today i visited a public school in the slum area here. originally it had just been a site for our immunization project; but about an hour after i arrived, the principal/headmaster came and asked me if i would like to see the school. (we had been working in a small room sort of detached from the actual school itself). So he brought me into each classroom and presented me to the class and i told them i was a health researcher for the government who wanted to ask them some questions. I always find myself being put on the spot to "say something" i was totally unprepared for, haha! But basically the principal led me around and gave me this whole speech about how bad the conditions are and showing me how these children have to live and the limited (very limited) resources they had to try and educate them with. He had them ask me health questions, and i in turn asked them some questions about their health and hygiene. I went through the whole school and go to speak to every class - it was a really great experience and i got to hear first hand from the people what their living experience has been like and what they feel their countries health needs are. I also visited a group that was being trained for the "Red Cresent" which is the "Red Cross", but cross has been replaced by cresent since this is a muslim nation. So i talked with those girls as well. Then the principal took me into his office and started asking me all these really deep questions, haha. I was trying so hard to answer them as honestly and professionally as i could - but he was asking me what i was going to do about there being no clean water in Bangladesh! I tried to explain to him how water can be purified in little amounts (through boiling, iodine tablets, etc...) but then i tried to explain how a whole irrigation/water purification process takes time, permits/laws, funding, etc... And he was like "so what can you do for us to have those things?". And he kept asking me if i was going to take all this information home to my government to get help for them. Seriously, my heart was literally breaking right there. He just kept flooding me with "what can you do?" "what can your country do?" "you will come back and help us?" "who will help us?" "do you see the poverty of our children? they are sick and dying from the water, what can you do??" and oh man i wanted to run out of there because i felt like i was given a needle and thread and then asked to build a skyscraper with it. After i left all i could think about was who is going to help these people? When i was in the office, they sent in some students in to sing and dance and perform for me - they were so beautiful! And to think that most of them will never have the opportunity to persue anything past 10th grade. After i visited each room they must of had recess or something because they all came down and i was bombarded by what seemed like hundreds of kids asking for my autograph. My autograph! I wanted to laugh and be like "i promise you i'm really not special. nor am i exciting by any means. you should probably save your paper". But the teachers were coming up to me and saying how happy i was that i came to help them and to help their country. It was really overwhelming. But it gave me like a "righteous anger" or whatever that's called to make it my business to come home and figure out just what i need to do to get involved in international child health laws. I feel like how can i just go home to my comforts and my perfect life and forget what they asked of me? I can't make things perfect but given the resources i have i think the least i can do is give it my best shot. No?

Well i better go. i will use the rest of this afternoon to prepare for a training session i will be having for the women here on sunday. they'll be learning about proper prenatal care so they can better serve the village people here. should be interesting - it's always a challenge getting things interpreted.

I hope this entry finds all of you at home doing well. I miss you guys and think of you all daily!