[Oe List ...] OE/EI/ICA in Bangladesh?

Sat Nov 15 05:00:02 PST 2025

Thank you for sharing this history of ICA Bangladesh, dear Colleagues. May
you continue your love for human development. Remembering your pioneering
efforts today in Rochester. Much love, Judi White🧡🙏💛🧘🤎

On Fri, Nov 14, 2025, 1:38 AM Richard and Maria Maguire via OE <
oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> Hi everyone who might see this-
>
> Sorry, this comes to you much later than intended- it stayed in Drafts
> unnoticed for a long time. Sorry! This turned out longer but we have no
> time now to sharpen or clarify it, unfortunately.
>
> Maria and I have been in Bangladesh 5 times for several weeks, between
> 2007 and 2012 (twice in 2007, then 08 following the Takayama Conference,
> 2011 and 2012 after the Nepal Conference to help with training, program
> development and planning. Hutchinson's had been there for the same purpose
> at least once before we went and possibly others.
>
> We had planned to go only once, but the caring and dedication of the
> members of ICA Bangladesh as well other Bangladeshis we met and the needs
> of the organisation and the country/society/people led us to decide to put
> in more effort.  They already had many positive contacts with other
> organisations and we helped them extend them, including possible guardians.
> We helped with organising and teaching trainings to enable members to do
> more themselves.  We worked with them in their community development
> project in Ghoramara, close to Chandpur in a recently resettled community
> of different tribes and dialects. We led a big community event in Open
> Space there and guided the Bangladeshi trained colleagues to teach a course
> there including with illiterate people.  We went there every time,
> supported many visits and projects there, along with ICA colleagues from
> other nations.
>
> We also supported their Children's Program in Dhaka in various ways and
> membership drives, as well as funding efforts. We, ICA Australia and other
> ICAs such as Taiwan and Japan or Canada. We kept in contact over the years
> , heard of some impressive actions.
>
> Unfortunately in the later visits the national director/CEO seemed to not
> stimulate leadership in the team, neither in decision making nor in
> teaching.  We continued our efforts and were impressed (as were many other
> people) at how many people from Bangladesh attended the ICA conference in
> Takayama, Japan. However it turned out that many didn't seem to have had
> much connection with ICA Bangladesh.
>
> To our surprise the director left for Canada before our visit in 2011. He
> stated beforehand that he wanted us to "teach a public course" to teach
> members and others who supposedly "were not ready yet" to participate in
> the teaching. There was no course and other programs set up when we
> arrived.  We spent the time training the members further in ToP and they
> seemed eager to learn and do more themselves.  We encouraged them to clean
> up and design or intentionalise their ICA office space. It turned out to be
> a quite energising and also discouraging experience.
>
> In the course of that action, we discovered bookkeeping which showed that
> a very large amount of ICA money had been transferred to an ICA Associates
> account, and from there into the personal account of one person.  We and
> others were surprised that an "ICA Associates" even existed.  The
> possibility had been floated, but we had not heard that it had been
> organised.  We asked at least a dozen of the members what they knew about
> it, and they stated "only the idea of it". The flow of the money was the
> opposite of that in other countries.  In Canada and probably elsewhere, ICA
> Associates earn money through programs and pass some of this to the
> national ICA.  Here the flow was the other way round, from ICA to ICA
> Associates and then to a certain member of the board.
>
> We could not find any record of Board decisions in all of this, and when
> we later inquired further, including with Kevin Balm on line, the evidence
> became that neither the creation of ICA Associates nor the money transfers
> had been known to or authorized by anyone, apart from him and his wife who
> had since left Bangladesh.
>
> We were also concerned about contradictory stories about the funding and
> work of their local development efforts in Ghoramora, many stories about
> the break-down and selling of the community sowing machines when it turned
> out they had been transferred to a private business. There also were
> negative stories about the animosity of the Madrasa Schools to the ICA
> project which we did not find o to be the case when we visited there with
> several of them. It pained us when we checked with other colleagues from
> other places that they felt we were doing injustice to the project and ICA
> Bangladesh with our concerns and did not want anyone to hear about it.
>
> We visited one more time in 2012 following the ICAI Nepal conference and
> again found the members willing and eager to do things, but there was no
> overall leadership, guidance or encouragement.  One of the members
> contacted a Bangladesh businessman whom we met in Nepal and he set up a
> basic ToP course in hjis office space.  We encouraged members to lead the
> course and supported them in the preparation and fcilitation.  We felt they
> did an excellent job and they were quite pleased about it. we also heard
> some voices of people who had withdrawn commenting that it often hapens in
> Bangladeh that people set up an organisation and the leader manages to use
> it and any money for their advantage and then "take off" and that they
> hoped the ICA was not one of them.
>
> After our visit in 2012 we decided that we could not do much more for
> Bangadesh ICA from Australia because of the time and expense.  We kept up
> correspondence with them for a while. Over time many of the members left.
> We checked the website often but did not see any evidence of ICA program
> activity, especially in the village project or teaching/facilitation.  ICA
> Bangladesh sent a proposal for funding to ICA Australia in 2013.  It was
> rejected because it was about* "*keeping a program going", with no
> evidence of how this program would promote human development.
>
> A couple of other ICA members' took on supporting the development of a few
> individuals but we have not heard what the results were.
>
> On reading the correspondence on the O:E list we checked on ICA
> Bangladesh.  They are still on the ICA International website as Associate
> Members, but no mention of activities.  When attempting  to visit the ICA
> Bangladesh website the message in Firefox, Chrome and Nortong came up that
> the site was dangerous and on a URL* blacklist*.
>
> We are very sad about the way things have gone in Bangladesh.  We felt
> that the people we met were motivated and caring and hard working.  They
> deserved better. And in the midst of hurricanes and political corruption,
> stalemates and some unpleasant Islamic attempts there always were many
> caring and committed people and leaders in permaculture or small loans for
> example, such as Muhamad Yunus who got the Sydney Peace Prize here in 1989
> and still tries to play a major role in rebuilding democracy in Bangladesh
> given the current disturbing developments. Recent events in Bangladesh show
> how much they and others of similar spirit have to contend with and depend
> on trustworthy leaders for renewal.
>
> We are glad you raised the question and hope that some other people from
> inside and outside the country have energy to help them move forward
> together, however many people are left there to care for the whole- we are
> worn out and too engaged still here and quite challenged healthwise these
> days (at the age of 83 + 84 years). ICA still is and was amazing and has
> much story/history, wisdom and a practical legacy to pass on everywhere, we
> believe.
>
> All the best for all of you and all who keep caring for a common, just and
> sustainable future for all,
>
> Richard and Maria
> --
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>
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