Shipyard – Dhaka, Bangladesh

In a large shipyard in Bangladesh, an orchestra of steel and sweat plays all day. The clanging hammers echo across the yard as workers, men and children, pound metal. Protective clothing is not a luxury they have, leaving their hands and faces sooty.

As I entered this metallic labyrinth, the sheer noise overwhelmed me. Each hammer blow resonated in my ears until they began to hurt. The heat was even more intense – inside the foundries, temperatures soared, the air thick and suffocating. Workers laboured without water, their clothes drenched in sweat, as they moulded steel with raw determination.

Despite the harsh conditions, the undeniable rhythm of survival, resilience, and strength kept the machinery of life going. As I left, I carried the sound of the hammers in my ears and the weight of their reality in my heart.