Friday, March 18, 2011

Kite Flying

Despite the congested traffic and lack of space, Dhaka is a magnet for millions of Bangladeshis. Korail Slum is largest settlement of rootless people in the city (population estimate of 120,000). It lies on the opposite side of Banani Lake overlooking Gulshan, the residential neighborhood where some of the country's wealthiest families live.

The slum has no permanent sanitation or sewage facilities, thus residents construct toilettes on bamboo stilts over Banani Lake (more like a pond than a lake). Children bathe and play in the sewage infested waters of the small lake.

The shore is lined up with trash, but its one of the few open spots where children can fly their kites in their informal settlement.

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