Time for me to go on a l-o-n-g flight – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to Dhaka, Bangladesh and the next stage of the competition. I have to write two different introductory features for two supplements, and concentrating on two contrasting countries seemed like the best way to do it.
The first leg of the flight is to Dubai and when I get off the plane I almost laugh at the heat. 11.30pm, and it's about 35C. Thankfully, air conditioning is never more than a step away. Flying in, I had been expecting to see some of that amazing architecture, such as the world's tallest building
There is nothing like that, but the airport is enough: gold shops, cigar shops, oyster shops, designer whatever you like shops, what seems like hundreds and thousands of purchasing solutions. I have never wanted multiple gold bangles in different sizes, but no doubt plenty do. There are life-size (ie enormous) palm trees, with Arabic-style mock palaces and fancy glittering lights.
Would this have made such an impact if I hadn't spent five days surrounded by absolute poverty? I don't know.
Anyway, I meet up with some people from the sexual and reproductive health NGO Marie Stopes International www.mariestopes.org.uk, together with another excited and anxious-looking finalist - soon we're on to the 2am flight and what seems like mere seconds of shut-eye.
We arrive on Sunday – a working day in Bangladesh. It's a whirlwind of brightly coloured glittering bicycle rickshaws, little bicycle-buses that look rather like open-air cages, and many many private cars. All the traffic seems to drive directly at each other, and the only thing preventing absolute chaos is the occasional traffic cop.
An hour's sleep later, and we're in to the MSI offices to get a run down of our schedule – although I will be meeting other NGOs too. During lunch, we hear what sounds like hundreds of horses galloping over a tin roof – it's still the monsoon season here and although we can't see the rain inside the conference room, it's so loud that we have to move our chairs together in order to hear above the din.
We collapse into bed very early…
For updates on the Guardian Independent Development Journalism competition, please see News in the international section of our website.
To visit the Guardian website, please see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition/finalists