A look at the water, sanitation and hygiene challenges faced by one the world's fastest growing megacities: Dhaka, Bangladesh, where thousands of people die each year from waterborne diseases.
Old Dhaka: A Day in the Life
Published September 5, 2010
In old Dhaka, the heart of Bangladesh's sprawling capital, water is a constant -- from the over-sized ferries and the annual monsoon rains and floods that define this river delta to the supply and hauling of drinking water without which this mega city of some 14 million people could not survive.
Some of the rituals are as old as time -- women gathering at water taps and wells to fill their oversized pots, men bathing in the streets. Others are semi-modern adaptations -- the now ubiquitous plastic bottles and the thriving business that has developed for their delivery, gathering and recycling.
This video is about the daily routines of old Dhaka and its sights and sounds, from crows cawing and the mixing of concrete to the jangle of rickshaws and children singing. The boy tying down his load of empty 20-liter water jugs has delivered 150 in the course of the day, selling them for 50 cents apiece.
Stephen Sapienza crafts simple but compelling narratives, chronicling the lives and plights of everyday people, from the cities of Bangladesh to the streets of Sierra Leone, writes Ameto Akpe.
The world is on the brink of a major population milestone. Fred de Sam Lazaro and Steve Sapienza report on how a growing population is impacting societies across the globe.
Gateways
Pulitzer Center staff
Contact Jon: jsawyer[AT]pulitzercenter.org
Jon Sawyer is director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-profit organization that funds independent reporting with the intent of raising...
Grantee
Stephen Sapienza is an award-winning news and documentary producer who has covered a wide range of human security stories, including the HIV crisis in Haiti, prostitution in the Dominican Republic,...
