Meg: Today was a pinnacle experience for us, because we had time to make new friends in Bangladesh.  Mustari took us past Tongi, where she and Mom first delivered family planning services to women in the camps, first to a Smiling Sun Clinic and then to a model village, where all 400 households are creating a community free of domestic violence.

Emma: We arrived at the Smiling Sun clinic to meet the hardworking staff. A young man who was the clinic supervisor was all smiles as he welcomed us for the tour. Just like at Matlab, mom and I were welcomed into a small delivery room were a young woman had just had her first baby by Caesarian section. The baby boy was beautiful. He laid quietly, wrapped in colorful cloths as one of his Aunties watched over him. The mother was peacefully asleep. Without waking his mother, Mustari and I pulled out our iPhones to take hundreds of pictures. The baby was a little celebrity to us. A healthy little boy with his whole life ahead of him.  As we left, Mustari told the staff in Bangla why my mom and I visited. The only words I could understand was “Peggy Curlin’s meye (daughter) and kanna (granddaughter).” The staff nodded with delighted grins on their faces as Mustari turned to us with affection. The young supervisor smiled to me and told Mustari how much I looked like my Nonnie. My mom stated to the group “our choto (little) Peggy.” The whole group smiled and laughed as I blushed to be so honored to have her as my own grandma. 

Meg: Then off to the model village after stopping first to pick up another clinic director from the nearest Smiling Sun Clinic. We drove past the small town to where the fields began, past the skinny cows, the herds of goats and the chickens to a small dirt road that led to a compound of huts, one of which was bursting with the energy of about twenty-five girls and young women who couldn’t wait to see Mustari and meet her friends. It is a social center for girls in the village, where they can learn about their rights, develop healthy self-esteem and support one another. An important element in the creation of a village without domestic violence.

Mustari at the Girls Center

Mustari once was a teacher and, tiny as she is, she can command the attention of any group of people with a smile and just the right questions. The girls adored her and answered her questions eagerly, even though all eyes were on Emma, an American girl their age. Mustari took time to translate the posters on the wall for us, which were about how domestic violence and rape were wrong.

Emma: One of the questions I asked Mustari to translate to the girls was “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Some brave girls shouted out their answers. A beautiful girl who sang her own written verses to us wanted to be a songwriter. Her song was about falling in love. Mustari translated the lyrics, “if you were a poet, I am the rhyme; if you are the rain, I am the cloud.” Like any young teenager in love she was confident about her love but most importantly confident in a bright future. Mustari asked if anyone wanted to be a doctor and four very young girls in front shot their hands up in joy. They all giggled to themselves as they tried to reach the sky with their arms. The next question I asked was when the girls wanted to get married. Everyone was confident in their answer. They all agreed that after 18 would be for the best. They had their dreams ahead of them and their priority is to reach their dreams. It was awesome to hear this answer from the girls in the room. One of my main projects interning for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) last summer was supporting the Girls not Brides campaign, ending child marriage around the world. Unfortunately, I heard horror stories about innocent six or seven year old girls who were married off to elderly men as old as 50 in villages just like Tongi. To hear and see the girls from the center lift their voices and take a hold of  their futures is a great triumph. There is now hope for these girls to be able to become the doctors, songwriters, mothers, teachers, and confident women they strive to be.

Meg’s hero- Shahananan

Meg: The person I most gravitated to in the room was much older than the girls.  At the question about the future, she joked that she wanted to be a movie star, making everyone laugh.  Mustari was taken with her too, and began to ask her questions.  Shahahanan is 36 — married when she was 12, had her children shortly thereafter.  Her husband beat her, so she returned home.  She is now a supporter, a witness, a big sister to the girls in the room.  Mustari asked what happens when there is a hint of domestic violence in the village.  She answered with a smile, “We all protest at the house.” I developed a girl crush.  She is my hero.

Emma: Sadly it was time to go. As mom and Mustari joked with the leader of the center, the young girls gathered around me to practice their English. They were quite good but they especially love one word —  friend. As we all took pictures and got closer together the girls would reach out their hand for a handshake and ask,”friend?” I thought about all the great friends I have and how I now have just gained 20 more beautiful friends. I replied with a smile and a handshake back, “Yes, friends forever.”