I have been back from Bangladesh for almost three weeks now. Busy summer so far - had to pay the price for being away for four weeks! Lot’s of progress in Bangladesh on different fronts. But lot more in the category of tasks that are begging to get done! Here’s yet another thought:

How many of us in the US buy gifts for our American friends? Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, baby showers, graduation gifts … the list goes on and on! With three young children I find myself (or my wife) buying gifts for numerous occasions. I would estimate that counting Christmas gifts for teachers and like, we probably approach (or easily exceed) $1,000 per year in casual gifts to non-family members. Most of the gifts are for ‘Americans’ (meaning not recent immigrants). Often, I have thought that it would be nice if there was a source or supply of elegant, handmade Bangladeshi products that could be given as gifts to these Americans. Has anyone else had the same thought?

Imagine a virtual boutique where there are a limited number of items - let’s just say about 100 - categorized for the major gift giving occasions and by range of prices. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to give an item from this ‘catalog’ to a 12 year old girl, say, a hand made Bengali doll; or for an older friend - how about a hand made sari? Along with the gift, there would abe a description of the origin and who made it and who got paid a ‘fair wage’ for making it. And a small portion of the purchase price could go towards a general charitable fund. I bet if there was such a source, dedicated and service friendly, I would myself buy $500 of products every year! Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands of Bangalis around the country and you can have a very significant business!

But the beauty of the enterprise wouldn’t just be the business itself. It would the vastly greater benefit of spreading positive information about Bangladesh as well as making people feel good about the process. Think of the nice handmade wooden model boats that are so ubiquitous in Dhaka. They would look beautiful in any American home! And for retail prices (in Dhaka) of around $2-3, you can give one to each and every one of your friends. It can be a signature gift that that they are unlikely to find or receive anywhere else! And the small gift card could have a web link to the virtual store in addition to information about its origin. Do you get the idea? At the higher end of the range are the beautifully embroidered products ranging from Panjabis and table mats to elaborate tapestries. I have half a dozen hanging in my house and they are always a source of conversation. And think of the women who worked hard for months to produce them! And how about a nice packet of raw tea from Sylhet? Complete with a strainer and an instruction booklet on how to make authentic Bengali ‘Chai’ (hint: add alot of cream and sugar and throw in a stick of cinnamon or a cardamom if desired). For under $10 it can make a fabulous gift for any adult who is not averse to caffeine.

[Add a little history (that I learnt on my recent trip): The tea leaves are picked primarily by Santal or other indigenous women who get paid Tk 28 for a full day's work. That is, if they pick their daily minimum of 22Kg of leaves. Some work faster and make a bit (but not much) more. It takes about 5 Kg of raw leaves to produce 1 Kg of raw tea. While the price of raw tea in Chittagong ranges from $1-$2 per Kg, by the time it is repackaged, the price has gone up 5-10x! For the typical store buyer who pays $10+ per pound less than one cent of every dollar goes to pay the person who picked the tea leaves - working all day on slippery slopes, in the sun and in the rain (hence the big hats) and often with a child on her back. Perhaps our gift packs could state that an additional __ cents are contributed to a Santal welfare fund for every package purchased?]

I even have a title for the campaign: “BuyDeshi for BiDeshis” (that’s bee-deshis, not bye-deshis!)

So who do we have among our readers who finds this interesting? Is it interesting enough for you to try and do something about it? Could you design a virtual store? For starters, you could just intermediate stuff that already exists in stores in Dhaka. Advertising could be viral as well as word of mouth. Or you could start with some ‘fair trade’ tea. After all, at least one great nation got its start with fair trade in tea! And yes, if you think you have what it takes to get this going, I will be happy to talk to you about start-up costs … !

Muhit

PS: I note that my suggestion about a Deshi affinity card kind of fizzed out! No matter! We are still a small community and we do not have the breadth of experience within ourselves to do many things. But we Do Have Some Expertise! And it would be nice if we can direct some of it towards our own community.