Panigram Resort Ground Breaking

Because we are building this resort for the future generations, we had the children break the ground for the resort.

“The Assistant District Commissioner is really angry and has just left.” My intern’s voice rang in my ears. We were almost an hour and a half late to our ground-breaking ceremony. Initially I had invited everyone at 11:00am thinking that most people would arrive around 11:30am because “Bangladesh time” seems to run thirty to sixty minutes behind “actual time”. Of course, yesterday all of our guests arrived at exactly 11:00am.

The flight carrying my two investors (one of whom was the key note speaker) was forty-five minutes late (the airlines were still running on “Bangladesh time”); the vehicle that was carrying the food for the event got a flat tire and we had to drive back to pick up the lunches.

“The Upazila Chairman has also left.”

My vision of a beautiful ceremony where the government and the villagers stand up and say “we support this project” was quickly evaporating…

We are still trying to acquire land in the area and having the villagers see that the District Commissioner (the Bangladeshi equivalent of an American governor) is behind the project is critical to our success. Jessore’s old District Commissioner (DC) was extremely supportive of Panigram Resort, but I have not had much contact with the new DC and have not yet met his deputy, the Assistant District Commissioner (ADC).

I asked Koli to call the ADC and ask if he would stay. Koli made the call and the car became silent. “He is very angry,” was the reply.

I asked Koli for his number and called him myself. I explained to the ADC that it was really important for our project that he be there. He was pleasant with me, but explained that he had another appointment in Jessore and could not stay any longer.

Koli addresses the villagers at the ground-breaking ceremony.

After living and working in Bangladesh for so many years, I have come to accept that plans will never run smoothly, however I was still very disappointed.

As we approached our project site I called my intern and told him to have everyone to gather at the ground-breaking site. Koli, the investors, my partner from Paris, the rest of my support team, and I rushed through the mango orchard to the place where my architects had demarcated the land we would excavate for our first building. They had set up posters and flowers and over a hundred people had gathered, anxiously waiting for us.

We gave each of the original owners of the land a special VIP Pass which will allow them to enter the project site during the construction period. These villagers can then act as ambassadors to the community to let them know what is going on at our site.

“Maph korun!” I exclaimed as I rushed to the site, “Amader biman khub deri chilo!” (“I am so sorry! Our plane was very late!”) The villagers laughed at the white girl in the sari with a red face drenched with sweat speaking Bangla with a thick American accent. It looked like all would be forgiven. I noticed that the Chief of Police for our area had stayed behind for us and I was grateful for at least this small display of government support.

The local police chief stood up and gave Panigram Resort his full support.

Koli, my right-hand man who has been with me from the very beginning and who has been extremely influential in arranging the land purchases and garnering the support of the villagers, kicked off the event. Salahdin Imam, one of my Board Members who attended the first investor meeting at the pavilion almost a year ago, gave a beautiful speech about how we are building a place to showcase the heritage of Bangladesh. He explained that Panigram Resort will bring a lot of employment to the community and that we want to work with the villagers to help develop programs and facilities (like schools and hospitals) that will improve the quality of their lives.

The local mollah gave us a special prayer and blessed the project site prior to the ground-breaking.

Koli also spoke; he talked about the relationship that we have forged with the community over the past two years and about how we want to work together to create a place that would be good for the region and for the country.

When all of the speeches were done, Koli invited the children to come forward. He said that because this project is for the future, he would like the children of the village to break the ground for Panigram Resort. Several boys and one girl stepped forward; many of them had helped us build the pavilion the summer before. It was a lovely and fitting conclusion to the ceremony. As is normal in Bangladesh, the day began with chaos and ended with profound beauty.

Four years ago I left my “c-suite” job in New York to follow my dream of building a company that would give back more than it took and would demonstrate that you can make money while making a difference. Yesterday, as the children of the village broke the ground for Panigram Resort, tears ran down my face; I felt the weight of that journey and the amazement that my vision was actually becoming a reality.

Our board member, Iftekhar ("Pintu") Khan breaks the ground as Salahdin Imam and I watch.