Design Seminar

Last week in Dhaka we had a design seminar where all the designers from the job creation and Prokritee groups got together to talk about design, visit handicraft shops, and visit traditional village artisans in the Mymensingh area. The first day was in Dhaka, and the second day we traveled to Mymensingh.

On the second day of the event, I decided that I would take my motorcycle to the artisan villages that were close to Mymensingh, and the rest of the designers took a car. Unfortunately, I had an episode with my motorcycle tire. Philip was driving my motorcycle at Easter, when he somehow got 7 punctures in my back tire. Since then my tire has been fine, but on this morning it went flat. I was alone with another designer on the back of the motorcycle. We found a motorcycle tire repair shop, and asked them to fix it. They said my tube was old and that I needed a new one. For 250 taka I had a new tire and was on my way to Muktagacha. When I arrived in Muktagacha, I realized that it was flat again. I found another tire repair shop, and they said the tube that I had purchased was bad quality. I was a victim of fraud! They charged me only 200 taka for a tube of supposedly better quality. I ending up spending most of the hot day in motorcycle tire repair shops with young boys of 8-10 fixing my tire, and not seeing any handicraft villages!