted on the goddess. In the afternoon the family members anoint her with spices and herbs and take her to the river in a great procession that the town participates in to be burned.

We stopped at a brass shop in Savar and observed the owner's durga puja statues being sanctified and taken to the river.

Kartikeya
Sculpture of the god of war.

Villagers Celebrate
The villagers gather around the idols to celebrate. There were several families in Savar who created idols.

Durga
Carrying weapons in each of her ten hands.

Durga Being Anointed
Family members rub her with spices and burn incense before she is taken to the river.

Brass Store
The brass store itself was quite interesting. They had some amazing sculptures (which I may purchase for Panigram Resort!) and the most incredible chess set that I have ever seen! Here is a close-up of some of the pieces.

2008-11-03T12:54:00.002+06:00

I Vote for Obama!
October 7, 2008

The American Embassy in Bangladesh has done a very good job helping U.S. citizens here figure out how to vote. They had a few information sessions where we could apply for our absentee ballots and then a couple of voting nights at the American Club where we can turn in our absentee ballots, ask questions, and watch the debates on T.V.

It was actually quite exciting to vote! Even though we vote earlier than everyone else and thus can't rush home to see how our vote influenced the latest results, the American Club still had that air of excitement that comes with an election.

I am so happy to be an American at this amazing landmark point in our history. I downloaded the debates and nomination speeches from the internet and have been following the election news daily.

Happily, the American Club will be showing the results live on TV the morning of November 5th (that is the evening in the U.S.) I expect that the election will be close enough that they won't call it until I wake up! I can't wait!! I haven't been this excited to participate in an election since I was eligible to vote!

2008-11-03T12:28:00.005+06:00

Oktoberfest!
October 2, 2008

After spending the entire night in the bus station in Munich, I went to back to Mariella's house to rest for a day before heading back to Dhaka. Because Oktoberfest happened to be going on while I was there, Mariella's mom invited me to come see it with her.

I will admit that I had always been curious about Oktoberfest, and much of it lived up to my expectations. There were many beer halls in large, very elaborate tents. Vendors sold the largest beers and pretzels that I have ever seen! Girls in dirndl and men in leder hosen danced merrily on top of the tables to the folk music the live band was performing.

The part about Oktoberfest that I did not expect was that it is also a giant carnival. There are rides, games, and concession vendors selling gingerbread and candy.

Beer Tent
The tents were so elaborate it was hard to believe that they were just temporary structures. It was quite difficult to find a seat!!

Dancing on Tables
Men and women dancing in a drunken frenzy on the tables.

Carnival!
This was probably the largest carnival that I have been to! There were tons of rides! This photo was taken from the ferris wheel.

Ferris Wheel
Aforementioned ferris wheel...

Candy Vendor
Mmmm... Candy... My brother-in-law would be in heaven! The honey roasted nuts were my favorite!

For more photos you can visit my Oktoberfest 2008 Flickr page: Oktoberfest Photos

2008-11-03T11:41:00.005+06:00

Montenegro Coast, Mountains, and Skadar Lake
September 22, 2008

After a couple of days in Kotor I headed along the coast of Montegro. I stopped briefly in Budva and took a lovely photo of Sveti Stephan. I wanted to continue on to the mountains, but it was getting dark, so I stopped in Cetinje for the night.

The next day I drove up to Skadar Lake. The mountain road was VERY narrow and quite winding, so I went very slowly. Several times I had to pull over on a tiny little ledge overlooking a cliff to let another car pass. At those times I wished that I still had my little motor scooter!

The toe curling ride was worth it though for the spectacular view of Skadar Lake. The lake is extremely large and has several small islands in it. Plus, the leaves were just starting to change, which made it even more picturesque.

I continued on through the mountains to the northwestern part of Montenegro and ended up in Plitvice for the night. Plitvice is next to the Pivsko Jezero River which is a fantastic shade of turquoise. The river runs in between some very steep mountain cliffs; a very dramatic view. My only complaint about Plitvice is that it was very cold while I was there (I am glad I had the foresight to bring my gloves and winter coat)!

The next day I took another mountain drive back down to the coast. Again the view was spectacular, though much different from the view of the days before. I drove through the area where people normally ski in the winter. The mountain tops were bare and beautiful, dotted with grazing cows and small village homes. I got a bit worried at one point because I was getting low on gas and there were not any major towns in sight for hours. Fortunately, just as the gauge hit "Empty" I arrived in one of the ski villages and was able to refuel.

After an entire day of driving, I ended back in Kotor for a night. Tomorrow back to Croatia...

Montenegro Coast
The coastline of Montenegro is very picturesque.

Budva
This is a photo of the old town of Budva, one of many little stone villages on the coast of Montenegro.

Sveti Stephan
A small little medieval town on a tiny island off the coast.

Skadar Lake
Looking at Skadar Lake from the mountain path. The lake is really beautiful!

Islands of Skadar Lake
I would love to buy this island! It is so picturesque (and a nice size for a small resort!)

Leaving Skadar Lake
I took this photo as I was leaving Skadar Lake. The lake turns into marsh land on the western side.

Mountain Village Home
This is a charming little farm house that I came across while driving from Skadar Lake to Plitvice.

Plitvice
The beautiful turquoise river of Plitvice. Sadly it was very cloudy the day I took this picture, so you can't see the true color of the water; it is a Caribbean blue!

Through the Mountains
Taken while driving through the mountains on my way back to the coast. It was nice to get a taste of fall! Since I have been living in Bangladesh for two years, I haven't seen fall in awhile!

Mountain Top
This is the view at the top of the mountain. It was quite windy and cold, but also very serene. In many places I drove through the clouds because the mountains were so high!

For more photos you can see my Montenegro Flickr Page: Montenegro Photos

2008-10-27T08:51:00.009+06:00

Entering Montenegro
September 19, 2008

It was a quick drive from Dubrovnik down to Montenegro. As I turned the corner past the border crossing, the view of the Bay of Kotor opened up before me. I stopped in Herceg Novi for a couple of hours before proceeding on to Kotor town. Like Croatia, Montenegro has many charming old stone towns running along the coast. The mountains in Montenegro seem larger, however and are closer to the water, providing some spectacular backdrops.

After enjoying the view of the water from the ramparts in Herceg Novi I continued on along the coast to Kotor, the main coastal town in Montenegro. After checking in to an apartmani I walked to Old Town. The old city is built at the foot of a large mountain. The castle is perched on a cliff above and looks over the town.

I noticed a T-Mobile store in the town square, so I went in to pick up a new SIM card for my phone. It has been so nice to be able to easily switch my phone from one service provider to another as I travel. Five dollars and five minutes later I had a new Montenegro number!

I will spend a couple of days here in Kotor and then will take a tour of the mountainous region...

Herceg Novi
This is the first town in Montenegro that I stopped in.

Bay of Kotor
After stopping in Herceg Novi, I drove along the coast of the Bay of Kotor.

Kotor
I stayed a few nights in an apartmani in Kotor and went exploring in the old town during the day.

For more photos you can see my Montenegro Flickr Page: Montenegro Photos

2008-10-22T13:31:00.004+06:00

Dubrovnik
September 16, 2008

It was sad to trade my little scooter in for a car, but the scooter only went 50km an hour and therefore was not convenient for driving all the way to Montenegro and back. I put my negotiation skills to work and was able to negotiate a rate with Hertz that was about 60% off their regular price. Unfortunately, I will not be able to take the car into Romania, Bulgaria, or Hungary because they are "restricted" countries. This means that I will be cutting those countries out of my trip this time around.

While I am sure that Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria are beautiful, my partner made a good point that when you are starting a new fund and a new brand, it is better to develop in locations that are already perceived as large tourist destinations. (My current obstacles to obtaining financing for Panigram are a case in point.) I haven't written Eastern Europe off yet, I just think that any resorts that I develop there will be in my second fund...

Anyway, after a lovely drive down the coast I finally arrived in Dubrovnik. It is a very charming old town surrounded by crystal blue water. I walked around the wall surrounding the old town and got some great photos from above. Dubrovnik was hit hard by the war, but fortunately many of the buildings have been restored.

Drive to Dubrovnik
The drive on the way down was gorgeous. I stopped a few times to take pictures of the coast and the islands in the background.

Stone Village
This was yet another beautiful Croatian stone village that I found on the way to Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik Town
Here is a photo of old Dubrovnik. You can see the fortress wall and the gorgeous blue water in the background.

Remnants of War
Unfortunately Dubrovnik was hard by the war. Some of the buildings still have not been restored. When you enter the city, they have a map that shows where the bombs hit. It is amazing that so much of the city remained in tact after being hit by all of that artillery!

Roof Damage
While a few buildings (like the one above) were completely destroyed, most of the buildings just had severe roof damage. Unfortunately after the war the original tile maker for this city no longer existed, so they had to import the roof tiles from France. In this photo you can see the original roof tiles and the new French ones.

View from Above
I walked around the outside wall of the old town and got some great photos of the city below. Dubrovnik is definitely a charming town!

For more photos you can visit my Croatia Flickr page: Croatia Photos

2008-09-14T22:31:00.002+06:00

Stuck in the Rain
September 14, 2008

I have been stuck in the rain for over FOUR HOURS! Yikes!! It hadn't rained in two months and then suddenly today we get two months of rain! At least in a Bangladesh monsoon the rain eventually stops! I have been stranded in this internet cafe all afternoon. (At least I have internet!) My battery is dying though and it is getting dark and cold... Alas! Plus I did all of my laundry today and now it is all soaking wet...

Tomorrow I trade in my scooter for a car (the rain and the long distances I need to travel make the scooter impractical...) and head on to Dubrovnik...

I have met with a couple of real estate agents and an architect here and I think that Croatia is going to be too expensive for this first round of financing. I want to see Dubrovnik (which is supposed to be Croatia's most beautiful city) before I head on to Montenegro though...

2008-09-14T22:00:00.002+06:00

Hvar Island
September 6, 2008

Yesterday I rented a scooter so that I would be able to easily move from place to place. Originally I planned to get a car, but I really prefer scooters - on a scooter you are not separated from the surroundings and they are much more economical. (Gas is $8 a gallon here! No more complaints from you Americans about your $4 a gallon gas!!)

Today I took the scooter on the ferry over to Hvar. The ferry ride was longer than I expected (two hours), but Hvar Island was beautiful and I spent a lovely day just wandering around looking for land...

The prices in Croatia are unexpectedly high. It is interesting that Croatia is considered on par with Bangladesh economically (they are both frontier market countries) because Croatia seems much more developed - like any other European country.

I really want to build my first set of resorts in developing countries. I think the resorts will help the host communities more in developing countries. Plus, the significant difference between local prices and western hotel rates allow the properties to have very high yields, which is important for me since I am trying to pitch my first fund and I don't have a track record as a resort developer yet. (The return is really just a measure of risk: the higher the risk, the higher the anticipated return must be.) For this reason I am not sure that Croatia is going to be a great fit this time around, but I will keep looking...

Boats
This photo was taken on the ferry on the way to Hvar Island. There were tons of sailboats of various sizes!

Hvar Marina
The marina at the town of Stari Grad on Hvar Island.

Stari Grad Town
The town of Stari Grad is so charming! Little stone buildings everywhere and a nice marina...

Wine Store
Cute little wine store...

2008-09-14T14:20:00.002+06:00

Croatia!
September 3, 2008

After a long drive from Salzburg, Mariella and I finally made it to her family's house in Split. I loved Croatia right away because as we drove in I saw four rainbows! Then the sun set on the water and that was even more beautiful. THEN we stopped at a gas station that had a lavendar garden out front. It smelled fantastic! We picked some lavendar to take with us in the car.

The next day we went to Mariella's aunt's house on the beach. The beaches in Croatia are mostly rocky, not sandy, but the water is crystal clear and a deep turquoise blue. While the water is cool, it is still warm enough to swim in, so we spent the day snorkling and relaxing on the beach...

Croatia at Sunset
The sun setting over the water as I enter Croatia.

Crystal Clear Water
The water here is absolutely gorgeous! Very clear and very blue!

So Blue!
I did not Photoshop this picture! The water is really this blue!!

2008-09-14T13:53:00.004+06:00

Beer and Strudel
September 2, 2008

I stepped off of the train in Munich and was greeted by my friend Mariella who took me to her home in the suburbs of Munich. Her family home is lovely; built in traditional German style with three floors and a high gabled roof. She served me beer and barbeque on her back porch. We relaxed there for a couple of days before heading on to Salzburg.

We met up with my friend Anna there and I finally got to meet her husband Stephan. They took us out to a great Austrian restaurant for dinner. The food was delicous! I simply love Salzburg! It is such a charming city!

Mariella
Mariella serving me beer on her back porch.

Mariella's House
It is so German!

Salzburg!
This is the main cathedral in town.

Inside the Cathedral
The inside of the cathedral is covered with these beautiful paintings.

Mirabel Gardens
These are public gardens outside of the palace. The last time that I was here it was winter, so it was nice to see everything in bloom this time around!

St. Peter's Church
This is the inside of St. Peter's church. It has beautiful baroque decoration.

St. Peter's Cemetery
The graves here are so ornate and covered with flowers.

Well-Tended Graves
This is one of the most beautiful places in Salzburg.

City of Salt
"Salz" means "salt" in German (as I learned while making a cake with Mariella in Germany where I almost put the "salz" in the cake instead of the "zucre"!) and "burg" means town, so "Salzburg" is the "city of salt". And this is the fortress on top of the salt min! I even think that it looks a little like salt at night...

My Old Pension!
As I was walking around I happened to run into the hotel that I stayed in the last time I was in Salzburg!

Charming Streets
I think Salzburg is so beautiful and charming!

Anna and Stephan
My friend Anna and her husband Stephan.

Austrian Breakfast
This is the Austrian breakfast that Anna made for me. Mmmm... My mouth is watering just looking at the photo!

2008-08-28T15:06:00.005+06:00

Ah Paris!
August 28, 2008

I was fortunate enough to get upgraded to business class for the second leg of my flight, so I arrived in Paris in style (and comfort!) Then when I arrived at my hotel, I discovered that it was located in the red light district, in between the "Sexodrome" and a very interesting lingerie store... Quel dommage. Well, the hotel is near Sacre Coeur and L'Opera and the neighborhood just south of sex shop row is quite charmant...

I had forgotten how much I love the city by the Seine. In the mornings before my meetings I would walk around the city. (Due to jet lag I was usually up several hours before anything opened.) My meeting in the afternoon have gone extremely well. It now looks like I will be partnering with this hospitality group to create about eight resorts around the world.

My next challenge is securing the financing...

I am off to Germany tomorrow then on to Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia...

Here are a few photos of Paris:

La Tour Eiffel
Bien sur! What trip to Paris is complete without seeing the Eiffel Tower?

Les Rues Charmant
I love the old buildings and the beautiful flower boxes.

Door Detail
There are these amazine wrought iron doors all around Paris. I thought that this one was particularly striking...

Le Jardin de Luxembourg
My favorite garden in Paris in the Latin Quarter.

More Pretty Flowers
Again in Le Jardin de Luxembourg

2008-08-26T22:41:00.002+06:00

Puchkas and Paris
August 20, 2008

I leave for Paris tomorrow for a set of meetings with a possible hospitality partner. After that I am off to Eastern Europe...

To prepare for being away from Bangladesh for two months, I paid my bills, ate two servings of puchkas (my favorite Bangladeshi food), and took a drive around my neighborhood on my beloved scooter.

Paris here I come!

2008-08-17T06:59:00.006+06:00

Photos in Jessore
August 15, 2008

I went back to Jessore to take some photos of me for a magazine article that I am going to be in in the new Success for Women magazine. (Success for Women is a sister publication of Success Magazine.) Unfortunately the local photographer that I hired was not very good, but with Koli's help and a lot of Photoshopping I did manage to get a couple of nice shots.

Me with Goat
I love the baby goats! They are so cute! You can also see the jute in the background.

Me in a Rice Field
Koli actually took this photo of me in the rice field.

Me in the Same Rice Field
Here is the uncropped version of the picture.

Me in a Bamboo Forest
I love the bamboo forest areas. There are many of them around Jessore and I hope to have one at Panigram Resort.

Me with Village Children
This photo was taken with a bunch of children from one of the small local villages. The villagers are so warm and friendly; they always invite me to come have tea with them when I stop by.

Me with Cows
Photo of me in a rice field with a man plowing in the background.

2008-08-01T07:09:00.002+06:00

Expanding Universe
August 1, 2008

While I was in California I met up with my mentor in Orange County. It was a bit of an earth-shattering meeting for me as he told me that I wasn't thinking big enough. He said that it would be easier for me to raise $50 million for a real estate fund than to raise $2 million for my one resort in Bangladesh. He also told me that I needed to find a hospitality partner who would bring to the table the experience that I lack.

My universe increased by a factor of about ten that day, but now that I have had a little time for it to sink in, I think he is right and I have decided to take his advice and am now creating a socially responsible emerging and frontier market hospitality fund. Now that I am on this route, I am actually amazed that I didn't think about it before since I do have a background in fund management (I managed $7 billion of private real estate equity at my old company).

I am now going to look for land in Eastern Europe and Africa as well as in other locations in Southern Asia. I have identified a potential hospitality partner who shares my vision and will be meeting with him in Paris at the end of August. From there I will go to Germany where I will meet up with a friend whose family works in tourism in Croatia. We will drive together through Slovenia and into Croatia where she will introduce me to her family and I will scout out potential resort development sites.

From there we will part ways and I will continue on alone to look at property in Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. I will be meeting up with architects and friends along the way who will hopefully be able to provide me with some advice on where to develop. It should be an exciting trip! Stay posted for more news and photos from Europe!

2008-08-01T06:56:00.002+06:00

Back from the U.S.
July 26, 2008

I just got back from my month long trip to the U.S. I met up with friends in New York City, my sister in Orlando, my father, aunts, uncles, and grandmother in Iowa City, and my mother in San Francisco. I was expecting to have a lot more culture shock upon returning to New York. Instead, however, I was shocked by how unshocked I was! When I arrived in New York I felt as if I had never left. Like I had been away on a two week vacation instead of a two year journey.

I did have a bit of a culture shock moment in London on the way over, however. I arrived in the airport and everything was so neat and clean and there were high end stores like Gucci and Prada everywhere. Then I saw people pouring beer from a tap and drinking wine right out in the open! Women were showing their arms, legs, and (gasp!) cleavage! Totally shocking.

My prudish mentality continued to the airport in New York where I saw a woman and her boyfriend while I was waiting for the train. The woman was wearing a shirt dress (which was very tiny). She looked quite naked to me and I kept mentally trying to put pants on the poor girl. Who stole her pants? Doesn't she feel very uncomfortable looking this way in public? Then she started making out with her boyfriend on the platform right in front of everyone. Since public displays of affection are strictly verboten in Bangladesh, this was also quite a shock! I started to chuckle to myself as the reality of being back in the U.S. sunk in.

Not much has changed in New York except that there are several new buildings and you can pay for your cabs by credit card now. (Which is good since the cab fares have doubled since I have been away!)

It was also great to see my family. All in all it was a lovely vacation...

2008-06-17T16:34:00.002+06:00

Company Formation - Part III
June 17, 2008

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

Every day is a learning process. For the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out the investor visa process. I was told different things by different people. One person said that I had to apply for my investor visa from my home country, another said I could do it from Thailand, and a third person told me that I could do it from within Bangladesh. The requirements and time lines also varied depending on who I was talking to.

Today I met with another Director at the Bangladesh Board of Investment and I am choosing to believe what he tells me because he is saying things that I want to hear. I learned that there are two "sides" to the Board of Investment - the "commercial" side and the "industrial" side. I originally went to the director of the "commercial" side because I figured that a resort could not be categorized as "industrial". Apparently I was wrong though. "Commercial" is for people who are doing importing and exporting and who are setting up branches in Bangladesh. Their contact at the BOI is Director Jalul Hai. (The man I met with a few weeks ago.) "Industrial" is mainly for garment manufacturers, but apparently also encompasses the "industry" of tourism. That contact at the BOI is Director Mamood Hossain Alamgir, the man that I met with this afternoon.

I am quite glad to have moved over to the "industrial" side of the proverbial fence because I no longer have the $50,000 cash deposit requirement to apply for my investor visa. The fact that my project is going to be very large is sufficient enough. I also learned that I need to complete the Board of Investment Registration Form before I can do anything else and that in order to complete this form I need to have either purchased my land or have a lease for the land where my company will operate.

Since I no longer have to apply for my investor visa in the U.S. the time pressure is off a bit and I can wait to complete these processes until the land acquisition has gone through. The good news is that I did figure out how to create a bank account (albeit a non-operating bank account) before I get my work permit, etc... This allows my investors to deposit money into my company bank account now (something that I need in order to proceed with the land acquisition.)

I have revised my previous post on the topic - Company Formation Part II - to reflect the new things I learned about the company formation process. Items that are new or revised are marked as such in the blog entry.

Finally, a quick word on setting up corporate bank accounts in Bangladesh... Different people will tell you different things about what is possible in Bangladeshi banking, but it IS possible to set up a (non-operating) Taka company bank account in Bangladesh before you get your trade license and tax ID. (I just did it!) You will need a bit of patience and the following items, however. Each bank might be a little different, but here are the requirements for an HSBC account:

Completed account opening form (some parts of this require a stamp of your corporate seal, so be sure you have this first. See my blog entry How to Form a Company in Bangladesh - Part 2 for more information.)
Passport size photo for each signatory with signature on backside
Copy of passport for each signatory as proof of ID
Copy of Certificate of Incorporation
List of Directors with address in prescribed form (this should already be in your Articles of Association)
Memoradum and Articles of Association certified by the Bangladesh Joint Stock Registrar. (A copy of the certified articles is sufficient.)
Board Resolution mentioning permission to open account with your specific bank (in my case HSBC) which mentions who will have signing authority. This memorandum needs to have original signatures (no photocopies) and should be stamped with the corporate seal.
Copy of utility bill (gas/electric/telephone) to verify address
If any of the directors/ signatories are foreigners then a copy of the Work Permit from BOI (you can open a non-operating bank account without this)
Copy of Trade License (you can open a non-operating bank account without this)
Copy of Tax Identification Number Certificate (you can open a non-operating bank account without this)

After you submit these items to the bank you can get a non-operating bank account (unless you already have your trade license, TIN, and work permit, then you can get a fully operating account.) A non-operating account means that you can deposit money in the form of a wire transfer from outside, but you can't take money out. You also can't just walk up with cash and deposit it - the money must come from a documented source (like a wire transfer). After you obtain your trade license, TIN, and work permit you can submit those documents and they will make your account an operating account (so you can take money out and make cash deposits).

Also with a non-operating account, only company owners are allowed to deposit money into the account. So if you have a new investor you must first transfer the ownership to them and register the change with the Joint Stock Registrar. Then you have to submit copies of the changed articles of Memorandum and Association to the Bank. After they have accepted the changes then the new investor can deposit money...

I will keep you posted as I find out more about how to form a company in Bangladesh... In the meantime you can check out my previous blogs on the subject:

How to Form a Company in Bangladesh - Part 1
How to Form a Company in Bangladesh - Part 2

2008-06-16T13:55:00.004+06:00

Natural Disasters Aren't Just for Bangladesh
June 16, 2008

My home town of Iowa City has undergone severe flooding in the past few days. Just like in the Bangladesh floods last year, many Americans have lost their homes and their belongings. The crops were also severely damaged. Fortunately my family doesn't live in the flood plain, but my heart goes out to the rest of the Iowans who do...

Here is an article on the Iowa floods:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/15/iowa.flooding/?iref=mpstoryview

Here are some photos of the damage:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/15/iowa.flooding/?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCPhoto

2008-06-13T15:11:00.003+06:00

Flickr Photos
June 13, 2008

I recently opened my Flickr photos up to the public. If you are interested you can click here to see all of my travel photos online. My photos are in sets by city and in collections by country.

Photos that I took during visits to the following countries are available online:

2008-06-09T09:54:00.008+06:00

Rajshahi - City of Silk and Mangoes
June 9, 2008

I went to Rajshahi this past weekend with my friends Mikey, Belinda, and Majbritt (all of us are in the tourism industry). It is mango season there now and Mikey had to go there for research for his guidebook so the rest of us tagged along to see the mangoes and monuments. Rajshahi is known for its mango orchards, silk weaving, and high concentration of historical mosques.

The first day we went to the mango market. It was quite a sight! There were hundreds of vangaris carrying mangoes into the market where they were sold to vendors who would ship them to Dhaka. Apparently we were as interesting to the people in the market as the market was to us! We had hundreds of people gather around us whenever we stopped anywhere. Mikey and Bel eventually found a building where we could stand on the roof and take pictures without crowds of people closing in on us.

We decided to buy a (large!) basket of mangoes before we left. Mikey volunteered to brave the crowds and get the mangoes while Majbritt, Belle, and I waited in the van. When we opened the doors and windows to get some air, however, we were again mobbed with men who had come to stare at us. So we sat sweating profusely in the van for over a half an hour while Mikey and the Mango Men packed up our fruit.

The same day we also stopped at some of the mosques in the area. Rajshahi has the largest concentration of mosques in Bangladesh. It is certainly the nicest collection of monuments that I have seen since I have been here.

We stayed at the Parjatan Hotel the first night which was a typical, rundown Bangladeshi hotel. The second night we moved to the Chez Razzak guest house which was a little ways out of town, but MUCH nicer. The place was in a quiet residential area and seemed quite new. The rooms were not stylish, but they were very clean and comfortable. It was probably the nicest accommodation that I have stayed in while in Bangladesh.

Before leaving on Saturday we stopped at Puthia. Puthia has several nice old temples including the Govinda and Shiva Temples and a very run down Rajbari. (I fantasized that I would get a lease from the government and restore the rajbari into a heritage hotel. Perhaps a future project!)

Chodo Sona Mosque
On the first day we went to the Chodo Sona Mosque.

Chodo Sona Mosque Carvings
The mosque had some beautiful carvings on the outside.

Takhana Palace
We also went to visit this palace on the first day. It reminded me of Lalbagh (the Red Fort) in Dhaka...

Mango Market
While the temples were interesting, we were all extremely interested to see the Mango Market. The road was so filled with mangoes, people, and vangaris that we had to park our van and walk into the heart of the market. Of course as soon as we stepped out of the car we were surrounded by curious Bangladeshis. Mikey and Belle finally managed to find a way to beat the crowd - they found a three story building and convinced the owner to let them climb to the top to take some photos. I have never seen so many mangoes in my entire life!

Getting the Mangoes to Market
The street was packed with vangaris (like rickshaw trucks) carrying large baskets of mangoes to the market.

Majbritt and Her Admirers
When we were waiting for Mikey to get back with the mangoes we were overrun by curious Bangladeshis! (This is pretty typical behavior in Bangladesh - especially outside of Dhaka!)

Mangoes
Due to time constraints we had to drop the picnic in the mango orchard from our itinerary. We did see numerous mango trees as we traveled around, however. I was surprised by how long the mango stems were!

Tea Stall
Our first day schedule was quite packed and we were all a bit tired from the heat and excessive attention so we stopped at a tea stall for a little break. These tea stalls are everywhere in Bangladesh; even the smallest rural town will have one. It is a place were men go during the day to socialize and escape the heat. (You will never see women there unless they are helping to run the tea stall or are bideshis like us!)

Silk Weaving
Having tasted the mangoes, we wanted to see the silk weaving that the area is known for, so our guide took us to one of the textile mills in the area. Apparently the silk is imported from China and then woven into cloth in Rajshahi. We got to see several of the weaving machines at work.

Shiva Temple
On the second (and final) day we stopped at a temple complex before we went back. The Shiva Temple was one of the main buildings at the site. This is a view of the Shiva Temple from across the pond.

Belle at the Shiva Temple
Belle is a photographer. She and Mikey are writing the new Bradt Guide to Bangladesh. They are also trying to publish a photo coffee table book of some of her images.

Shiva Temple Door
I really liked this door at the Shiva Temple.

Govinda Temple
The Govinda Temple is in the same location as the Shiva Temple. The style is very similar to the Kantanagar Temple near Dinajpur.

Terracotta Detail
The Govina Temple is covered with lovely terracotta tiles. Unfortunately many of the details have been worn away over time.

Doorway
A doorway at the Govinda Temple.

Rajbari
Our final stop at the temple complex was the rajbari. It is very rundown now, but you can tell that at one time it was quite grand. I even met a VIP inside! One of the ten caretakers of the government of Bangladesh was sight seeing and he invited us to come meet with him. He was very nice and friendly and was excited about my resort project. Only in Bangladesh could I randomly run into one of the top leaders of the country and have him invite me to come chat with him!

Rickshaw Art
The designs of the rickshaws vary a bit by the region of Bangladesh that you visit. The Rajshahi rickshaws had some very beautiful artwork on them.

Majbritt and the Mangoes
We purchased a large basket (30 kgs!) of mangoes in the Mango Market for the four of us to share. Back at my house in Dhaka Majbritt is jealously guarding them!

Sharing the Mangoes
Belle convinced Majbritt to share the mangoes and they got to work dividing them into piles. I make myself useful by teasing them and taking photos. In the end, we each got 32 mangoes! I ended up sharing mine with Hamida and my neighbors...

2008-06-02T11:45:00.005+06:00

Ladies Who Launch Travel Article
June 2, 2008

I just realized that I forgot to include a link on my blog to the Ladies Who Launch (LWL) travel article that I was featured in. Ladies Who Launch is a great organization that provides a powerful support network for female entrepreneurs. It was actually in my LWL Incubator in New York that I first came up with the idea to build sustainable boutique hotels. I began the incubator with two different ideas - to create a luxury hotel club and to build wind farms - and my fellow Incubator members helped me combine those two ideas into my current business: developing sustainable boutique hotels.

Ladies Who Launch has an online magazine. This month their focus is on travel and I was profiled in one of their articles: "The Trip that Inspired Me To..." (You can click the title to read it.)

Michele, the author actually asked me a lot of questions, but, of course, everything gets shortened in an article. If you want to read all my full response to her query, it is below:

1. When did you visit Belize and San Pedro, and how long was your stay?
I went to Belize in January of 2006. I stayed for two weeks.

2. Did you go alone or with a friend/family member?

I went by myself. (I normally travel by myself.)

3. What motivated you take this particular vacation at the time you did?

I just really enjoy traveling and had some vacation time saved up. I went to London, Austria, and the Czech Republic for Christmas 2005. I went to Morocco in May 2006... I decided to go to Belize because I saw an advertisement for a resort there in an e-mail newsletter that I received. I realized that I didn't really know that much about Belize, so I started researching it and discovered that it had a lot of interesting things: rainforests, beaches, great diving, caves, Mayan ruins… So I decided to go! I didn't stay at the resort in the advertisement, but it was a great inspiration anyway. My favorite part of the vacation was waterfall spelunking!

4. At the time, what job were you doing? (I'm guessing it was something
corporate!) How long had you been at this job, and doing this kind of work?

I had just been promoted to the Chief Information Officer of CharterMac, a real estate finance company. Prior to my promotion, I ran the Fund Management Group there where I managed over $7 billion of private equity invested into more than 100 real estate funds. I started working at CharterMac after grad school in 2004.

5. What about the Caves Branch eco resort made you think that you could do it better?

Caves Branch didn't really have any problems that I thought I could improve. Instead I was inspired by the place and the experience that I had there. The owner lived at the resort and he told me how he had left corporate America years before and came to Belize to develop his resort. It was a small place that he personally ran.

At night after all of the guests came back from the day's activities (which ranged from visiting Mayan ruins to horseback riding to waterfall spelunking) we gathered in the main reception hall/ restaurant area around long, communal tables and swapped stories with the other guests about the day's adventures. Each night the guides would come to the tables and ask if we would like to sign up for activities for the next day. I really liked the community atmosphere the resort fostered. I am still good friends with some of the people that I met on that trip.

After speaking with the owner, Ian Anderson, I realized that I had all of the skills that I needed to create my own resort. Caves Branch was focused primarily on adventure tourism. I am more interested in creating a culturally authentic experience. I have always been interested in seeing the "real" culture of an area that I travel to. One thing that really struck me during my Belize trip was how isolated the tourists were from the locals. They were cloistered in private, all-inclusive resorts where there was no real opportunity to see or interact with the native residents.

I really want to create a place where visitors can see how local people really live (not an artificial historical reproduction) and have the opportunity to interact with them. This desire was strengthened during my Fulbright Fellowship in Bangladesh. The Fulbright Fellowship is a wonderful cultural exchange program which facilitates interaction and cross-cultural understanding between Americans and people from other countries. It was amazing to me how many misperceptions people have about each other (from both Bangladesh and the United States). Some misperceptions were small, like the idea that Pizza Hut is high quality American cuisine; others were large and disturbing, like the belief that Americans hate Bangladeshis and Muslims. Americans also have a lot of misperceptions about Bangladeshis; because of the negative reports in the media many people believe that Bangladeshis are corrupt and immoral, but in fact they are the most warm, friendly, generous, hospitable people that I have met in my global wanderings.

In order to facilitate cross-cultural communication at my resort, guests will be able to participate in excursions to local villages where they can speak (via the guide as a translator) with the local people. I am also marketing the resort to Bangladeshis (and including some lower priced rooms) so I hope that the guests themselves will be both Bangladeshi and bideshi (foreigner).

6. Had you ever entertained the idea of owning/operating your own resort before, or was that the first time it ever dawned on you?

There were two "events" that led me to the idea to create my own resort. One was the trip to Belize, the other was a lecture that I attended at NYU on luxury residential clubs. I don't actually remember which event came first anymore. At the lecture I met a man who created a company (Tanner and Haley) that built luxury vacation homes all over the world that he rented to very high net worth individuals. Again the small scale of each project (you could start with one house) and the accessibility of the speaker (I had the opportunity to speak with him after the presentation) inspired me and gave me confidence that this was also something that I could do.

7. You mention motorcycling in San Pedro and how you had an "Aha!" moment while doing it. Was it crystal clear at the time, or was it something that became clearer in your mind when you returned to the States? (And where were you living at the time?)

I actually had my "motorcycle moment" on the beach in San Pedro before I went to visit Caves Branch. I drove a motor scooter (for the first time in my life!) down the beach and I just had this incredible feeling of freedom and limitless possibility. I had feelings like this when I was a child, but hadn't experienced that sense of pure joy in a very long time. I got a glimpse of a life that I could have – one where I didn't have to put on a suit and go into an office every day, a life where I could decide my own schedule and have the freedom to decide for myself how I could best make a difference in the world.

The idea for the resort didn't solidify later, but the seed of change was planted in my mind that day on the beach. Eight months later I quit my corporate job in New York, donated everything that I owned to charity, and moved to Bangladesh. Today, I drive my own motor scooter down the streets of Dhaka and get to experience that feeling of freedom and joy every day.

8. Tell me about the Bangladesh property! How did you find it (or are you building the resort from scratch?), and why Bangladesh?

While I had the idea to build a resort before I left for Bangladesh, the project was put on the back burner for a year while I worked on my Fulbright Fellowship. Near the end of my Fulbright, I started thinking about what I wanted to do next. I considered going back to Corporate America and taking a job at a hospitality company in Europe, but ultimately decided that I would be happiest if I started my own company.

I never thought that I would build my first resort in Bangladesh, but then a series of coincidences led me to consider doing a resort here. While researching low-income housing (for my Fulbright), I met Anna Heringer, a German architect who is pioneering a new mud and bamboo construction technique in Rudrapur, Bangladesh. I saw the school that she built and fell in love with the design and the material. I joked with Anna that I wanted her to build me a little mud country house where I could go on weekends to escape the city. I started telling my friends about Anna's work and my little country house idea and all of them replied in the same way, "You have to invite me!"

Most of the expats in Bangladesh live in Dhaka which is a large, dirty, crowded city. Because there are few international standard hotels in the country and figuring out how to get out of the city is a bit of a challenge, most people rarely go to the Bangladeshi countryside (which is breathtakingly beautiful!) This got me thinking that there may actually be a market for an upscale mud and bamboo resort within the expat community here. I followed my idea up with a survey of expats and Bangladeshis and discovered that there was a strong demand for this type of product by both foreigners and natives.

From there I decided on the most strategic location and set out to look for land. Now Panigram Resort is under development!

9. I'm sure you took a lot of baby steps in the three years between your Belize vacation and your move to Bangladesh (if indeed you're now living there). Is it possible to retrace these steps so that Ladies Who Launch readers can get a better sense of how to ACT on the inspirations that come to them while traveling? If possible, let me know five concrete steps that got you where you are now.

Excellent question! I actually have six steps that I recommend:

Build a financial safety net. I was able to put some money into savings before I left New York. Starting a business takes time and this money is now covering my living expenses and my initial business start-up costs.
Write down your ideas and observations. I always carry a little notebook along with me. Whenever I stay in a hotel I make notes of things that I like and don't like about the property. I take down prices, locations, restaurants in the area, etc. I even draw maps of the places that I visit. This lets me organize my thoughts and formulate my plans.
Write down your goal and project tasks. Whenever I begin a new project I always write down what the ultimate goal is. I visualize what I want the final project to look like and keeping that image in my head, I write down a list of all of the characteristics that I want in the final product. Then I start breaking that goal down into smaller tasks. For example, if the goal is "build a resort" then I start writing down the large tasks that I need to accomplish - i.e. "buy land", "design resort", "get financing", etc. - to achieve the goal. I organize the tasks into chronological order and then take the first large task and try to break it down into smaller pieces. For example for "buy land" I would write: "find good location", "do title search", etc. I don't always know all of the tasks up front, but I write down as many as I can. Then I focus on the first task until it is completed enough to move on to the next task.
Take action! This is definitely the most important step! Your idea is useless unless you take steps to bring it to fruition. Every day I make a list of at least three actions that I need to take to complete my tasks. Some days I complete all of them, other days I don't get anything done, but every day I begin with the intention to ACT! Even doing something small like spending a half hour on the internet researching your project keeps the idea and the passion alive in your head and in your heart.
If you get stuck, breathe. Sometimes I get backed into a corner and am not sure where to go next. When this happens I have found that stepping back and breathing really helps. I mean this literally! I sit in a quiet corner and meditate or do yoga. I give myself permission to release the problem from my head and try to spend an hour thinking only about my breathing. It is amazing what ideas will come to me when I just relax my mind! I have also found that often if I ask myself a question before I go to bed, I will often have the answer when I wake up in the morning.
Trust yourself, listen to your body, and have faith. If you feel uncomfortable about something it is probably a sign that you are not on the right path. Also be on the lookout for coincidences. I have noticed that when I am really focusing on an idea, strange things will start popping out of the background. Every time that I have followed up on one of these coincidences it has led to something good! If something doesn't work out the way that you want (I have had many disappointments!) trust that something better is on the way. Not only will you feel much better, but in my experience so far something better has always does come!

2008-06-02T07:22:00.004+06:00

100 Chickens and a Bicycle
June 2, 2008

I thought I had never seen anything crazier than 100 live ducks tied to the back of a motorcycle in Cambodia - that is until I saw 100 live chickens tied to a bicycle in Bangladesh!

I was in Dhanmondi on my motorcycle when I saw this guy on the road. I didn't have my camera with me, but my fancy new phone can take low resolution pictures, so I immediately pulled over and dug it out of my bag. I chased the chicken man down the road until I caught up with him at a local Chinese restaurant. (At least I now know the chicken is really fresh there!)

Me Chasing the Chicken Man
I temporarily lost him while I pulled out my phone, but fortunately he did not turn off the main road.

At the Restaurant
I chased him to Xindian, a local Chinese restaurant on Road 16/A in Dhanmondi. The men at the restaurant all came outside to watch the crazy foreigner take pictures of their chicken guy. The chickens are still alive, but have apparently succumbed to their fate, as they were hanging their calmly...

2008-05-27T08:21:00.006+06:00

Hamida Gets a National ID Card
May 27, 2008

Today Hamida showed me a copy of her national ID card. In order to prepare for the upcoming election, the Caretaker government is rolling out a national ID card program to prevent voting fraud. The ID card will eventually be able to make life easier for Bangladeshis applying for loans, opening bank accounts, and buying mobile phones too. Right now in order to do these things you need to submit passport photographs along with the names of your parents for recognition purposes. Because so many names here are similar - I have probably met a dozen Nazrul Islams since I have been here - it is really difficult to accurately identify people.

I am glad that Hamida has applied for her ID card because it means that she will be able to vote in the upcoming election. While I commend the Caretaker Government for setting an election schedule and keeping to it, I am still worried that Bangladesh isn't ready yet. It seems like the two main political parties are up to their old tricks again; I read in the paper today that the Awami League is refusing to talk to the Caretaker Government unless Sheikh Hasina is released from prison and they are threatening to demonstrate in the street. I fear that the peace of the past 18 months is dangerously close to reverting back to hartals (strikes and blockades) and riots...

I don't think that this will significantly impact my resort - my primary target market is the expats who are already living in Dhaka and this population will not change much in size even if there is political turmoil - but it will make life here more oppressive again... Personally I support the "Minus Two" plan for Bangladesh (exiling the two previous prime ministers); I think this country needs fresh new leaders who are not so emotionally embroiled in the past.

2008-05-26T08:31:00.013+06:00

Company Formation - Part II
May 26, 2008

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

The monsoon has arrived and with it a new set of challenges (not the least of which is figuring out how to get to my meetings without looking like a drowned rat!) I met with the Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday and have learned more about the requirements for foreigners setting up companies in Bangladesh.

I have been trying to set up a company bank account here in preparation for the equity infusion and subsequent property purchase for Panigram Resort. Sadly, we are back to the chicken-and-egg scenario again, however, because I need a work permit to set up a corporate bank account, but I can't get my work permit until I get my investor visa, which I can't get until I can deposit $50,000 USD, which I can't do until I have a bank account. You see the dilemma...

The Director of Research and Investment at BOI told me, however, that I am allowed to set up a bank account now that I have my company formation documents, but that I won't be able to operate the account until I have my work permit. Apparently this means that I will be able to deposit money in, but that I will not be able to take the money out again until I get the work permit.

Additionally, I learned more about the investor visa and work permit process. I need to first apply for my investor visa. To do this I need to hand over a large checklist of items, including an encashment certificate for $50,000 (though the Director said that I could just transfer $5,000 to start and could transfer the balance when I applied for my work permit), to the Board of Investment. They will then prepare a letter which they will send to the Bangladesh Embassy in either Washington or New York. I then have to go there to apply for my investor visa. Thankfully the timing actually works out well since I am going back to the U.S. on June 23rd anyway for a month to see my family and friends and will be in New York for a week during that trip.

So for those foreigners out there who may be thinking about starting a company in Bangladesh, here are the steps (in order) that you need to take (that I have discovered so far!)

Note: There are slight variations depending on whether you are a "commercial" investor or an "industrial" investor. For information on the differences, see my blog posting: How to Set Up a Company in Bangladesh Part III.

Steps that Foreigners Need to Take to Set Up a Company in Bangladesh (in order):

Find a good attorney!
Decide on the structure of your company
Decide what the authorized capital of your company will be
Get a cost estimate for the legal work and registration fees
Select a name
Prepare the minutes of your first board meeting
Get encashment certificates (can be a small amount - a few hundred dollars)
Assemble the required company formation paperwork
Review all of the documents carefully
Submit the name registration (have your attorney do this)
Submit the company registration documents (have your attorney do this)
Pick up your registration documents and make several copies of them (you will need them for bank accounts, VAT, etc.)
Set up a meeting with the Board of Investment (BOI) and pick up the BOI Registration form, the investor visa checklist, and the work permit checklist
Get a corporate seal. (This is just a rubber stamp that you order from a stationary store with your company name and address on it.)
Take your company formation documents, passport copy, etc. to the bank and set up a bank account. Be sure to tell them that you know you can't have an operating account until you get a work permit, but that you need a non-operating bank account so that you can transfer the initial money into the country if you need to get encashment certificates. (Important: your company bank account must be a Taka account, not a foreign currency account.)
Transfer at least $50,000 into your company bank account and ask for encashment certificates. (You can get permission from the BOI to only transfer in $5,000 to start if you want, but you must transfer in the remaining $45,000 before you are allowed to get your work permit.) This is only necessary if you are setting up a "commerical" enterprise. See my blog post: Setting Up a Company in Bangladesh Part III. For "industrial" enterprises, like my business, talk to the Director (Mamdood Alamgir) to see how much money, if any, you need to transfer in.
Purchase the land or sign the lease for the property where your business will be located. (You need this in order to complete the Board of Investment Registration which you have to have to apply for many of the other steps.)
Apply for your tax ID number (TIN) in the division where your business will be operated. As a foreigner, you may also be able to apply for your TIN in Dhaka.
Apply for your trade license in the upazila where your business will be operated.
Submit the BOI Registration form to the BOI. With this you will have to submit copies of your Memorandum and Articles of Association, deed or lease agreement, project profile (if your project is 50 million Taka or more; this is just a business plan), check for registration, TIN, trade license, completed form, and business plan or summary (which has your company financials on it.) See my blog post: Setting Up a Company in Bangladesh Part IV for more information on BOI Registration.
Submit the documents on the investor visa checklist (the investor visa checklist is different depending on whether you are a "commercial" or "industrial" investor; see my blog entry: Setting Up a Company in Bangladesh Part III) to BOI and have them prepare a letter to send to the Bangladesh embassy in your home country. You can not change your visa category while in Bangladesh, but you can extend an existing visa in Bangladesh. You need a business visa or an investor visa to get a work permit (which you need to open your bank account and run your company). (See Setting Up a Company in Bangladesh Part V: Investor Visas and Work Permits for more information.)
In your country, take the required visa documents and the BOI letter to the Bangladesh embassy/ consulate and apply for your Investor Visa. (Again, see Setting Up a Company in Bangladesh Part V: Investor Visas and Work Permits for more information.)
Apply for your work permit. (If you didn't transfer in the full $50,000 when you applied for your investor visa, you will need to transfer in the rest of the money and get encashment certificates before you can apply for your work permit if you are a "commercial" investor.)
Go back to your bank with your work permit and have them make your bank account an operating account
Apply for your VAT tax ID
Apply for a tax holiday at the Tax Department at the National Board of Revenue (if your business is applicable for such a holiday. All resorts and tourist operations are applicable.)

(Steps 1-11 are discussed in more detail in my first blog on Bangladeshi company formation: http://kboekhoff.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-have-company-may-8-2008-six-months_3955.html)

If you change ownership or sell shares of your company you will need to amend your BOI Registration. (See Company Formation in Bangladesh - Part VI: Amending Your BOI Registration for more information.)

I will let you know more as I continue to go through this process!

2008-05-26T08:16:00.003+06:00

TOAB Update
May 25, 2008

Well my meeting with TOAB went even better than I originally thought! I have meetings set up with four different tour operators this week who are interested in Panigram Resort. The people who have expressed interest so far are:

Bengal Tours: www.bengaltours.com
Delta Outdoors: www.delta-outdoors.com
Discovery Tours and Logistic: www.discoverbangla.com
Galaxy Holidays: www.galaxybd.com

Everyone at TOAB has been so supportive of my project. I am looking forward to working with them!

2008-05-22T16:02:00.003+06:00

Meeting with the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB)
May 22, 2008

My friend, Mikey Leung, set up a meeting with the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) today. He is writing the new Bradt Guide to Bangladesh and wanted to get TOAB's input. He kindly invited me along and I was able to give a small presentation to the TOAB members on Panigram Resort. Everyone seemed extremely interested in it and several tour operators said that they would like to include my resort as part of their tours. Great news for Panigram Resort!

I also took a membership form, so hopefully soon I will be a TOAB member as well!

2008-05-22T15:48:00.005+06:00

I Have a Website!
May 22, 2008

After a few issues, I finally figured out how to create and upload my first web page! The Panigram Resort web page is now up and running so please go check it out! It is just a basic page - my graphic design team will create the "real" site in a few months - but I wanted to have a place where people could find Panigram Resort online and sign up to receive updates. So if you want to be notified when my resort is open for business, please go to www.panigram.com and sign up for the notifications!

2008-05-21T16:44:00.002+06:00

Village Feud
May 21, 2008

The title search is progressing, albeit at a Bangladeshi pace... There were a couple of delays last week because the surveyor got heat stroke and Koli, my agent, got into a motorcycle accident. (Thankfully everyone is OK.) This week Koli tells me that the villagers are in a land feud. The feud is not over my land (thank goodness!) but is over another property in the village. Koli and the surveyor are staying away from the site for a few days, however, because they don't want to become involved in the conflict.

I am really grateful that Koli is so competent. He has already met with the District Commissioner and the Upazila Chairman and has asked them to step in and help resolve the dispute (so that we can continue with our acquisition). Local politics are extremely important here and Koli has done a good job of connecting with the right people.

I am hoping that the survey will be done in a few days. I will keep you posted!

2008-05-10T17:36:00.003+06:00

I Have a Company!
(Company Formation - Part I)
May 8, 2008

(For an index of all of my Company Formation in Bangladesh blogs, click here: Forming a Company in Bangladesh)

Six months and four attorneys later I FINALLY have my company registration documents!! Now I will be able to register with the Board of Investment, open bank accounts, and apply for my work permit and investor visa. I was originally told that this process should take one month, and perhaps it would have if I had originally hired a competent attorney and knew in advance all of the documents that were required.

Just in case any of you out there want to set up your own Bangladeshi company, I have written the steps and my lessons learned below which will hopefully save you the time and trouble that I had to go through!

How to Set Up a Company in Bangladesh (as a Foreigner):

Find a good attorney. This was actually harder than it sounds. My first attorney tried to charge me ten times the average legal rate. (I knew I was in trouble when the rate sheet he brought out was in dollars, not Taka.) My second attorney was always late and never returned my calls. Finally, I found Fatema and Nawshad at Jamiruddin & Jurists (http://www.jamiruddin.com). I would highly recommend them. They are fluent in English, extremely intelligent, and pleasant to work with (plus they return my calls!) The only problem I had with them is that they outsourced the company creation to another firm. They still reviewed all of the documents, but the other firm prepared them and handled the actual filing. This was actually a problem because the firm they outsourced to was not very competent and the agent made many mistakes in the documents which I had to correct. I think that Fatema and Nawshad are planning to develop a corporate formation part of their practice, though, and may be doing this kind of work in-house shortly…

Decide on the structure of your company. There are only two types of company structures in Bangladesh:

company - which is like a U.S. corporation. It has shares, a board of directors, and shareholders, and can be either public or private. Profits are paid through dividends. Each company must have at least two owners and two board members. The owners can be either individuals or other companies.
proprietorship - which is like a U.S. sole proprietorship. It has only one owner and is private.

Unfortunately, Bangladesh does not have the equivalent of a U.S. limited partnership or a limited liability corporation.

I was also initially very confused by the use of the word “company” here. Bangladeshis use it to mean something specific – as we would when we say “corporation” in the U.S. As far as I could tell, there is no generic English word for “company” that is used in Bangladesh. When people talk about “companies” here (they use the English word) they mean the corporate version of a company.

This level of confusion was akin to my “chocolate” crisis. In Bangladesh the English word “chocolate” is used to mean “candy”. When you go into a store in Bangladesh and say, “Apnar chocolate achay?” (do you have chocolate?) you could receive lemon drops, strawberry hard candy, or licorice, but probably will not actually receive chocolate (a la Hershey’s) because it is not really eaten here. As you can imagine, the day I learned this was VERY frustrating! The store owner brought me every type of candy in the store except for what I was looking for – actual chocolate! Anyway, I digress…

Get a cost estimate up front. It is better to do everything on a fixed rate (most firms set it up this way). Also make sure that they include the VAT (value added tax) registration and the trade license setup in the estimate, because you can’t do business in Bangladesh without these. In addition to the legal fees, there will be fees for the stamp cost and registration fee (which vary by the size of the company – a larger company pays more fees). Also, don’t pay all of the money up front; pay enough to cover the government fees up front and then the rest when the work is complete.

Select a name. Before you can register your company, you have to register the name. You need to give your attorney three name options just in case your first choice is not available. Be sure that you clearly indicate what your first name choice is, because my attorneys have told me that sometimes registrars will just pick whatever name they like the best!

Decide on what the authorized share capital will be. Like in the U.S., each company has to have an amount of authorized capital. This is the maximum value of the company. Your name, stamp, and registration fees will be based off of the amount that you select (and the fees are not insignificant), so it is best to be as accurate as you can with the number without going under. You can increase the authorized capital amount later on, but will have to get court approval (which means more legal fees) to do it.

I actually had an issue with the authorized capital on my company. I had discussed several numbers with my attorneys and they accidentally sent the wrong amount to the agent they hired to do the setup. Fortunately the fees had been calculated based on the amount that I really wanted, but the name authorization went through with the wrong amount and we had to go back to the registrar to get it fixed.

Prepare the minutes of your first board meeting. You need to have a meeting with all of your board members (the initial investors) in order to decide to form a company. The meeting has to be in person and not over the phone or internet, which means that if you are a foreigner the passports of all of the board members must indicate that you were in the country at the same time! This was actually a problem for me. Because I have to have two investors to set up the company, I was going to have my mother be the other investor until I could get my equity investors. Unfortunately, because I had not left Bangladesh and she had never come here, we never could have had a “meeting”. Fortunately my sister came to Bangladesh in October last year, so we were able to meet in person (and her passport stamps would reflect that).

The minutes have to state that you decided that: you will form a company, the name will be (the three choices), the authorized capital will be X Tk, the board members and shareholders will be (each person’s name, title and number of shares), and that you authorize your attorney (or other agent) to form the company on your behalf. (Your attorney should be able to give you a template for what the minutes should look like…)

Get encashment certificates. Every owner/ board member of the company has to invest some money in the company. You don’t need to have all of the money up front, just a reasonable amount (I think it was $200 per person for my company) to start with. As a foreigner, you have to prove that you brought the money in legally to the country. This means that you have to get encashment certificates. There are a few ways to get these:

Take dollars (or other foreign currency) to a reputable bank (I used HSBC) and have them change it into Taka (Bangladesh’s currency). When you do this, you need to ask them to create an encashment certificate for you. They will have you fill out a form (and will charge you a fee) for this. On the form you must enter that the purpose of encashment is for the formation of (the name of your company).

When you come into the country, bring the cash that you need with you and exchange it into Taka in the airport. When you exchange the money, ask for the encashment certificate. (Again, you need to enter the purpose and pay a fee.)

Wire money in to a local bank account. This is actually the trickiest option because you can’t form a company bank account here until you get your company registered and you can’t register your company until you turn in encashment certificates. This was a huge problem for me because I didn’t find out that all investors need encashment certificates until Heather was back in the U.S., so the wire transfer was the only option. I went in to set up a personal Taka bank account (which was a real nightmare and took several weeks), but they wouldn’t let me transfer money for my company into that account. Finally after several phone calls back and forth with my attorneys, they agreed to give me special permission to let Heather do a one-time wire transfer into my personal account for company purposes.

On the purpose for the wire transfer she had to say that she was wiring the money for the purpose of forming (the name of my company.) Then once I received the money, I had to go to the bank and request that they create encashment certificates for me. Whew!

Assemble the required paperwork. To form a company you have to give your attorneys the following:

Names (including maiden names), addresses, parents’ names (including your mother’s maiden name), birthdays, and passport information (number, issue date, expiry date, etc.) for each of the owners.

Photocopies of the passports of each of the investors. (The entire passport must be copied, not just the first page.)

10-20 passport photos for each investor. Bangladesh still doesn’t have a national ID system, so photos are required for proof of identity, unlike in the U.S. where we use social security numbers. Consequently, every document that you submit must be accompanied by a photo.

Three name choices.

Minutes of the first board meeting (which includes who will own how many shares; typically 1 share = 100 Tk so work backwards from your authorized capital)

Encashment certificates for ALL investors/owners/board members

Initial fee

Review all of the documents carefully. With this information, your attorneys or agents will create all of the company documents that you need. Be sure that you carefully read all of the documents; I found several mistakes in mine. I also recommend that you get a soft copy of the documents from your attorney and then make the changes online using MSWord’s “Track Changes” functionality. At first I wrote all of the changes on a hard copy document, but my attorneys’ agents did not correct all of the mistakes. I had to send it back several times and ultimately just retyped it myself. (Don’t worry, I don’t think that Fatema and Nawshad would let this happen again; they were VERY upset with their agent about this!)

After I got all of the paperwork in and figured out all of the issues (encashment certificates, minutes of first meeting, authorized capital, etc.), the company registration process did actually go pretty fast. When I form my next company I think it will go much smoother because I now know what to expect (and so do you!)

2008-05-03T18:06:00.002+06:00

Land Scavenger Hunt
May 3, 2008

As the land acquisition process moves forward I continue to learn more about real estate in Bangladesh. For instance, I have recently learned that the mauza (plot) maps for many places are hopelessly out of date. The mauza map that I have for my property was made in 1919. (Yes, this is actually the most recent published version!) Consequently, I have to hire a licensed surveyor, called an "amin", to do a current survey of the land to determine where the new plot boundaries are.

Because the land has most likely been subdivided several times in the past 90 years, there are probably many more owners of the property than we originally thought. The good news is that Koli (my agent in Jessore) has spoken with all of the people in the area and they are all eager to sell. The trick now is to a) establish where the boundaries of everyone's land are and b) obtain all of the documents necessary to prove ownership.

The amin will take care of the first step, but the second step might be a bit trickier. The type of paperwork that we need depends on when the land was transferred and how it was transferred (i.e. sold, inherited, etc.) The good news is that we only have to prove title for the past 25 years to establish legal ownership of the land. This is great because Bangladesh has had three different governments over the past 50 or so years (India/Britain, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and if we had to have a clear chain of title going back through all of those different governments the task would be much more difficult - almost impossible, perhaps.

Not to say that finding the paperwork is a cake walk! Quite the contrary! If the land was inherited we need one type of document; if the land was sold we need another type of document. We need more documents if the land transferred within the past 25 years and less documents if it was last transferred more than 25 years ago. We also need documents that prove that there could not be any other heirs that could come to claim a portion of the property.

So basically Koli is conducting a massive scavenger hunt right now to find all of the paperwork that we need. We are creating a chart that will tie to the new survey. The chart will tell us who owns each plot of land on the survey, how they acquired the land, and what documents we will need to prove ownership. Like most things in Bangladesh, this process is taking more time than I originally anticipated. I am trying to stay optimistic though; I still think that we will be on schedule to start construction after the rainy season in September...

2008-04-27T10:07:00.012+06:00

Rudrapur School Complete - Almost
April 27, 2008

I went back to Rudrapur again this weekend with my architect, Marina, and one of her employees, Sakib. The school and three homes are almost complete now; there are just a few finishing tasks that are still in progress. It was really amazing to see the completed building after having seen the construction process.

Site Visit 1 - October 6, 2007
They were still building the foundations and had just started the mudwork.

Site Visit 2 - December 8, 2007
They were building the second floor and had started on the bamboo work.

Site Visit 3 - April 25, 2008
The completed (almost) school!

Other Side
This is the other side of the school.

Classroom
This is the interior of the classroom on the ground floor.

Exterior Detail
Anna put small pieces of bamboo in the mud to break the rain on the exterior of the building. This prevents the rain from damaging the walls.

Hallway on Second Floor
This is one of my favorite parts of the school. I love the bamboo in this hallway. I think that the palm trees overhead and the use of transparent fiberglass for the roof give the light a fantastic quality.

Marina, Anna, and Me
The three of us standing in the hallway.

Benches
Detail of the benches and the bamboo work. I think the design of the bamboo screen is very creative.

Marina
Here is a picture of my architect, Marina, on the ground floor veranda in front of the staircase.

Solar Powered Lights
Unlike Anna's first school, the new building has plumbing and a self-sufficient electrical system. The building is 100% powered by solar panels. The panels charge a set of 12 V batteries which run the lights, small fans, and water pump. Because the system is 12 V instead of 220 V there isn't enough power to run a computer or large ceiling fan. The plus side, however, is that you are not dependent upon the extremely unreliable local utilities. The batteries can power the entire building for 12 continuous hours without sunlight.

Plumbing
The building has four toilets, four sinks, and two showers. The water comes from a 1000 L water tank on the room. The water pump runs off of the solar panels and pumps water into the tank during daylight hours (the water pump isn't connected to the batteries, so it can only refill itself during the day.)

Slumber Party
We liked the new building so much (and the power kept going out in the small Dipshika guest building) that we decided to spend the night in the second floor classroom instead. We brought our bedrolls up there and decided to camp out. Anna stayed in one of the teacher's rooms in a bed nook on the second floor instead. We decided it was because she snored and was too embarrassed to tell us... Even though it is the middle of the hot season now and daytime temperatures can get upwards of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the room was quite cool in the evening. We even wished we had brought some more blankets with us!

House 1 - Hemonto's House
In addition to the school, Anna built three homes for villagers in the area. They were demonstration projects designed by Anna's students to give them some experience with mud work. I had worked on the first house we saw (Hemonto's house) during my first two site visits. It looked really terrific in the end. The rooms that originally thought were way too small, were actually a nice size when they were completed. The two verandas were fantastic.

Inside Hemonto's House
The room upstairs is his sons' bedroom.

House #2
The second house we saw was fine, but it seemed too much like a normal brick and concrete house with a corrugated iron (CI sheet) roof to me. While the spaces inside were nice and had all of the climatic advantages of a mud house, I felt that the design lacked the charm of a traditional mud house.

Traditional Mud House
Here is a traditional mud house. I think that the thatched roof and rounded edges are charming.

Interior of House #2
Here is the inside of the house. In addition to the windows, there are several holes for ventilation.

The Dark Side of Mud
Unfortunately the third house that we visited had major problems with ventilation on the ground floor. The building is only a couple of months old and already has mold growing all over the interior walls and ceiling of the ground floor. Seeing this problem underscores the importance of having proper light and ventilation in these types of buildings.

Ceiling Trouble
Even though all of the bamboo was treated with borax, it is also suffering from the lack of light and ventilation. Hopefully Anna and her team will be able to fix the problem...

2008-04-27T09:49:00.002+06:00

Scooter Twin!
April 22, 2008

I am so excited! Tonight I saw another woman driving a motor scooter. It was the same model and color as mine. I pulled up next to her at the intersection, smiled, and said, "Amar tomar motorcycle khub bhalo lage" (I really like your motorcycle). She looked at me and giggled.

I am no longer the only woman in Bangladesh who drives a motorcycle! While it may seem like a small thing to my friends in the west, over here it is actually quite a step forward for female independence!

2008-04-21T15:25:00.002+06:00

Two Showers and No Lights
April 21, 2008

The heat is on again! Unfortunately the heat wave is putting more strain on Dhaka's power system than the grid can handle; the result is 8-9 blackouts a day! The power goes off so often now that my UPS (uninterrupted power supply) just stops working after the third outage because it doesn't have enough time to recharge itself.

Needless to say, the lack of power makes it extremely difficult to get work done. Oh how I miss my American Club membership! I used to go swimming when the power went out. Not only was it a great way to cool off, but it was also my only form of exercise. (Dhaka streets are not conducive to walking...)

On the bright side (irony intended), I have a good excuse to catch up on my reading. Right now I am reading an excellent book called The Golden Age by Tahmima Anam. It is a novel set during the Bangladeshi War of Independence in 1971. The book is very well written and definitely gives a good flavor of Bangladeshi life. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Bangladesh...

Well I had better go before the power cuts out again!

2008-04-10T08:42:00.003+06:00

The Undiscovered Countries...
April 10, 2008

I found this website today called Virtual Tourist that lets you create a map of all of the places in the world that you have traveled to. Apparently you are able to export the map to your blog, so here it goes!

Red = place where I have lived
Blue = place that I have visited
Green = place that I want to visit

Get Your Own Map

View Larger Map

I feel like I have been to so many places, but in reality I have only been to 28 countries! Looking at this map just makes me realize how many more places there are to explore!

2008-04-01T12:39:00.004+06:00

Architect's Approval
March 31, 2008

Marina (my architect) went to the project site on the 29th to check it out and to make sure that the land is feasible for what we want to do. She liked the land and thought the drive out there was beautiful. She took some more photos for me; I uploaded a few of them below.

She discovered a couple of things which I wasn't able to see on my very abbreviated visit to the site. First, there is a deep tube well on the property already! This is fantastic because it will save us time and money trying to dig one for ourselves. Second, at the very end (on the opposite side of the property to the bridge) there is a house. The house will be sold with the property, but this is good news for us, because it means that we will already have a site office and barracks for the workers from Dinajpur ready for us which will save us a couple of weeks of construction. Third, there is a mango orchard on my site! I went by so fast I didn't notice this before. There are also several mahogany trees.

On the downside, she told me we will need to shore up the river bank (we would actually need to do this anywhere, I just didn't figure it into my initial costs) to prevent erosion.

Marina also assured me that the water lilies could be easily removed from the river.

Right now we are all waiting to find out the results of the title search. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no issues and that we will be able to close on the land in the next couple of months...

Riverbank
View of my property from the other side of the river.

Water Lilies
The river is pretty large, but because it is in the dry season there is not much water flow, and the plants have completely taken over.

Road
This is the small dirt road (driveway) that goes up behind my property. You can see the rice field on the other side. The paved road goes alongside the property from the bridge across the river.

Mango Orchard
My future mango orchard!

Mahogany Trees
This area has a lot of mahogany and teak trees. I was delighted to discover that there were some on my property.

2008-03-27T08:31:00.002+06:00

Job Listings in Bangladesh
March 27, 2008

Since I will be hiring over 40 employees this year, I decided to do a little research on job listings in Bangladesh. I looked in newspapers and on a few internet sites to confirm that the salaries that I put into my business plan were accurate and to get an idea of where the best place would be for me to advertise my open positions. Some of the things I discovered appalled me.

First, many of the job listings had age requirements: you couldn't apply to be a receptionist if you were over 40, some jobs you had to be between 20 and 25! Second, and this really boiled my blood, some of the job advertisements actually said, "Only males are allowed to apply." Can you believe it?! The discrimination is right there in black and white! The ad that pissed me off the most though was for an "attractive woman between the ages of 20 and 25" for a secretarial position. What do her looks have to do with her typing and filing abilities?!

It is things like this that really make me want to hire women into as many senior positions in my company as I can. I am off to a decent start since my architect, attorney, and construction consultant are all women! Of course then I would be discriminating on sex too, which also annoys me because I do prefer to have gender balance in the workplace...

I have to say that living in Bangladesh for the past year and a half has given me a new perspective on Affirmative Action. I had never really supported the program before, but after seeing the blatant discrimination that goes on here today, and realizing that in the not-so-distant past the U.S. was in a similar place, I definitely understand why the program was needed.

2008-03-21T16:38:00.003+06:00

Land Ho!
March 15, 2008

I found land! After being out for two weeks traveling and down for another two weeks with gastroenteritis, I was finally able to make it back to Jessore. Koli told me about a property that he found that was next to a river in a different area than where I had been previously looking. It is 37 km north of Jessore, where I had originally been looking south and east of Jessore because it is closer to Khulna (the main jumping off point for the Sundarban trips.)

Even though the land was further from Khulna than I hoped, it sounded interesting. Plus the price was half to a quarter of what the people south of Jessore wanted. I really wanted to see the land, but Koli told me not to. He said (and I know by now from experience) that as soon as they see a foreigner the land price will go way up. I can't buy land without seeing it, however, so we tried to figure out what to do. I told him that I could put on a burka, but Koli suggested that I dress up as a man instead. He said that a woman gets so much attention because there aren't many women on the streets in Jessore, but a man on a motorcycle would go unnoticed.

So manly I would be... I bought men's clothes and shoes, cut my nails, bound my breasts, put up my hair beneath my motorcycle helmet, and set off for Jessore. I have had men in Dhaka come up and ask me if I am a man or a woman on my motorcycle even when I am wearing women's clothes, so I was confident the disguise would work - at least from a distance and going 40 km/ hour. While I may be able to hide my sex, it is almost impossible to hide my skin color (no self tanners here), so I wore long sleeves and hid my face behind Koli's back when we got closer to the site.

We took the long way there so that we wouldn't run into people that Koli knows. I only had about five minutes at the site, but I liked what I saw. It is about 12 acres off of a small, paved road next to a river. It is in the middle of the country and it is not in a development corridor, so it will stay auiet for awhile. Plus, there were no houses in site.

The land next to the river had several trees (though not as many as some of the other properties that I looked at.) Behind the wooded area was a large, open rice paddy. Right now my architect is trying to determine exactly what land we want to buy - whether we want the narrower, wooded strip, or if we want part of the wooded area and part of the rice paddy behind it to make a more square-shaped plot. I may also buy some land on the opposite side of the river for a future expansion of a spa and wellness center.

The three main disadvantages of the site are a) that it is 20 minutes further from the airport than the first location, b) it is the opposite direction from Khulna, and c) that the land is owned by 40 different people. I don't think that a and b will be large issues. It still takes less time to get to the resort than to get from the north to the south end of Dhaka in rush hour traffic. Plus, people are used to traveling long times to get places here and my survey respondents ranked travel time to a resort low on their priority list. I will also have a free shuttle from the airport and bus stop so the resort will be easy for people to get to.

The forty owners issue initially worried me, but Koli assures me that all of them are interested in selling. He is working now to verify all of the paperwork. Hopefully I will not run into anymore title issues...

Photos
Here are some photos of the site.

2008-03-21T16:17:00.004+06:00

Rangamati
February 25, 2008

I arrived in Rangamati in the evening. I was excited to discover that there was an internet cafe in town. (There is no phone service in the hill tracts because the government has restricted access and most towns are not advanced enough to have internet cafes...) Their computers were having power issues, however, so the machines weren't working. I was able to bribe a guy there who had a laptop though so that I could check my e-mail!

Rangamati is located on the large man-made Lake Kaptai. Rangamati town is basically a collection of islands that are linked together by roads and boats. The lake is enormous and beautiful. I hired a boat for the day and went around to see several islands. I stopped at a couple of hotels in town to check them out. There were a few island places that had bamboo huts, my hotel (the Hotel Sufia), the Parjatan Hotel, and a couple of other locals hotels with basic amenities.

Again, there are no beautiful, international standard resorts in the area. After seeing the area I decided that Rangamati will be the location of my second resort. Rangamati is the closest hill tract town to Chittagong, which is a large port city with an airport. It is about a 2.5 hour drive from town and is already a tourist destination. I would love to get my own island!

I was planning on seeing more of Lake Kaptai my second day, but unfortunately I got extremely ill and decided to fly home to Dhaka where I was closer to a good quality hospital. So, sadly, I only got one day in Rangamati. I will be back though...

Kaptai Lake
The lake is very large. Rangamati is a set of islands on the western side.

Islands
The islands break up the waterway a bit and create fantastic views.

Private Island
My future winter home?

More of the Lake
Some of the islands are connected by bridges. Others, like these, you have to take a boat to get to.

Boat Trip
These are the two primary kinds of boats on the lake - one is smaller (but still motorized) and the other is larger and covered.

Stilt Houses
These houses are built on the water next to the dock.

2008-03-21T12:53:00.004+06:00

Khagrachari
February 23, 2008

I arrived in Khagrachari in the evening. The Parjatan hotel that we were staying at looked nice and new, but I discovered it had two serious flaws: 1) there is no generator so when the power goes out everyone fumbles around in the dark and 2) the food is TERRIBLE! (Parjatan is the national tourism organization in Bangladesh; they also run several hotels.)

Borhan and his tour group arrived by bus the next morning. The group was very nice; there were a couple of extended families. I originally thought the trip was going to be a hiking excursion to some of the hill tribes in the area, but aside from myself and the guides, the other tourists were not really in good enough physical condition to do any hiking.

We did visit a cave while we were there. It was very "Indiana Jones" - we carried torches and climbed through a cave with a stream running though it that was barely tall enough to stand up in. You had to be careful not to step in the water (as I was unfortunate enough to find out), because the pools were several feet deep in places. Some women went through that cave in saris and heels! I have no idea how they did it!

There was also a small waterfall that I visited with the guides (the other guests weren't able to climb back up the steep hill.) The waterfall was really mostly just water running down a cliff, but it did end in a very cool incline, which created a kind of natural water slide.

Borhan's organization put on a cultural show in the evening which I thought was quite nice. We got to hear singing, watch dancing, and eat food from the various tribes in the area. Some of the tribes woman rode in the car home with us. The tribes are all matriarchal, and it was very interesting to observe these women. They definitely seemed much stronger than the average Bangladeshi woman and were not at all intimidated by the men. It was quite refreshing actually!

The next day I made a trip to the local market and bought a few of the local tribal skirts.

I was supposed to take the bus from Khagrachari to Rangamati the next day, but that evening the guards came to my hotel room and told me that I should take the bus back to Chittagong and then take another bus to Rangamati. This would be traveling three times the distance, however, so I was not at all happy about that "suggestion". They told me it would be much safer and that I would be much more comfortable. They also told me that because the roads were so bad through the hills that it would take five hours to get there (it was only 60 km away). In the end, they did succeed in intimidating me to going back to Chittagong, but I was cursing their name all the way to Rangamati, because it took me EIGHT hours to get there their way and I had a lot of difficulty finding the bus that went on to Rangamati. PLUS, I had to take the local bus anyway. Next time, I will definitely just take the direct local bus. My chances of getting kidnapped are quite low I think!

Anyway, after a lot of hassle, I did finally arrive in Rangamati...

Rickshawala
I always wanted to try pulling a rickshaw. In Khagrachari I finally got my chance! Needless to say, the white woman pulling the two Bangladeshi men in the rickshaw got quite a few confused looks...

Biriyani
Biriyani is a typical Bengali rice and meat dish. It is prepared in these giant cauldrons and is often made when you need to serve large amounts of people.

Jeeps
Because of the hills, jeeps are used to travel to places outside of the main town. As you can see, they try to pack as many people in as possible!

Cultural Program
These tribal dancers performed at Borhan's cultural program. It was quite impressive how they danced around with plates with candles on their head!

Weighing Holud
I love these scales. This guy was weighing holud at the market.

Holud
Holud means "yellow" in Bangla. This type of "holud" is a spice, however. Remember the gai holud wedding party?

Tribal Women
Photo of a couple of tribal women at the market. All of their textiles are hand made.

Banana Tree
I just love bananas! Not only are they yummy, but they are also photogenic!

Waterfall
This is the waterfall/ water slide that we visited.

2008-03-21T08:28:00.011+06:00

Banderban
February 19, 2008

Banderban is a town in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Hill Tracts are located in the southeastern corner of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is basically a giant delta, so it is generally flat as a pancake except for the southeast (hill tract) corner and the northeast (tea estates) corner. I had not been to this part of Bangladesh before, so I was really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, there was not a direct bus from Cox's Bazar to Banderban, so I first had to take an AC bus to Keranihat and then transfer to a local bus to Banderban. After arriving in Banderban, I had to take a tempo up the hill to the Hill Resort. The road to the resort is very steep and not well paved. I was afraid at points that the tempo would not make it to the top as it stalled out quite a few times.

I finally arrived, however, and checked in to the resort. The resort is built on about 8 acres of land on top of one of the hills. The restaurant has a deck that overlooks the river below. The rooms are very basic and clean, but not very well maintained (my walls were repaired with tape in several places.) The staff and guides were very friendly, however, and I met several nice people during my stay there.

The first evening I happened to run into a friend of mine from Dhaka. She was there with a group of her friends. I ended up hanging out with them that evening, playing games and drinking smuggled-in wine. (Bangladesh is a teetotaler country.)

The next day they let me tag along on the river trip that they had booked. I found out the night before that two of the guests - Mikey and Belinda - are here in Bangladesh to write a new guide. I was very excited to hear that as the only existing guide that I know of is the Lonely Planet Guide and its coverage of Bangladesh is quite sparse. Mikey actually organized the group to go to Banderban and I believe runs a few other tours to other areas of Bangladesh. He was interested in my eco resort project and I am hopeful that I will be far enough along by the time he publishes next year that Panigram Resort will be included! Mikey already has a lot of great travel information on Bangladesh on his website: http://www.joybangla.info. I highly recommend checking it out.

The river trip was beautiful. The scenery was just beautiful and it was quite peaceful to be on the river.

The next morning Mikey's group left. Just when I thought I would be alone for the day, I met a very nice Danish family. The two parents had actually done development work in Bangladesh fifteen years ago. Their son (who was traveling with them with his wife) was born in Bangladesh and they came back to visit.

I convinced them that they should take a boat ride, since I had such a good time the day before. After a bit of finagling to arrange the trip (there have been a few kidnappings in the area, so all guests need to take guards with them when they leave the resort), we finally arranged a guide. We took a man-powered boat the opposite direction that I went the day before. It was even more peaceful than the ride on the motorboat the day before. We went quite far and then stopped at a tea stall before turning around to come back.

The third day I hired a guide on my own (I figured the Danish family would like some time alone together) and went around to some of the tribal villages in the area. The tribes are matriarchal and are known for their textiles; we saw several women weaving. I really liked their bamboo homes as well. I was fortunate to see one being erected. It seemed to go up pretty fast, so I think this might be a good option for temporary housing for my workers at the resort site...

Finally, it was time to move on to Khagrachari where my friend Borhan was waiting with his tour group. Unfortunately the Hill Resort does not provide transportation down the hill. I guess most groups have their own cars or transportation, because there is no way to get a tempo at the top of the hill. I could have waited several hours for them to arrange a car for me, but I wasn't too keen to wait twiddling my thumbs, so I put my backpack on and started hiking down the hill. It was quite steep and my pack was heavy because I bought a lot of textiles. About halfway down I found a guy with a rickshaw. While you can't take a rickshaw up the hill (it is too steep) I did convince the guy to take me down. After a rather scary roller coaster ride down the hill I finally made it to the bus station.

I had to take a bus back to Chittagong to catch the bus to Khagrachari. Apparently there is a local bus that goes through Rangamati from Banderban to Khagrachari, but I didn't have permission to go that route. (You have to have permission from the government to enter these areas because they are not very politically stable. The hill tribes are in conflict with the "Bangladeshis".) There are apparently two bus stations in Chittagong. The one I arrived at was not the one the Khagrachari bus left from, so I had to find my way to the other station. Then I got on a local bus. The local bus was so packed with people that some people were riding on top and others were riding out of the windows. After an excruciatingly long ride over bumpy roads I finally arrived at my next destination...

On the River
The river was really beautiful with the green fields beside the water. It has been a long time since I have seen hills too!

House Boat
This is a typical Bangladeshi fishing boat. The fisherman might spend a couple of days on the boat, so inside the covered area is a small bed and other necessities.

Boater
One of the boatmen.

Banana Boat
No, not the sunscreen! This is the real deal!

Me on the Boat
This is me with the young Danish couple. You can see our two guards as well.

Textiles
These are blankets woven by tribal women.

Loom
This is the loom they use to weave the blankets.

Fish Stand
Dried fish is favorite dish in this region. Personally I can't stand the stuff, but the fish stands are interesting.

Tea Stall
This is the tea stall we stopped at on our river tour. I love the little Bangladeshi tea stalls. You find them everywhere and they are always small and charming. I am building a more upscale version of the Bangladeshi tea house at my resort.

Games
At the tea stall several men were standing around playing this game. I can't remember what the name of it is, but I see it being played all over Bangladesh. It is kind of like pool on a smaller scale.

Tribal Village
This is a typical tribal village home.

Bamboo House
I think these bamboo houses are just charming.

Building a House
These men are building a new bamboo house. The walls and floor are made from woven bamboo mats adhered to larger bamboo frames.

Store
This is a store in one of the villages. The large seed-like things are apparently used for house decoration.

Fruit Vendor
This woman was selling boroi and tamarind next to the textile market.

Tribal Woman
I thought this woman looked gorgeous in her tribal outfit.

Woman Gathering Water
This woman was collecting water from a spigot next to this stream to carry back to her house.

Bug
And of course, what would one of my photo essays be without a giant, unusual bug picture?! This guy came into the resort restaurant. He is longer than a spoon and shockingly green!

2008-03-21T07:42:00.007+06:00

Cox's Bazar
February 16, 2008

I traveled to Cox's Bazar on February 14. Since the direct flights there were cancelled that day (of course!), I flew to Chittagong and took the bus the rest of the way to Cox's Bazar. (I didn't really fancy the 12 hour bus ride there from Dhaka. Plus, because I had to take the bus back from Jessore the night before, I would not have arrived on time to take the night bus...)

I met up with Fatema (my attorney) and some of her law students at the hotel. I arrived in the afternoon just as everyone was getting back from the beach. A bit jealous that everyone had been playing at the beach while I was stuck on the bus, I went up to my room to rest while they showered and changed.

When everyone was ready, we went to a little bazar that sold jewelry and household items made from shells. I found a few shell lamps that I actually really liked. (I am envisioning them in my Cox's Bazar resort...) Fatema bought me a bracelet and a little box made out of shells.

Just after dark we went to the beach. It was ENORMOUS! I couldn't even see the water the beach was so deep. It was almost a full moon that night, so the beach was drenched in moonlight. Some of the women on the beach were dressed up in their best, sparkly saris. Fatema thought that they were mad, but I thought they looked like pretty, shimmering mermaids in the moonlight.

That evening we all went to dinner at a nice restaurant called Angel Drop Cafe. It was an open air restaurant built on stilts on the beach. The restaurant was nicely designed and the food was good. The only problem was that it was extremely cold that night and we were all shivering waiting for our food (which took about an hour and a half to come.) I finally figured out that it would be warmer if we sat upstairs, because that part was located over the kitchen and had a roof, so the heat would be trapped in (a little at any rate...) The upstairs area was very small, but we moved some tables around and managed to squeeze in.

The next day we all drove to Inani Beach which is located a couple of hours south of Cox's Bazar. It is actually all the same beach - this is the longest beach in the world at 120 km - but just a different section of it. The beach sand was perfect: soft, fine grains that are hard packed so they are easy to walk on. The water was nice and warm (though not clear) which was great because it was still pretty cold and windy on land.

In Bangladesh people swim in their clothes (a swimsuit would be MUCH too immodest for a Muslim). I put on a sari (over my bikini! hee hee...) because I was afraid the salt water might ruin my salwar kameez. You really can't swim in a sari (or shalwar kameez for that matter), so we basically just waded in the water.

On the way back we stopped at a lookout point which had a little waterfall and good views of the beach below. That evening we watched the sunset on the beach.

The next day Fatema and her students left. Cox's Bazar is the largest tourist destination for Bangladeshis and probably the second largest Bangladesh tourist destination for foreigners (after the Sundarban Forest), so I decided to stay on for a few more hours to do some competitor research.

After that, I headed off to Banderban...

The Beach!
The beach is absolutely ENORMOUS! You can barely see the water when you enter the beach.

High Tide/ Low Tide
There is a very large difference in the size of the beach between high and low tide. We went at a time closer to low tide. The water comes all the way up to the dark sand area at high tide.

Beach Sand
The beach sand is perfect for walking on - soft and firm.

Chairs
You can rent chairs and umbrellas on the beach.

Fatema and Me
Fatema and me on the beach.

My Bangladeshi Bathing Suit
Me in my swimming sari! :)

Bathers
As you can see, I am not the only one wearing clothes in the water.

Lookout
View from the lookout point.

Fruit Vendor
Fruit vendor at the lookout point. We bought some tamarinds for a snack. They are very yummy, but difficult to eat.

Sunset Crowd
We were not the only people who had the idea of watching the sunset on the beach.

Sunset
The sunset was gorgeous!

Sunset
The colors reflected on the water.

2008-03-19T09:11:00.007+06:00

Looking for Land - Again
February 13, 2008

My local agent, Koli, told me that he found a couple of more possible sites in Jessore for me to see. Since I was leaving the next day for a tour of southeastern Bangladesh, however, I only had one day to fly in. Unfortunately GMG cancelled their evening flight, so I had to take the bus back. I am quite happy that three new airlines have been created in Bangladesh this past year. One of them, United, now has daily morning flights to Jessore. Another upstart, Royal Bengal, is supposed to start evening flights to and from Jessore in April. Not only is this good news for me (since GMG has become increasingly unreliable lately), but good news for my future clients as well!

Koli picked me up at the airport on his motorcycle. Before going to the sites, we stopped by his popsicle stick factory. I took a few photos of Koli making popsicle sticks and then we went on to see the potential development sites.

Site 1
The first site had a lot of trees and was close to the river, but the layout was kind of strange and it had a large pit in the middle of the property where people had been extracting mud, perhaps for building purposes. The river was also completely overgrown with plants so you couldn't see the water.

Site 2
The second site was close to the first. The river still had the same problem, but the trees and the layout of the site were much nicer. There were some very large, old fruit trees on the property which were terrific. That site also had three mud houses on it and a pond that separated it from the neighboring property. Unfortunately, the owner wasn't willing to sell the houses, just the land, so that made the site unfeasible; I can't have a bunch of houses in the middle of my property. Also the price was quite a bit higher than in the other areas. It was unfortunate, because I did actually like the land in the second location quite a bit.

Site 3
The third site was also next to a river. It was about 7 acres of land that was predominantly used for paan and banana farming. Unfortunately this meant that there were not nearly as many trees on the site as I was looking for. The river was also overgrown, but a little ways down the water was running. I spoke with someone (the owner's broker actually) who was a city council member; he told me that the plants in the water could be removed in just a few days for a couple of hundred dollars.

This site was located off of a paved road that went right up to the river. The villagers had constructed a small bamboo "bridge" across to the other side where their village is. There was also a Hindu temple on the other side of the river. If the bridge were to stay a small bamboo bridge I wouldn't have minded so much because the guests could cross the river and visit the village, but the counsel man told me that they were going to build a proper bridge across the water, which would significantly increase traffic at my site. I also didn't want to be located too close to a village because the cooking fires at night make the air very smoky. Also, because the site was right next to the bridge, the villagers would easily be able to see into the property. Since my guests would like some privacy, this also was not ideal.

I haven't completely ruled the third property out, but I want to come back to Jessore after I visit the Hill Tracts to see some more land...

Koli
This is Koli in his factory, working the popsicle machine.

Site 1
This is the river that was overgrown.

Site 2 - River
You can just see the river beyond the trees.

Site 2 - Trees
I liked this site because it was densely wooded and had several nice older trees on it.

Site 2 - Houses
These are the houses that are located on the site. If the owner were willing to sell the houses I probably would have bought this property. Unfortunately, he wasn't willing to sell and the houses are located in the middle of the site, so that won't work.

Site 3 - River
This is the river at site three. Apparently it is not hard to remove the plants in the middle of the river. There are rice paddies that line the river in the dry season (now) that we can't remove, however.

Site 3 - River View
This is the view of the river from the property.

Site 3 - Bridge
This is the bamboo "bridge" that crosses the river. These types of bridges are very common in Bangladesh.

Site 3 - Bridge
The bridge was fun to cross, but people standing on it would be able to look directly into the site.

Site 3 - Land
Most of the land was planted with paan and banana trees. You can see the paan planted behind the banana trees in this picture. The paan plants are protected from the sun by dried palm leaves which are placed over a support structure.

Site 3 - Paan Plants
This is what it looks like inside the leaf structure; paan leaves grow on poles. The leaves are used for making paan, a traditional Bengali "snack" (for lack of a better word). Betel nut, lime, and sometimes spices or sugars are wrapped together in a paan leaf where they are then chewed. If lime is used when making the paan, people spit out the juices like chewing tobacco (instead of swallowing it). The lime both enhances the intoxicating effects of the betel nut and turns everything red. You often see Bangladeshis with red, paan-stained teeth here.

Site 3 - Banana Trees
The banana trees on the site were very nice. They were only a year old too!

Site 3 - Trees
There was a section at the back of the property that was young trees instead of fields.

Village Home
This is a home in the little village across the river from my site. This device is used to make flour from rice.

Village Woman
This woman was one of the people that I met in the village. The villagers were all extremely nice. They gave me fruits directly from their trees and gave me green coconut water (which I am actually not terribly fond of, but drank anyway to be polite) directly from the coconut.

2008-02-10T08:24:00.000+06:00

New Attorneys
February 9, 2008

I have been trying for months to set up the Bangladeshi companies that will own my resort. I have gone through a series of attorneys and accountants; some of them were ridiculously expensive (I was definitely charged "bideshi" rates), some didn't return my calls, some would only answer one third of the questions that I asked, some would show up an hour late for our meetings, and one of them actually hit on me!

Then I found Fatema and Nawshad. I had actually met them a couple of months before at my friend Borhan's art exhibit opening. I was complaining about my latest attorney and whined that I wanted a female attorney. Fatema happened to be sitting across from me and she said that she was an attorney! Unfortunately I did not call Fatema right away. I had already made some progress with my attorney at the time, so I decided to stick it out. I wish that I had made the call right away, however, as I would have saved myself two months of trouble!

Finally, after my last attorney drama I happened to find her card again as I was cleaning out my desk drawer. I gave her a call and complained about my legal woes and how I had to set up my companies right away because I was getting close to being ready to purchase land. She invited me to her office right then and I spent two hours with her and her partner, Nawshad, going over the company formation details. By the end of our session, we had outlined my documents, they had hired a firm who would do the actual document processing for me (drafting the basic documents, waiting in line at the registry office, etc.), and I had a cost estimate. In two hours they accomplished more than all of my other attorneys had in two months!

As if that weren't good enough, I really get along well with them personally. They are both very smart (Nawshad went to Harvard and Fatema teaches at the Bangladeshi branch of the London School of Economics) and have a great sense of humor. Plus, they paint in their free time for stress relief! When I saw the canvases set up in their office I knew that they were the perfect attorneys for me!

Unfortunately the firm that they hired was not so perfect; the documents they prepared had several errors and I had to go down to Fatema and Nawshad's chamber in the Supreme Court building to fix them. That in itself was an interesting experience though. Bangladesh's legal system is based on the British system. The barristers even still wear the long, black robes.

The courthouse building is pretty typical of Bangladeshi architecture. The chambers all open into open hallways and courtyards to promote air circulation. The ceilings are very high - maybe 12 to 14 feet. All of the chambers are small and narrow and are stacked to the ceiling with folders, papers, and books. I have observed that in Bangladesh they don't use filing cabinets like we do in the U.S. Instead they use long, legal sized folders that are tied shut with string; the papers are fastened inside with brads. These folders are then just stacked on shelves or sometimes in cabinets. I have looked for Pendaflex files here and have not been able to find them (I personally prefer the American filing system...), so I have had to adopt the Bangladeshi filing system.

Anyway, I finally submitted the signed versions of my company formation documents tonight so my companies will hopefully be formed by March 2!

Fatema and Nawshad
This photo was taken (on my super fancy new phone that I won at the American Club's New Year's Eve party) at their chamber in the Supreme Court Building. Note the Bangladeshi filing system in the background! (Their office in Dhanmondi is much cleaner and very modern!)

2008-02-08T13:16:00.001+06:00

On the Buriganga
February 8, 2008

A few days ago I took a river trip on the Buriganga River which is in the southern part of Dhaka. It sounded like such a charming, romantic idea, but the actual boat ride was anything but. The water is extremely polluted (it could give the East River in NY a run for its money!) and the river banks are lined with garbage. Aside from it being terribly unsightly and a horrible health hazard to the animals who eat it and the small children who play in it, it emanates an unbelievably nasty odor.

Unfortunately garbage like this is very common in Bangladesh. People just throw their trash anywhere (out the windows of buses, into the river, in the middle of the street...) It makes me sick and angry whenever I see it. I have often stopped to yell at people or pick up their trash after them.

I am hoping that the environmental education program that I intend to create as part of my resorts will help raise environmental awareness and encourage people to recycle (or at least use trash bins!) in the areas where I develop.

Natasha in the Boat
A photo of my friend Natasha as we are leaving the main dock.

Cows Eating Garbage
Cows munching away at the enormous pile of garbage that lines the Buriganga River.

Women in Garbage
I am REALLY hoping these women are recycling this plastic.

Children in Garbage
There were lots of little kids playing in the garbage and water.

More Garbage
The garbage is EVERYWHERE. The entire riverbank was covered with it.

2008-01-21T09:27:00.000+06:00

Gai Holud
January 9, 2008

My friend Natasha took me to her cousin's gai holud tonight. A Bangladeshi Muslim wedding ceremony apparently has four parts: the bride's gai holud, the groom's gai holud, the wedding ceremony, and the reception.

The gai holuds are tumeric ceremonies. ("Holud" means "yellow".) The family decorates the groom (or the bride, I attended the groom's gai holud) with gold and silver for prosperity. Then guests come and put tumeric on the groom's forehead and feed him sweets so that his marriage will be healthy and happy. It is also traditional for guests to give the groom a small amount of money.

All of the guests traditionally wear yellow, though many people at this gai holud were wearing bright saris of other colors. It is more important to wear your best sari than to wear a yellow sari, so if guests don't have a very nice yellow sari, they wear something else. (Fortunately I have three fabulous yellow saris!)

Normally I believe that guests eat after the tumeric ceremony, but because there were so many people there, we ate in shifts during the ceremony.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the actual wedding ceremony because of a previous commitment, but hopefully I will get to witness that part another time!

The reception is actually held a couple of days after the wedding. This is when guests greet the bride and groom as a married couple.

Here are some photos I took of the gai holud:

The Stage
This is the stage where the ceremony will be held.

Silver and Gold
The groom is decorated with silver and gold. Sometimes with actual jewelry (like the ring), sometimes with tinsel.

Tumeric
This guest is applying tumeric to the groom's forehead.

Sweets
One of the guests feeding the groom sweets. He must get a stomach ache by the end of the night!

Very Serious
Before going to the actual gai holud, Natasha showed me pictures of her own gai holud. She wasn't smiling in any of the photographs. I asked her why and she said that it was a very serious ceremony. That the bride and groom are leaving their families, so why should they be happy?

The Guests
All of the guests watching the ceremony are dressed up in their best saris.

Me and Guests

Photo of me with several of the women in their pretty saris.

2008-01-07T13:43:00.000+06:00

Cows and Christmas Trees
December 20, 2007

Tomorrow is the second Eid, the second of the two main holidays in Islam. This is the holiday where Muslims sacrifice a cow (or goat) in recognitions of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael. (For more details on the holiday you can see my blog from last year: http://kboekhoff.blogspot.com/2007/01/fulbright-blog-place-dhaka-date-january.html) Christmas, the main Christian holiday, is also only a couple of days away.

I was sitting in my friend Borhan's cafe, Cofi 11, tonight talking to him. Borhan is a religious Muslim (he has a beard and doesn't drink alcohol) and we were sitting next to a Christmas tree with Christmas carols playing in the background. It was all a very surreal experience. I asked him about the tree and he told me that over half of his staff were Christian and that they found the tree.

We then got into a light-hearted philosophical discussion about cows and Christmas trees and about how as symbols they are actually amazingly similar:

1) they start out alive and then we kill them
2) they are both decorated (the cows wear paper necklaces)
3) they symbolize rebirth - Abraham got Ismael back and the tree was originally a pagan symbol of rebirth
4) they are the primary symbol of the major religious holiday of their respective religions

So who says Muslims and Christians are so different? :)

2008-01-07T12:57:00.000+06:00

Jessore Again - Disappointment and Hope
December 15, 2007

I went to the Ministry of Land and talked to the Director of the Survey Department about my porcha issue in Jessore. (Senior officials in Bangladesh are surprisingly accessible to foreigners...) He told me that he could look up the title, but that he needed the plot number. I called the owner of the property, but he refused to give it to me over the phone. He said that he wanted to see me in person again. The Director told me that was probably not a good sign, but always filled with optimism, I decided to go back and talk to him anyway.

I brought my architect with me so that she could look at the land and tell me whether or not it was acceptable. She could also help translate for me, because my Bangla is not good enough to understand all of the details.

We flew back to Jessore and met with the owner. He explained the same thing to Marina as he did to Monjurul - how he didn't want the community to know that he wants to sell, but that he would be willing to part with the land. Apparently his two daughters live in India and he would like to join them there.

Then his wife showed us the boundaries of the land. Nazrul showed me the boundaries when I first went there, but I had never had the owner show me. I was quite surprised to find out that he owned much less of the land than I thought. He only owned a small piece by the river - the rest of the riverbank property he had sold. The plot was much narrower than I was originally led to believe too; he only owned one of the houses, the other two houses were owned by people who would not sell. That, combined with the fact that the price he wanted was about six times what the land is worth, turned me off for good.

After that disappointment, I called a guy named Koli that I had met on my last trip to Jessore with my attorney. Koli's brother is a prominent attorney in town and Koli told me last time I was there that he would look for some land for me. Even though I gave him no notice, Koli took Marina and I around to look at some properties. The land we saw didn't suit my purposes, but Koli seemed like a nice, honest guy so I decided to stay a couple of more days to look at some more property. Marina took the evening fight back; Koli offered to let me stay at his house. At first I was very skeptical, but he told me I would be staying with his family and I trusted him, so I agreed to go home with him.

His family is absolutely fantastic! They are an extended family (four brothers and their families) all living together. His family absolutely epitomizes Bangladeshi hospitality. On just a few hours notice they prepared a room for me. They shared their dinner and even bought me a shalwar kameez because I didn't bring any clothes with me. The teenage daughter whose room I stole gave me a present and we spent a wonderful weekend together. They went out of their way to make me feel welcome. If I can translate that level of service into my resort, I think it will become the most popular place in Asia!

Over the next two days I saw several properties. Two I liked even better than the original property, but both of them had some issues (one was too close to a market and the other was too expensive). Seeing them definitely gave me hope though! Koli now knows what I am looking for and I have confidence that he will be able to find the perfect piece of land for me. It is better if he can pre-screen the properties because that way a) I don't have to keep flying to Jessore and b) the prices start out at Bangladeshi prices, not bideshi prices!

So even though I still don't have my land, I do have hope that something fantastic is just around the corner!

Here are some more pictures I took in Jessore:

Ghur Collection
Wherever we went, we saw these pots hanging off of trees. I asked Marina what they were and she said they were for ghur collection. Ghur is similar to molasses and comes from these palm trees. It is collected like maple syrup and then is boiled into a brown sugar that Bangladeshis use to make sweets. I thought the pots were quite attractive!

Mustard Flowers
It is winter time in Bangladesh now and in many places the countryside is brown like in the U.S. (See the photo of the hay collectors in my last post on Dinajpur.) I had been in Jessore just a couple of weeks before, but when I came back this time, all of the rice had been harvested and many of the fields were barren. Fortunately, however, in the non-rice seasons, the farmers in Jessore plant mustard seed in the fields. Mustard seed blooms into these gorgeous yellow flowers! So instead of brown fields, there are yellow fields! Even the fields that I saw that were brown, had small specks of green poking out from the soil, so I think there are probably only a week or so when the fields are empty.

More Mustard
Close up of a mustard field. The mustard fields are great news for the resort, because even in the wintertime when rice is not generally grown, the fields are beautiful, not brown and barren.

Mustard Field Next to Purple Field
I don't know what the purple flower is, but it looked gorgeous next to the yellow mustard field! This time of year there are also all kinds of fresh vegetables available in the area. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of any of the vegetable gardens...

There is Still Rice
Some people do still plant rice, however. Even in the three days that I was in Jessore, I noticed several rice fields grow seemingly overnight! This is a picture of one of the "new" rice fields.

Another Rice Field
Dinajpur is gorgeous in the spring and summer, but it is actually not very attractive now in the winter. Jessore, however, is gorgeous all year round, so it will always be an attractive place to come!

Koli's Family
This is a photo of Koli's family. His sister-in-law Sara (wife of the attorney brother) is holding his son on the left, his wife Maria is on the right holding her nephew, and Supriya, Sara's teenage daughter is in green in the back.

2008-01-07T12:04:00.000+06:00

Dinajpur Again - Farewell to Anna
December 9, 2007

After I spoke with the owner of the property that I liked, I was excited to start work on the project again. I called Anna to give her the good news. She congratulated me and told me that she was going to be leaving Bangladesh in a couple of weeks. I really wanted to see how the bamboo work is done on her project, so I decided to go back to Dinajpur to say good-bye.

After a grueling 10 hour bus ride I finally arrived at night. When I got there Anna explained that there was a mela the next day and that the workers would actually be off of work. Unfortunately, that meant that I would only have one day to observe the workers as I had a meeting to go to on the 10th.

Because it was dark when I arrived, I couldn't see the progress that they had made on the school since I was last there in early October. When I woke up the next morning, however, I was absolutely amazed! Foundations had become walls and they had already completed a lot of the bamboo work. Anna said that mud and bamboo construction goes up fast, but this was really incredible! (See the photos below.)

I got to see Stephan and the workers again. I also got to meet several of Anna's Bangladeshi students (they were off for Eid the last time I was there) and a few Germans and Austrians who were visiting the project site. The mela was a lot of fun. I even bought some great village pottery - two banks and a cookie jar (well, I am using it for a cookie jar.) All three items only cost me 80 cents too! Pottery is really cheap in Bangladesh. I think that I am going to have all of my dishes for the resort made by a local potter...

The next day I observed the crew building the ring beam on one of the small houses that Anna is also building. The ring beam is the foundation that all of the bamboo work is built off of. I watched all day and took many pictures and movies.

That night I had to take the bus home, so I said "goodbye" to Anna and her crew and headed home. Unfortunately, about two hours into the trip I got terrible food poisoning and was vomiting out the window of the bus the entire ride back. There was a huge traffic jam too, so it took 12 hours to get back to Dhaka. I don't think I will be riding on a bus again anytime soon!

The Second School
This is the second school! They had just finished the first layer of mud on the left section and had just started to build the right section when I was last here.

Front of the School
In this shot you can still see the mud pits on the left side of the photo.

Veranda
This is the veranda that separates the two wings of the building. Isn't it beautiful?

Second Floor
This is the second floor of the school. They are just starting the mud walls for the second floor.

Bamboo
Here is a close-up of some of the bamboo joins.

Cook's House
This is a view of the small house for the cook that Anna's students are building. Anna designed the second school for Dipshika and teams of her students (Austrian and Bangladeshi) designed three small houses for the villagers to demonstrate that her construction techniques are an affordable building method for the community.

Ring Beam
One of the workers standing on the ring beam.

Building the Ring Beam
One of the workers assembling the ring beam on the cook's house.

Bringing Hay
There is still mud work going on, so the workers need to continue to bring hay to the mud pits.