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Where Dreams Fly Away

20 images Created 18 Nov 2021

Bangladesh, home to more than 160 million people, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The country is experiencing rapid urbanization, with an internal migration to cities of around 3.5 percent every year. Currently, the size of the urban population in Bangladesh is 53 million, of which around 40 percent are children.
There are two drivers behind this reality: besides seeking employment in the rapidly growing garment industry, people move to cities after losing their village homes, livelihoods and land following disasters driven by climate change. Bangladesh’s geographical location makes it highly vulnerable to rising sea levels, river erosion and stronger cyclones. Every year, climate change forces half a million Bangladeshis from their homes in rural areas, primarily fishermen and farmers. The majority finds itself in the slums of Dhaka.
Dhaka is the most densely populated city in the world. Around 2000 people newly arrive in the city every single day – full of hope and dreams of a better life. There are more than 5’000 slums in Dhaka city, with an estimated population of over 4 million.
But life in the city presents countless severe challenges. Around 75 percent of slum households live in one room, as per the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) from 2013. People rarely own land, instead they pay tremendous amounts of money for unsafe homes. Drainage systems flood with poisonous water when it rains. Fresh water is scarce and garbage is piling up everywhere.
For children living in slum areas, life is particularly difficult and often dangerous, with high rates of malnourishment, school dropout, child marriage, child labor, and abuse. The situation of children in urban slums is much worse than in rural Bangladesh, as per data from the Child Well Being Survey 2016 and the MICS.
Many people dream of going back home, but what do they have left? This is now their future.

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  • A girl showers in the monsoon rain in the Mohammadpur slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 29 July 2021. In the urban slum areas, people have access to fresh water only two times a day – in the morning and in the evening.
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  • Mala (10 years) and her family members collect bricks from the street to make a living at Kamrangirchar in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 26 September 2021.
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  • Mala’s mother smashes the bricks into small pieces and sells them on the market as a building material at Kamrangirchar in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 26 September 2021.
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  • Mala sits in front of her home in the Kamrangirchar slum area in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 26 September 2021. The house is built on a garbage pile on the side of the road. Her parents came to Dhaka many years ago, as climate refugees. Since Mala’s father passed away, collecting bricks and selling them on the market has been the only source of income for her family.
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  • A girl with her sister sitting outside their home at the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 30 September 2021.
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  • A little girl takes a shower under the open sky at a public water collection point in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 07 September 2021. Fresh water can only be collected in the mornings and evenings.
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  • A little girl collects water with her older sister in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 30 September 2021.
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  • People live in a congested and very unhealthy environment in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 25 July 2021.
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  • After collecting drinking water, a woman is on her way back home through the garbage in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 25 July 2021. What is a slum now, was originally a garbage dumping site for city residents.
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  • Children play in a very dirty and unhealthy environment in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 30 September 2021.
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  • A girl plays with mud amidst the garbage in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 30 September 2021.
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  • Shower, toilet, kitchen – everything is in the same place in the Boatghat slum (anchored boats), Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 28 July 2021.
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  • Minara Begum (35 years) prepares fish for cooking. Her home is located in the Boatghat slum (anchored boats) in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 29 July 2021.
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  • An older woman taking a rest at the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 27 July 2021.
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  • A boy searches for his toy, it somehow fell in the dirty and toxic water of a sewer in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 27 July 2021.
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  • Nasima (10 years) plays with her friends in at the edge of the street in the Boatghat slum (anchored boats) in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 28 July 2021. She got admitted to class one in a public primary school, the school is located more than one kilometer away from her home. After admission, she didn’t get the chance to go to class due to Covid-19. Schools across Bangladesh remained closed for more than one and a half years because of Covid-19.
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  • Dhaka is the most densely populated city in the world, it can no longer cope. Because space is rare, houses are built on the streets and the government demolishes hundreds of such buildings every year on 26 September 2021.
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  • A boy saves the remains of what used to be his family’s household goods. Hundreds of people have nothing left after the massive fire has swallowed their homes in the Maniknagar slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 21 February 2021.
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  • Many slum dwellers farm pigeons to generate additional income for a better life of their families on 07 September 2021. Bangladesh is home to many passionate pigeon lovers and a long tradition of pigeon races.
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  • Bird’s eye view of the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 27 July 2021.
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