Over 150 children children attended the third Panigram Resort English lesson, more than double the number of the previous week again!

Our third Friday English Lesson was about geography. In preparation, as usual, we went to the market in search for supplies. We were on a hunt for either a world map or globe, preferably in English. Who knew it would be such a difficult feat just to get a map that wasn’t distorted, inaccurate, or discolored. We finally settled on a decent laminated map in Bengali. We figured we would put labels in English on top of the map.

When Friday came, and as class drew near, Caio, Tim, and I found ourselves in a bit of a time crunch. We were trying to print out pictures at the village photo shop. As with everything in Bangladesh, it took longer than expected- much longer. With 3 o’clock just minutes away, Caio and I started bickering obnoxiously until we actually reached the project site five minutes late. Approaching the pavilion was like being a gladiator about to fight in the coliseum. Our pavilion guards were trying to control the chants, clapping, and laughter of what we estimated was about 150 kids. I was overwhelmed. Although the fighting between Caio and I had yet to subside, I knew I needed his help to effectively teach this massive amount of students. So we put our brawl aside and began class.

Katrina is mobbed by the crowd. We had to move the lesson to in front of our tool shed as the pavilion would collapse if 150 children stood on it.

First, like always, we reviewed the previous lessons. Singing the ABC’s, counting numbers, reviewing body parts and hygiene was a great way to kick off the session. We took out the world map and started with locating Bangladesh on the map. We then reviewed continents, starting with Asia. We reviewed, from largest to smallest, all the continents. As we pointed on the map each continent, they responded with the name. As we reviewed each continent we talked about an aspect of culture there, for example we discussed animals in Africa, dance in South America, food in Europe, weather in Antarctica and sports in North America. We then looked at the 5 oceans. We tried very hard to also describe 3 important vocabulary words: size, population, and density. Since Bangladesh is one of the densest countries in the world, we emphasized the meaning of density- which is kind of a difficult concept to convey. To do this we first explained size by drawing a small circle and a large circle, second we explained population by first drawing a few dots, and then many clusters of dots, third we explained density by putting the few dots in the large circle, and the many dots into the small circle. We asked them what Bangladesh was more like and many of them understood their country had a lot of people in a relatively small country. I found this interesting considering village life isn’t very crowded or dense.

Our activity at the end of the class was to crank up the Latin music on my portable speakers and deliver a little Salsa lesson. Unfortunately, with 150 kids, as you might imagine, it was pretty hectic. All the kids were climbing on top of Caio and pulling us around like rag dolls. So, after a little salsa demonstration, we let the kids run around to the music.

We rode away in the rickshaw with a group of kids running behind us, as if they were in a marathon. However, they weren’t the ones exhausted. We were. What a day! What a class! We realized if the classes kept growing exponentially, we’d have to find another way to teach, perhaps Caio takes half the class, and I the other? It seems that we are beginning to face the challenges that the village schools currently face, too much demand, not enough supply.

Village children learning to salsa.

Some of the villagers in our host community.

Our surveying had a rough start.  Trouble with survey questions and translator availability delayed us quite often (and still does), and villagers were not always receptive to our inquiries.  In one of the first surveys I conducted, there was a host of misunderstandings between the interviewee, the translator, and me.  When we asked about when the 90-year-old interviewee had been married, the translator told us that he was married when he was 70.  He was actually married at the age of 20.  We then asked about the interviewee’s finances and loans.  He had taken out several loans, yet he couldn’t understand what we meant by “interest rate.”  That first survey took an hour and a half, but, through countless revisions and clarifications, we have almost halved that time.

We are conducting a baseline survey of the village. We will readminister the survey every 3 to 5 years to see if we really are making a positive difference in our villager's lives.

By visiting villagers’ houses, we’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand the living conditions they deal with and to hear their opinions about Panigram Resort.  I’ll be telling you about a couple specific interviews that show what some members of the community have told us:

During one of our test interviews, Koli accompanied me to a house located about one kilometer from the Panigram worksite.  As Koli began to translate the interview questions, we learned that this was a household of 11 people; they all lived in three bedrooms and shared one non-sanitary latrine.  Even with such a large family, the monthly household income was only 5,000 Tk, which is roughly 70 US dollars.  Their house was very similar to all the ones I’d seen so far—and most of the ones I’d see in the future: it was built on a raised mud platform, its walls were made of brick, and the roof consisted of rusted tin sheets.  As we sat and listened, the family’s children eyed us with wonder, and a number of wandering livestock (goats, chickens, and ducks) nibbled at crumbs scattered around our feet.

We are keeping track of how many mud homes there are in this area. Unfortunately many of these beautiful mud buildings are starting to be replaced by brick and corrogated iron sheet homes. We are hoping to reverse this trend by teaching them how to make their homes more durable and providing an example of beautiful design in mud.

When Koli began asking about this household’s opinion about Panigram, the conversation suddenly became livelier.  Koli and two men talked rapidly back and forth for several minutes, and when he was finally finished, he turned to me and said, “I just asked them what they think about Panigram.  They think we’re Christian missionaries.”  Kristin had warned us before about the Christian missionary rumor, and I suppose Koli was trying to debunk it.  Having nothing further to ask, we smiled, waved goodbye, and moved on to the next house.

The second interesting interview that comes to mind shows how poor village families can be.  I had the opportunity to administer my survey to a barbershop owner, whose shop is located at the end of the dirt road on which Panigram Resort borders.  His family was so poor that they couldn’t afford medical treatment.  As I got to the family health questions, he began to mention a bunch of health problems he had—most of which merited prompt treatment that he did not receive.  My translator for the day, Shupria, told me that most villagers would either go to Jessore or Dhaka when they needed treatment.  The more severe health problems were sent to Dhaka, but some locals could not afford to go there (Dhaka is a six-hour bus ride away).

Our survey is designed to determine the quality of life of the villagers by measuring their income, expenses, health, type of accomodation, and level of education.

When I asked our interviewee about his wife’s illnesses in the past year, he said that her appendix had ruptured, and she was unable to get surgery.  Upon hearing this, I stopped the survey and looked at my translator.  “Wait.  Do you really mean to say that her appendix burst?” I said, making an exploding motion with my hands.  Shupria asked him again, and she confirmed that the appendix had, in fact, burst.  I had a lot of trouble believing that.  In emergency medicine, appendicitis is always a cause for immediate concern, since a burst appendix is typically fatal without surgical intervention, so I couldn’t understand how his wife was still alive.  My translator said that his wife was indeed alive—and that it happened a few weeks ago.  The family didn’t have enough money for emergency treatment, and now our interviewee’s wife has chronic abdominal problems.

We are also trying to determine at what age most people get married and start having children. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for girls in our village to get married at 12 or 14.

As we continue collecting data, our understanding of the villages’ needs improves.  Even without asking up front, we can see how different families feel about our presence in the community—and what their opinion is on Panigram.  Some families are standoffish throughout the entire interview: they eye us warily, ask us what we’re doing with Panigram, and wonder why we’re asking these questions.  Other families are hospitable and friendly.  One of the interviewees invited us into her house and wanted to serve us mango.  At times, conducting the survey feels like participating in a lengthy, uncomfortable inquisition.  However, we are confident that the data we collect will provide crucial information that will help us help the nearby villagers.

Katrina and Caio teach the children names of parts of the body in English.

At a half hour prior to the lesson, we already had close to fifteen kids lingering around the pavilion in anticipation. When we started, the class was double the size of last week. By the end of two hours, we had close to sixty kids. So many new kids! Wow, that’s what I call word-of-mouth marketing at work. I was both elated and overwhelmed with the attendance. Outside, next to the newly built tool shed (good job engineers), we began with a review of last week’s session: the alphabet, numbers, and greetings. The kids had retained the content well, and the new group picked up quickly. Just as we were wrapping up the review, a dark grey cloud loomed right above us releasing little drops of rain, warning us of its plans for a torrential down pour. We all scurried into the pavilion, leaving a heap of tiny flip flops outside.

Trang, Shupria, Caio, and Katrina teach the children about germs.

In order to learn about germs and hygiene, we thought it’d be best to learn some vocabulary about the human body. I enlisted Caio and Trang as the models of the lesson; they held up Caio’s masterpiece poster, and modeled various body parts such as the elbow, stomach, or foot. We went through each body part by reciting the English pronunciation and pointing out the part on our own bodies. I then tested them by pointing out Caio’s head or knee and having the kids shout out the English word. They were so enthusiastic! When we started to mix up the words, they’d jump in anticipation. The words “shoulder” and “stomach” were the most confusing at first. I’d point to Caio’s stomach and we’d hear a slur of sounds including “shoumach” or “stoooooulder” or just hissing.  Also, the word “thigh”, was difficult for them to pronounce. “Thigh” had turned into “tie”. So, we broke the word into two-“the” and “hi”.

With all their energy and excitement, and a hiatus from the rain, I figured it was time for a physical activity to reinforce the lesson. A fun game called “Caio says,” a variation of “Simon says”. For anyone who doesn’t know this classic elementary school game, here’s a brief description of our simplified version: Simon (Caio) stands facing the participants. He says a command to touch a part of your body, while acting out the command himself. The participants will follow the command by touching that part of their body.

Since Caio has established such popularity with the kids, I figured he’d be the best Simon. I was right. The boys were especially energetic. It took a bit more encouragement and smiling to get the girls to actively participate. The kids were laughing and stretching in every direction to keep up with Caio’s fast pace. I then asked Caio to stop doing the movements and just continue with the commands. I was really impressed with how well the kids retained the information. They were able to play the game even without mirroring Caio.

Caio teaches the village children the parts of the body in English while playing "Simon Says".

After the game, we came back to the pavillion to go over the human face. The worksheet we provided for the kids only had a place for the body to be labeled. So, we asked everyone to draw a picture of a face. Some of them drew a picture of me. We studied the words hair, eye, nose, ear, mouth, and teeth. They labeled their picture as we went along.

The next part of the lesson, going over hygiene, was a bit more difficult. We began by talking about germs. After a brief and animated explanation in English about how some germs are bad and can cause us to be sick, I had our English-speaking Bangladeshi friend, Shupria, explain in Bengali. We talked about where bad germs can come from and how to prevent them. We had a little experiment to explain how germs transfer. We had three cardboard boxes, each depicting various ways we get germs: petting animals, playing with other kids, touching garbage, etc. Each box contained bright yellow lentil seeds that acted as germs in our experiment. When I stuck my hand in the animal box and came out covered in yellow “germs”, the kids winced their faces. I then shook hands with Trang to show how easy germs can be transferred. Finally, I demonstrated that the only way to get rid of the germs was to wash my hands with soap for the duration of the alphabet song. The kids then all sang the ABCs while pretending to wash their hands.

Next, Caio demonstrated how to properly brush their teeth. I could tell by the giggling that they were very entertained by the foam coming out his mouth and his gurgling. We also talked about the importance of using tissues or handkerchiefs when sneezing or coughing.

We had almost double the number of children at the second class as we had at the first class!

The hysteria came at the end of class. Remember how we bought the thirty toothbrushes? At the market we should’ve known better than to think we’d only get the same attendance as the last session. We decided to line the kids up at the steps and give each something different as they left- one would receive a bar of soap, the other a pack of toothpaste, and the other a toothbrush. As you’d suspect, when the toothbrushes came out, the kids went wild! Hysteria broke out. We had kids rushing towards the bag of goodies and clamoring at me and Caio for toothbrushes. We tried our best to manage the situation, but in the end we, the teachers, learned a big lesson. The next time we have gifts, we have to have not only extra, but also an organized distribution system.

From the weather to not having enough gifts, we faced a few challenges this time. Despite the challenges, not only did the kids learn some new essential information, but I too learned some important lessons. We hope that some of the lessons we talked about in the Health and Hygiene will resonate not just to the kids but also throughout their families and the community.

The children were very enthusiastic to learn!

Until next class…

Major Alamgir was very friendly; in typical Bangladeshi fashion he invited me to tea. I explained to him that this was not a good site for him to conduct Army exercises as we are developing a luxury resort in the area and there are lots of villagers and children who come out to see our project. Somebody told me that the Army conducts military exercises here every six months. He explained that he would only be here for four or five more days, so I agreed to let him stay (there really is nothing else that I could do as the Army is the most powerful entity in the country!) but got him to agree that he would not cut down any of our trees or bamboo and that they would select another site for their exercises in the future. He also assured me that they would not use live ammunition in their exercises because I was very concerned about all of the children in the area. So for the next few days my interns and I will be dodging fox holes and booby traps…

Today I am writing a letter to the Major General of the Jessore Cantonement to let him know that this area will now be used for tourism and that the Army needs to find another site for their military exercises.

One plus side of having several hundred Army officers around: the site is definitely secure!

Children from the village came to the project site for English lessons.

Last Friday marked the first of Panigram’s weekly English sessions for the kids of the village. The plan was to teach and review the English alphabet, numbers, and basic greetings.  As usual, we didn’t need to tell the kids to come to Panigram; at 3’oclock there was a group of twenty-four kids, aged four to twelve, hanging around the pavilion. With the lure of little notebooks (which the kids call guide books) and pens, Caio and I soon had a captivated audience. To my surprise, the children were excited to show off and recite the alphabet. You could see they were hungry to learn more and take notes in their “guide books”. The children did an excellent job reciting the alphabet until we came to the letter “Z”. My American pronunciation of “Zee” was heavily contested; the children insisted on using the Brittish “Zed” instead. Two of the children didn’t know any letters, so I initially worked with them on the pronouncing each letter, then I asked one of the elder boys to review the alphabet with the two boys in the coming week; he gladly accepted the role of tutor.

Katrina reviews English letters with one of the younger students.

Next we went over the numbers. We began with recognizing each number and reciting it. Although reviewing numbers one through ten was a breeze, numbers ten through twenty proved to be a bit more difficult. Caio worked with the kids on recognizing the written English numbers, while I practiced with them by counting orally in English using sticks. I saw Caio sneak them some candies for a job well done. (As if he needed to increase his cool factor, being Brazilian in a World Cup-crazed country…) Unfortunately, the kids threw the candy wrappers on the ground; for them littering is completely normal. Caio saw an opportunity for another mini-lesson. He held out a bag (my linen bag, which I was using as my purse for the day) and asked all the kids to place the wrappers in the bag; he showed them that littering was bad. As annoyed as I was with Caio for my bag, his demonstration helped the children understand the importance of keeping their village clean.

Caio uses Katrina's purse as a trash bag to teach kids that they shouldn't litter.

To review the numbers, we played a fun game: water balloon toss! In pairs, they practiced counting aloud the number of tosses they had until the balloon broke. The winning team, Zahedand  Rahman had 29 passes! The children loved playing with the water balloons- their faces lit up with excitement each time their balloon was “mid-flight”. And when someone was splashed by a breaking balloon, they roared with laughter.

Children practice counting by throwing water balloons back and forth.

Last, we tackled a few common English phrases, including: “How are you?”, “How old are you?”, “Please”, “Excuse me”, and “Thank you”. Unfortunately, the children kept confusing “How old are you?” with “How are you?”. Explaining when to use “please” and “excuse me” was also challenging. We wanted to explain the meaning of the words or statements instead of simply translating them. So, Caio and I acted certain words out with lots of enthusiasm. The children then paired up to practice their new greetings and questions with each other. Although retaining the new material will be difficult, our main goal of the first session was to familiarize the kids with listening and speaking English. Also, we wanted to establish a fun learning atmosphere for them. Overall, their smiling faces, eager attitude, and scribbled notes were all the feedback we needed to know the lesson was successfully delivered.

A boy takes notes as Katrina teaches.

The children copy down common English expressions into their notebooks (or "guide books" as the kids call them...)

Notebooks that we gave the children for their lesson.

Caio Barboza

Caio

My passion for architecture, my desire to become an architect, and the discipline these require have been influenced by my earlier passion - Taekwondo.  For a decade, from the time I was 7 until I reached the age of 17, my life was focused on the Korean martial art of Taekwondo.  At the age of 17, as is the custom in Brazil, I had to make the difficult decision of choosing a profession.  During my last year in high school my years of dedication to Taekwondo were recognized as I was selected to train on the Brazilian national Olympic team for competition in the 2008 Olympics.  While the opportunity to represent Brazil at the Olympics was the culmination of many years of intense mental, emotional and physical training, I came to realize that the very elements of Taekwondo which made me passionate from an early age - form, movement, technique, space - wanted to find expression in ways that Taekwondo could not satisfy in the longer term.   After much thought, I decided on a professional career and opted to use form, movement, technique, and space to create something outside my own body - structures.

I am currently a sophomore architecture student at Cornell University, and was impressed to hear about Panigram Resort’s program after hearing previous interns’ stories of their experiences in Bangladesh. I became interested in Panigram Resort’s program for its ability to impact communities and develop their environment through sustainability and architecture.  I believe that working in Bangladesh has provided me with very helpful insight into how different cultures develop sustainable building techniques and how they implicate in their living style.  Furthermore, I believe Panigram Resort and Bangladesh talk much about contrasts and differences. Much of what I have been learning is about how architecture can be used to create communities and to inspire the people within them, or produce the very opposite results.  Working with Panigram Resort and Bangladesh has served as a stepping stone in comprehending the very same principles of relationships between architecture, history, lifestyle, and culture, clearly embedded in the Bangladeshi culture.

Onek donnabad.

Viet Hoang Nguyen

Viet

I am Viet from Vietnam. I love doing math and physic because they keep me away from playing Fifa (computer football). I love playing football because it keeps me away from doing math all day. And I love studying architecture because it keeps me away from playing football in the snow in Ithaca.
I went to high school in Vietnam, studied A-levels in England and read architecture at Cornell. Why these particular places? Bon, these are the best places for doing math, practicing football, and making architecture. Fifa, you can play anywhere.

I decided to get involved in the Panigram resort project because I love water, I love the village, and my boss is so cool. Why wouldn’t you want to work with bamboo and mud, talk to a guy who knows everything about trees, and eat mangoes all the time? Why wouldn’t you want to get away from hectic London and work in the countryside, right?

Trang Pham

Trang

I was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. My family moved to California, USA when I was 13 years-old. I have a younger brother who will be going to college next year. My parents are both civil engineers and they definitely had a significant impact on my career decision. I am a third year student at Cornell University studying Civil Engineering with a focus on civil infrastructure. I was always interested in sustainable design and green building. At Cornell, I have been taking part in AguaClara, a project team that aims to provide clean water for communities in Honduras using gravity-power water treatment plant. I was also a member of the Solar Decathlon team which was competing for the most sustainable design for a single-family house.

When I was informed about Panigram Resort through an email I received from my department, I immediately got interested and wanted to get involved. The Panigram project has many positive impacts; not only does it preserve the environment surrounding the project, but it also incorporates nature into its design. It’s fascinating how the whole resort will be built using materials that one can find around the village like bamboo, mud, palm leaves, etc… As a civil engineering student, I hope to learn more about how to use traditional building materials to produce modern quality structures. I have only worked with the villagers for two days, but I have been amazed at how efficiently they can get things done. I am excited to learn cool new tricks from these friendly people. My adventure over the next two months here in Bangladesh will definitely be one the best experiences of my life.

David Hoffer

David

I graduated from Cornell in May with a master’s degree in engineering management, a degree that combined studies in real estate, urban planning, civil engineering, and business. While enrolled at Cornell I was engaged in the design and construction of a solar house, worked with Cornell to reduce carbon emissions through smarter campus planning and building use, interned with Cornell Planning Design and Construction’s project management office, and earned my accreditation as LEED a professional.

Eventually, I would like to develop sustainable hospitality projects, which makes Panigram a perfect place to start my career. I can contribute to the construction of the resort with my background as an engineer, and gain exposure to the business side of hospitality development. I was also drawn to the project because of the hands on nature of the work, and the physical beauty of the environment we’re working in. I was a boy scout growing up and am the kind of guy who likes to be out in nature. With Panigram, I’m not stuck in a cubicle and I have the chance to explore a country that is unlike any place I’ve ever been before.

Katrina Lee

Katrina

I was born within a Chinese-American family in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey (I’m a suburban girl with urban roots). I am currently a rising senior at Cornell University’s Hotel School. Among my leadership experience, I am currently the president of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, Cornell Collegiate Chapter and Director of Student Affairs for Cornell Hotel Society. I have also worked in the hospitality industry for the past six years with brands such as W Hotels, Sheraton, Hyatt, and Tribe Hotels. Fortunately, my internships have provided me with the opportunity to experience different cultures and interact with them in various ways. I have worked in New York, New Orleans, Kenya, and now Bangladesh. My background is mostly in room operations and human resources.

I decided to intern with Panigram Resort in Bangladesh because of my interest in sustainable hotel development and international hospitality. While my previous summers have provided with me many corporate positions, I decided that my last summer as a Hotel School student should be adventurous and life-learning.  Within a few short days, Panigram Resort and Bangladesh prove to be just that, an adventure. I love traveling, learning about different cultures, and meeting new friends. For all these reasons and more, I knew Panigram Resort ‘s internship was right for me.

Timothy Chen

Tim

I am a rising sophomore at Cornell; my major is hotel administration.  I was born and raised in the San Jose Bay Area of California with my three siblings.  Back home, I attended Homestead High School and played volleyball for the school team and for a private organization.  One of my other passions during high school was sustainability—specifically, how business could and should integrate it.  I assisted the research and development team in my environmental science course with an initiative called “Eco-eateries,” which aimed to measure and improve the level of sustainability in local foodservice operations.

I am currently involved in Cornell Hospitality Consultants, Hotel Ezra Cornell, the Rawlings Research Program, and Cornell University Emergency Medical Service.  I decided to attend the Hotel School for two major reasons: I have always been interested in running a business and I have a passion for sustainability.  I came to the Hotel School wanting to focus on sustainable hospitality and was lucky enough to meet Kristin Boekhoff at the 85th Hotel Ezra Cornell.  Kristin’s innovative vision for Panigram Resort—along with her commitment to make it a socially and environmentally responsible company—immediately sparked my interest.  I am now blessed with the opportunity to work with Kristin and five other talented interns in Bangladesh.

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.

If you or anyone you know is interested, please apply! The internship will run from June 1, 2010 to July 31, 2010.

Here are the details:

Responsibilities:
The summer intern will be responsible for writing two blog entries per week documenting the progress of the construction of Panigram Resort and the summer intern experience in Bangladesh. The intern will also be responsible for creating a ten minute “reality TV show” each week about the challenges (and rewards) of creating a resort in Bangladesh. Each show will be posted on both YouTube and on the Panigram Resort blog as a way of getting people exciting about the project. The intern will film the show with a digital video camera (which will be provided) and edit the raw footage into an interesting 10 minute episode.

Requirements:
I am looking for intrepid students who thrive in challenging environments, are looking for an adventure, and work well with all different types of people. The student must be fluent in English, have fantastic writing skills and experience with film editing/ videography. (Knowledge of Bengali is also a plus.) The candidate must be in excellent health and must not have any chronic medical conditions as access to medical facilities will be limited. The environment will be challenging — both culturally and physically — but our past interns have found the experience to be extremely rewarding. All students will be required to learn some basic Bengali when they arrive so that they will be able to communicate with the villagers.

Logistics:
Students will be responsible for their own transportation to and from Bangladesh, but once in country we will provide interns with housing, meals, transportation within Bangladesh, and a Bangladeshi salary/ living stipend of 10,000 Tk/ month. Please submit a resume, writing sample, and cover letter explaining your qualifications and why you are interested in the position to Kristin Boekhoff at kboekhoff@panigram.com.

2009 summer interns take a rest break after a hard day of mud construction.

I am going to Jessore on Sunday to buy the next piece of land for the project and to work with Marina to finalize the location of the Phase I buildings. We are on target to break ground the first week of June!

Our construction process will be well-documented this summer as I have a new crop of interns coming in. So stay tuned for more updates!

I was on a panel about innovation in the industry. People were eager to hear about Panigram Resort, though a few were skeptical that I could build a resort out of mud in a country with monsoons (even though I pointed out that mud homes had been built in the area for thousands of years). I was amazed by how many industry veterans were truly excited about my resort concept and the values that my company stands for.

I came away from the event with many new friends and an even stronger desire to make Panigram succeed; not just for me and my investors, or even our host community, but to set a new direction for the hospitality industry. I would like to show others that you can make money and make a difference and that you don’t have to compromise quality or customer service to be green and socially responsible.