The days here are quickly passing...hard to believe i am finishing my third week here!
This past Saturday was the World Health Organization Day, so I got to attend a rally for it here in Bangladesh, along with workers from a number of NGO's and GO's (Non-Government Organizations; Government Organizations) in the country, including USAID. The following day was National Polio Immunization Day, and i travelled around visiting a number of immunization sites, and helped vaccinate the local children. Spent the rest of the week going out into the slum areas doing "field work", which pretty much entailed going to every home and making sure the children had been vaccinated, and giving the medicine to those who hadn't.
We did celebrate Easter here at the center, but since the country is Muslim, it wasn't much of a holiday. The ladies here did a wonderful job of making me feel really special on my birthday! They had a cake for me, sang songs, gave me a new sari, and our pastor and his wife cooked a wonderfully yummy dinner for me :)
Other than that i've been working trying to shadow the current spoken english teacher at our "student friendship center" that i will be replacing. I am kind of scared to teach English, i've never done anything like that before (and i'm awful at grammar!).
We also have been making weekly visits to the brothel areas of the country. Which entails first getting a rickshaw to take us to the bus, then a 2 1/2 hour bus ride, then a 45 minute row boat to the jungles where they have all the brothels. We spent about 2 hours talking to the ladies, and then spent the rest of the day with the children that live there. It's such a devistating situation. Seeing girls so young being forced into that lifestyle. No one to fight for them. No one to defend them, rescue them... It is heartbreaking. If you haven't seen the documentary "Born into Brothels", i highly recommend it. It's extremely eye-opening. Although the documentary takes place in Calcutta (which i hope to visit soon...), the scenerios are still the same here.
This week I started writing up an initiative to design a health screening program for the kids in the slum areas of the "wards" of the country that have been given to us by UNICEF. So far i've designed physical assessment forms for newborns, and one for children. The results of the assessments/screenings will serve as a research base to identify what kind of programs we can develop here to really meet the needs of the surrounding community. The goal is to screen 500-1,000 kids. Now i'm just working on getting the forms translated into Bangali and working on getting all the instruments/supplies that i need. So that's something to keep me busy, and a project i can really design from the ground up, which is exciting.
Despite having work to keep me busy, i still struggle a lot with feelings of homesickness. The climate here is really uncomfortable, and living alone with no one around you who speaks english, and having nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to talk to, and (usually) no electricity...it can be really trying. I woke up a few nights ago to find myself in the middle of a cyclone. Talk about your worst fears being realized! Monsoon season is coming, which i'm not all that excited about. But there is a time and season for everything...and i know that for now i'm here. Not sure about a return date to the states. I'll be going to Romania in 2 weeks, so that will be a nice break.
Hope all is well back home, and that you all had a great Easter/Spring Break.
Love and Blessings,
Nicole