Easy Like Water

Gr 9 Up—Filmmaker Glenn Baker offers a unique study of global climate change by detailing the tenacity, courage, and self-reliance of the people of Bangladesh who deal with its environmental devastation. Low-lying areas are flooded every year by monsoons that destroy villages and farms. The people along the coast are especially hard hit by rising sea levels and have yet to recover from the devastating cyclones of 2007 and 2009 that inundated land, destroyed roads, and isolated people on small parcels covered by mud. This is climate devastation at its worst and should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world. Often put down as a hopeless, backward developing nation, Bangladesh here is cast as forward thinking and adaptive, with citizens seeking solutions and fighting for survival. Featured is architect Mohammed Rezwan, who develops a program of floating schools, libraries, and health care boats. With 54 boats in operation, the program has won several international prizes that have aided in attaining funding and allowed expansion into other areas of the country. Baker also introduces viewers to the issue of global justice and makes a convincing case for why rich nations should contribute to the survival of developing countries. Classes across the curriculum can utilize this documentary to study geography, global politics, environmental issues, and the never-ending power of human ingenuity to solve problems.—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colleges