Bird returns from southeast Asia

Mike Bird, a member of the Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition, returned last week from a trip to Bangladesh and India with insight for the 2002 World Health Organization’s Safe Communities conference being hosted by Fort Frances.
He also came home with a better idea of health issues facing other nations.
“It is different. People talk about culture shock but I don’t think so much culture shock,” he said. “[Rather], it’s acceptance that they’re two different cultures, two different countries, two different ways of approaching things.”
The first conference Bird attended was the Safe Communities conference in Dakar, Bangladesh.
“When you’re there, you sort of get a sense that they’ve got a lot of issues to deal with.
“One thing that you notice is that there is poverty and it hits you very quickly, as soon as you leave the airport,” said Bird, who rode through shanty-towns and was surrounded by children asking for money.
Bird said the conference is beneficial for developing nations like Bangladesh because many countries share–or have gone through–similar problems.
“They recognize they’ve got major problems and they are working towards solving those problems,” he remarked. “This was an opportunity for them to showcase what they’re doing but also to talk to other people about their specific problems.”
Most fatalities in Bangladesh are due to drowning and traffic accidents, Bird said. In a city with more than 350,000 rickshaws, drivers ignore traffic signals and there are no apparent speed restrictions.
During his ride from the airport, Bird experienced the traffic first-hand as his driver blew through red lights.
“It’s complete and utter chaos,” he recalled.
Bird then attended the WHO conference in India, where he had the opportunity to present Fort Frances to delegates as the host of the 2002 conference.
“One of the reasons of me going was to try and help promote the conference that is going to be held here in 2002, tell them a bit about it, and give them a little bit of information about the safety coalition here,” he explained.
This year’s WHO conference focused on children’s health and safety in all nations, particularly in developing nations where children are sent to war or crippled at a very young age.