Pirates Three

Jensen: "Arrgh! How far do you think this baby could take us Matey's?"



Pruitt: "If I turn the wheel and get this baby spinning fast enough maybe it would take off like a helicopter."



Riley: "How fast does this baby go, Mateys?"

Barrel and Tarp, Flesh and Blood

Barrels rope bound upon the lorry,
Tarp and skin stretched tight.
The wonder of Containment.

Blue Gate, School Girls and Baskets

The beautiful gate entering into the Charity Foundation guest house. (above)

Curious school girls amazed at the crazy antics of my three boys at play. (below)




The beginnings of baskets, wrapped around wood molds. (below)




Baskets drying in the sun, on the roof at Charity Foundation. (below)

Hemp Twine

I found the process of making hemp twine amazing. The hemp is first purchased in it's raw form from a wholesale market close to the fields where it is grown. Then the fibre is cleaned and fluffed by dragging it rhythmically through a series of spikes (shown above). Then one woman starts the contraption spinning and two women spin the thread all the way across the courtyard, around a tree and back again. When they need to take a break to cook their lunch or what not, they do, and then come back to work when they can, because after all, it is in their back yard. These ladies are working for Jobarpur Enterprises, a former project of MCC's. After the twine is made, this current batch is knitted up into shower gloves sold by the Body Shop, UK. Go Body Shop!

Paper Parade

As an artist, I get excited about handmade paper paper. Visiting a handmade paper project only served to increase it's appeal to me. The process itself is beautiful. Above are a stack of screens used to make paper and below is an array of paper drying in the sun.

Oh My Stars

This colorful texture is the mud wall of a big oven where dyes are mixed to dye the palm leaves for the stars which follow. (My commentary will be minimal because I stuck my hand in a fan and cut it pretty bad this morning. I think my wife wrote up the story in our Millers in Mymensingh blog.)












The little tins are what the producers bring their lunch in. Most of the producers are abandoned or widowed women. Their primary export buyer is 10,000 Villages, USA

My Fun-ctional Family (because it's mine)

On our long trip south to Agaljhara, Barisal, Jensen got bored and put on my shirt. Needless to say it was too hot for one shirt, much less two. Then, he proceeded to make his best super hero pose. Not bad if you ask me.





Upon our arrival at one of the job creation partners that I will be working with, our whole family was presented with these flower garlands. Jensen, Pruitt, and Riley weren't quite sure how to act.




Pruitt and Riley pretend that they are firemen outside of the guest house in Agailjhara, Barisal.





The best for last! Here is my beautiful wife, Marita with our youngest son Riley whose orneriness definitely was passed down through the Stutzman genes.

Traveling Colors

A Jhal Muri Wallah hawking his wares on the ferry. This is one of my favorite street vendor snacks. Unfortunately, Jensen and I had too much and are still making frequent trips to the bathroom four days later. Definitely worth it though. The snack consists of puffed rice, tomatoes, chillis, onions, mustard oil, and chanachur.





It is really difficult to describe traffic here in Bangladesh other than to say it is very un-North American and very well orchestrated.




On the ferry I had to capture this amazing rope shot. Okay, I like ropes...analyze that!







The trucks are crammed onto the ferry like sardines. The black and white sign is the license plate. As usual, the colors are primary and "in your face" in a pleasant, folksy kind of way.

Tiles, Porker and a Siesta House

These tiles outside of the Banderban Guest House restaurant just melted my clay loving heart. Okay, I am being sappy.




I captured this little porker in a Tripura village. In a mostly Muslim country, they are quite a rare site.



This lone structure is a rest house for the people working in their hillside fields. When it is hot and humid (middle of the day) they take rest in these places. Sounds inviting about right now.

Toes and Faces

These toes showed up on a picture that I took of a blue rope. They are the toes of the man rowing our little dugout canoe downriver. If only toes could talk. If you look at them long enough, they might. What might they be saying?




This Tripura lady kept making funny faces at me until I finally got this one. I posted this one because she would probably have liked it the best, but the other ones show a shared humanity, something that is lost when we merely "observe" other cultures as if we were not intricately linked in the larger scheme of things.





This little guy (above) was tickled to have his photo taken. I was struck by the large cross around his neck. Our guide whose name was "Lal" (Red) told us that most of the tribal groups are Christian. These other little guys were just as eager to have their pictures taken. (below)

The Younger Two

This is my "mejho" (middle) son Pruitt. A little man after my own heart. He has his hands in clay. After trekking down to the river the boys had a blast splashing around and collecting mud. This is the first time they have been able to swim since they've arrived. They were in little boy heaven.



This is Riley in one of his rare quiet moments.

(Mostly) Natural Beauty

Our family recently had a retreat in the Bandarbans of Bangladesh. One morning we took a trek down the steep hills to a river. I found this beauty on the way. I don't know what it is but it is amazing. The light was just right and it illuminated these semi-translucent, bud-like, fruit-like doo-jobbies. (above)




Yes, tea does grow in Bangladesh! (above)




I am fascinated and moved by varied cycles of life and the beauty of each stage, especially when contrasted with one another. (above)


I thought that most leaves by default were green in Bangladesh. Thus, it was a pleasant surprise to see this pied pile. Okay, I did arrange them before taking the picture. (above)




You won't find these plant protectors at your local super-store. We climbed up a place called Tiger Hill and the view was spectacular, but this was up there too. What was even more amazing is that there were hundreds of these along the roads in the Banderban, each made entirely by hand. (above)

Textures of Bangladesh

These are the thin, quick drying towels called "gamchas" drying on our porch, with the sun behind them. They struck me as things of beauty. It was just one of those moments, I guess. I think they are still made on hand looms.



I love multiples which create textures, thus the bamboo and the bricks.




This thatch below is the wall of a Tripura house. It is identified as Tripura because of the slatted window style.