Ethel at Work
Trip Start
Jul 01, 2005
1
9
18
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Dhaka,
Bangladesh
Monday, December 19, 2005
There are 2 primary parts to my job. One is support for ex-pats (our North American volunteers). Right now there are only seven of us with MCC. In addition to Jerry and me we have 3 single volunteers and a young couple (Philip and Rebecca Geiser) with Hannah who is now 2 months old.
The other major part of my assignment is with the Global Family and Material Resources department of MCC Bangladesh work. We have 10 Global Family projects, all are some distance from Dhaka. Additionally we work with 80+ schools and institutions providing material aid. We can not easily import materials in Bangladesh, so we use MCC funds to purchase local products. We will soon assemble 14,500 school kits.
Our plan is to visit each of the Global Family projects every six months. After each visit we write a report for the GF offices in Winnipeg and Akron. We also try to get some good pictures of the children to include with the reports. So far, I have been to 4 of our GF projects. Let me tell you about our last trip to Chittagong and Thanchi two weeks ago
With co-worker Bari and Sister Rebecca
. I accompanied Bari and Phoebe, MCC staff persons and Parimal, our experienced MCC driver. We took with us a pick-up load of material resources, blankets, mosquito nets, medicines, and sheets for the most rural villages. The process started several weeks before the trip when I applied to travel to this area. This was an extra step as foreigners can not travel in the Chittagong/Thanchi area without special permission. One of the priest working in the area, and a friend with MCC helped with getting the appropriate permission paper for me.
We spent the first day in Chittagong at an orphanage. This is one of the institutions supported by MCC for many years. There are about 200 children living there, most are girls. The youngest was 5 days old and the oldest 18 years. The newest infant was recently left at the orphanage, the 7th daughter born to a woman who could not sufficiently care for the other 6 daughters. Our visit to the infant room was very touching. Can you imagine seeing 15 toddlers reaching up, each wanting to be picked up. The Sisters do a good job of caring for the children but there is only so much that substitute parents can do with limited staff.
The following day we started out early toward Thanchi. It was a 6 hour drive and would not have been possible without a 4 wheel drive vehicle. However, the drive was beautiful, mountainous, one hairpin curve after another. We cheered for the driver as we made it through some rough spots. The drive during the last three hours was only possible because a new road is being built. When Bari first made this trip 5 years ago, the last three hours took 17 hours by boat. We witnessed some of the road building. It was quite a scene; men moving a pile of dirt using baskets on their heads.
We got to a river where we needed to park the vehicle and start walking. I was told it would be only 2 kilometers. We crossed the river in a small boat and trudged up the other side. We walked and walked, it seemed like four kilometers. I wished that I would have left some of my "stuff" at home so that my backpack would not have been so heavy. Finally we reached the Mission compound. The Priest and Sisters seemed really happy to see us. In true Bengali style, they soon had food prepared for us. After lunch we meet with some of the students. Seventy-two boys and twenty-five girls live at the school. Most of their families live a long way from the school, a 1-2 day journey by walking or boat. In the evening the students presented us with a cultural program. These children are from minority tribal groups. The program was very colorful and well done.
I spent some time with Sister Benuka talking about the health concerns of the area. She is a Bengali nurse and recently moved to the area. Malaria is a major health problem in that region. She told me about one of the Sister's who has had malaria 13 times in the past few years. I was glad that I had taken some repellent along and I also tucked my mosquito net in quite tightly that night.
The next day we were scheduled to visit another school. On the way back to Chittagong we got a call on our cell phone to inform us that there was a pending transportation strike for the next day. After some discussion, we opted to return to Dhaka that night. It was a long day and I was grateful to get home by 9:00 PM.
Ethel
12-05
