“Char may disappear but we won’t,” laughs Rubel. He is just 14 years old and already the main earner in his family. The river Ganga, on the border between India and Bangladesh, washed his village away when he was small. Further downstream the border-island Char emerged. Rubel lives here now and, just like the other settlers, he is dependent on illegal trade. Border crossings are a daily occurrence. There is smuggling – of rice and medicine – mostly carried out by children and women. School seems to be an utter waste of time. Yet Rubel manages it all – homework is often done by nightfall. Everything is possible: who knows whether tomorrow there will still be earth underneath their feet. Carolina Piotrowski 

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