Meep!

Nomoshkar again everyone!

So sorry for not updating this; a combination of dial-up speed internet and submitting the AMCAS (medical school application) has prevented me from getting the time to update this.

That, and a RIDICULOUS amount of stuff happens here, so much that I can barely think of how to post just a few things at a time.  Nevertheless, I will try to summarize my experience over the first week the best I can (not even going into what I’ve experienced since then).

Before leaving Dhaka, I did the following:

- Rode with different rickshaw drivers to get to and from the guesthouse after dark

- Read some of Atul Gawande’s Complications (still in the process of finishing it)

- Bought various foodstuffs at a market (still mustering the courage to buy something from one of the street-side shops around LAMB)

- Saw a miniature Dalek at a British expat’s apartment (!!!)

I traveled with 6 others up from Dhaka to Parbatipur, the train station in northwestern Bangladesh that is closest to LAMB.  Despite the heat, the experience was quite enjoyable, as I got to see “real Bangladesh” from my window, i.e., not the urban sprawl of Dhaka.  I looked out at villages, waterways, and a huge bridge we had to cross, which I was told was the sixth or seventh longest in the world!  I also talked with the people with whom I traveled: the family of four I believe I mentioned previously, as well as an Oxford-trained surgeon from the UK and one of LAMB’s Bangladeshi surgeons.  Even from the conversation I had with them, I feel as though I could write a book as I learned of how women were of no value in a family unless they bore sons, of how systems of microcredit can be used to overcome such misogyny and empower women economically, and of how approximately 70% of people rely on agriculture in some form (whether farming, transporting food, or otherwise) for their income.

In the middle of the 8ish-hour train ride, I reflected some on the plans I had for my life, and the purposes of God.  As I wrote in my journal, “I could easily serve God my whole life in an agrarian environment,” never being trained in medicine, or even go to university, and yet “this could be the ‘greater work of God.’  Why do I assume it has to be big in man’s eyes? [I was contemplating the tension within myself, with which I wrestled earlier today, of being a missionary doctor and a university doctor with keen interest in medical ethics… and how I wish to combine them in some ridiculous capacity that somehow whets both my appetites for international service and intellectual inquiry]  We are saved by Him and live to Him in whatever capacity… given us.  Or even rid ourselves of these capacities for the sake of pursuing His greater work.”  I later prayed that I would be able to know and make Him known wherever and whatever I am… and to show my what I should pursue given what He has supplied to me.  I admit, I’m still wrestling with this, and I don’t want to justify an academic career in any form, even if I am doing part-time international work, in my own eyes if I’m not operating in the will of God.  Pray that I would be given wisdom to know His purposes, and be willing to both love and embrace whatever it is.

When we got to Parbatipur, we took a van to LAMB, and to the guesthouse in which I am currently staying.  It’s not the one on the LAMB compound, but rather, it’s a 5 minute walk to the gate in an area called Boshandara.  I’ve got the place to myself, though there are two beds in the room.  I sleep under the watchful eyes of the lovely little lizards which scurry about the place.  Also, a certain spray insect killer has become my weapon of choice against cockroaches.  The shower is gloriously cool to the skin when the heat becomes insane.  What I love about Boshandara, though, are the children that stay in the little community.  Pollob, Preetom, Joya, and others who attend LAMB’s school routinely play games in the afternoon and evenings.  I’ve picked up a little game called “kit kit,” which has us hopping on one foot kicking a stone through some squares while saying “kit kit kit kit…” until we are out of breath or reach our goal.  I think I’m getting better at it, but they’re really pros!

Pollob and I share a special friendship, as he was born on Bangladesh’s national independence day (from the government of Pakistan)… which also happens to be my birthday, March 26^th!  We also enjoy drawing together people and cats in the sandy dirt.  He’s written for me a beginner’s Bangla (Bengali language) book for me to study up on.  I’m getting at it slowly, nouns are coming faster than conversational terms, but I’m enjoying it ;)  He has such a great heart (he is a Christian), and I can’t wait to see what God does with him in the future!

As a teacher at LAMB, I’m teaching… basically everything.  In my first week, I got to teach two lessons on the book of Daniel to 3^rd graders, teach social science about how the internet has changed Bangladeshi culture to 5^th graders, find microscopic “wiggly thingies” for 5-8^th graders, read with 1^st and 2^nd graders, and help prep some 10^th graders for their O level examinations in chemistry (British system… you take O levels at grade 10, proceed to A levels after that, and then go to university).  I truly enjoy the diversity of the experience, and learning how all the teachers work together.  We have teachers native to Bangladesh here, along with expats from America, Canada, Britain, and Denmark (or, to some people I know, Daneland).  Sometimes it’s a struggle to communicate among the staff, but everyone is friendly.  From the teacher’s perspective, you can really see where students are in their development as people, and it’s both cool and frightening to see same social dynamics here.  While I love seeing some students shine as natural leaders or with a drive to learn, it grieves me to see some students incessantly picked on, whether through drawing a mustache on one child or through fist fights, even after teachers confront bullying students.  To the best of my ability, I intervene to direct them away from such taunts and actions, and toward healthier relationships.

Speaking of health, I haven’t even begun to talk about the hospital!  I’ll save that for next time, I suppose.  God’s blessing be with you all!

In Christ,

MJW