In June we were delighted to be one of the recipients of the Innovation in Development Reporting grants from the European Journalism Center in Maastricht to use a combination of comics and 360 video to offer an immersive window into the lives of families based in Gawair, a slum north of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been increasingly plagued by floods, tornados and rising tides brought about or exacerbated by climate change, causing many refugees to seek out better opportunities in its capital city. Poor living conditions, child labour and lack of access to education are just a few of the side effects of this mass migration to Dhaka as the infrastructure struggles to cope with the influx.

We got back from our field reporting last Monday and are currently working on post-production in order to publish the 360 videos and long form comic at the end of October with multiple news partners worldwide, from Germany to Spain to, of course, Bangladesh. In order to not keep you waiting, over the next few weeks we’ll be giving you a sneak preview of the project through some of the hundred of photographs we documented our trip with.

We start with the photos from Abu Hanif (one of our three protagonists, facilitated through Maria Christina Foundation)’s family and neighbouring community members. He lives in a one room apartment together with his parents and sister, sharing an outdoor bathroom and kitchen with five other families. In addition to attending college, he works as a wifi technician to help support his family and one day hopes to run his own internet business.