Religion is a huge part of laws, decisions and how the general public live and communicate.

multiple

ceremonies.

There is always food and it can be packed. For men kurta or fatua

Bangladesh many New

is

full

of like

are worn for religious and or cultural occasions like Eid or a wedding. Lungis are worn as casual wear

festivals Year),

Pahela Baishakh (Bengali Language

Far From Home

Movement Day, Nabanna Zian Choudhury

A map of Bangladesh

The story that an immigrants go through for a better life, leaving behind loved ones
but are not proper wear and are only worn at home except in the rural area where it is worn for the everyday Women commute. wear usually

Utshob
which

(Harvest

Staff Reporter

Festival), the two Eids and many more. Weddings in Bangladesh are extremely large and take several days to complete the

angladesh,

is composed of two words Bangla and that This means speaking goes

Desh Bangla country.

sarees or shalwar kameez

as everyday clothing. During the war in 1971 for independence music was hope very strong the was hard to powerful and helped keep during inspired times. Singers like Runa

back not too long ago when Bangladesh was declared independent from before East on Pakistan. December Pakistan in that Bije 16 December, 16 1971, Bangladesh was called Dibsh (Victory Day) is celebrating Bangladeshs independence. Bangladesh (16%) the is mostly

Lila

many

forge on in the cold war. Folk/country and classical music is popular although many of the folk music were modernised. Also pop music is becoming more popular.

Muslim (83%) then Hindu rest is ect of identity. Christian, strong Bangladeshs Buddhist part

The most common dish is

daal

(lentil)

and

rice

especially for those in the village because of lack of money. For richer people there is a huge variety of

(1.2%). Religion is a very

A1

dishes

ranging

from

But for many a shelter is a luxury their home is in a box, on a chair, near a river (dry fish) to chicken or in public buildings.

shutki

kurma to different types of biryani.

The homes in Bangladesh depend on area: city/town or village. In villages the homes are usually made from renewable materials like mud, bamboo ect. In the city there are that some are homes

Immigration Continued on A2

Far Fr

comparable to the homes in developed countries. The education in Bangladesh isnt free although many For at a the large least finish of elementary. majority Because there is fewer women going past elementary, 68% women over 15 years old are illiterate compared to 50% for men according to Nation Master. Despite Bangladesh being a developing country the unemployment rate is low at 4.5%. Although the unemployment rate is low, most people are making a low income. The GDP per capita in Bangladesh is $1700 US and is growing at a rate of 6.3% according CIA Factbook. expensive so there are fewer people that are there. In university there is even fewer. Many have to drop out because they have to take care of the family. Females are more likely to drop out because they have to handle things at home and usually dont leave home without permission. There are approximately 24,600 people that come from Bangladesh 13,000 of them live here in Toronto. One of them is a Rahima Begum. She comes from the Sylhet Bangladesh.

residents high school and college is too

A2

She first came to Toronto with her one and a half year old child on November 25 1998. The reason she came to Canada is because her husband lived here and because in Canada there is a better chance for education and for jobs. The process of immigration is a tremendously long wait but for the majority of people is beneficial. In Rahimas case she came here on landed immigrant visa. To get the visa she had to 30-40 pages of paper work as well as her spouse who also had to do another stack of forms, with that she had to also give a police certificate and had to do a medical examination. Before you submit you should always look over the forms very thoroughly three or four times. After submitting her paper work it took a 1 and a half year wait to get the yes. At the airport she had to go through check. an When interview, and she a multiple luggage she immigrating to Canada my best advice is to get as much as
Rahima Begum and her son at the front of her parents house in Bangladesh

To anyone that is

examinations

arrived

settled into her husbands house. Before getting a job she took ESL classes for two years then got a job. The immigration experience was fairly easy; the only hard part was the wait. For the first year or so I would feel home sick because I left behind many of my family and friends. says Rahima But my neighbours were always there to help us get use to Canada. There were also many services for immigrants and help on how to get started. For Rahima one of the hardest things for her was a daycare for her child because daycares were too much.

education

here

you can get because it will make your life much easier. She says. In Bangladesh there

are

161,083,804

people living in 143,998km2 are a lot of people for such a small land mass. That means that there is 1119 living in only 1 km2. There is not as much resources like fresh water and there is a lot of crime. It is obvious why Rahima came and many others that immigrate to Canada from any part of the world; for a better life.

A3

A4