Dhaka CSI Project Explanation

 Dhaka Health Project

CSI rents a 5 room office/flat in Monipuripara, Dhaka for running its health project. It is the ground floor of a 4 story apartment building. The building is old, but in fairly good condition. The streets are about 16 feet wide in front of the building. Sometimes the sewer drains get plugged up, so at times, we have to be careful about stepping into “puddles”. The CSI clinic/office is about a 15 minute walk from the CSI House (about 0.4 mile). Walking to the clinic means navigating busy sidewalks and streets. Occasionally the streets are so jammed, that it is even hard to walk.

Two church sisters live in a room of the flat and help with managing patient’s, which includes cleaning the office/flat, cooking two meals a day for the patients that are staying the night at the clinic, educating patients on clinic policy, helping take care of the babies, etc. Babies that are in Dhaka for Cleft Palate or Lip repair can stay at the clinic in a large communal room. The sisters also cook Wednesday lunch for the missionaries. This lunch is eaten in the clinic/office room at the table. The baby’s mother or female caregiver is allowed to stay with them. The communal room is about 18 foot x 12 foot and has a small cabinet for supplies and 4 double sized metal beds with hard mattresses. There is an adjoining bathroom. We can keep up to four sets of patients at a time, but there are times when up to six sets have stayed at a time. This is rare and most times, only one or two sets of patients are staying at a given time.

On the way to the clinic, on a busy sidewalk, a poor lady lives under a tarp. She sells flowers that are spread on top of a pallet. There is a fruit shop that sells all sorts of fruit; apples, bananas, mangos, pineapples, dates, oranges, melons, jackfruit (looks like an oblong hedge apple, but about 4-5 times the size), grapes, pomegranates, coconuts, lichu (looks like a strawberry, but the skin is peeled off to eat it), etc. Close to the fruit shop, there are several cigarette vendors. They sell cigarettes and plain tobacco leaves from a table. Many people smoke, so they usually are always busy. There is also a tea and biscuit vendor at the corner of the street.

The buildings in Monipuripara average about 6 story’s tall, which lets in more sunlight than some other areas of Dhaka. It is estimated that there are around 2.5 million buildings in Dhaka and many of those are over 4 story’s tall.

The office/clinic is a 18 foot x 12 foot room that opens onto a 3 foot x 30 foot patio. The gate into the apartment is about 2 feet wide. There are windows on two sides of the room. The patio is covered, which allows patients to wait in a comfortable, albeit small, place. There is one ceiling fan, and two wall-mounted fans in the room. Surprisingly, it does not get too hot, due to being well-shaded by taller buildings on all sides. But there are days when we all sweat a lot, especially if the power goes out, which happens at least twice a week. On the far side of the room, there is a 12 foot x 7 foot tall cabinet. Medicine, powdered milk and various other supplies are stored in this cabinet. The doctor sits behind a table opposite the cabinet in the corner of the room. In the middle of the room, in front of the cabinet, a desk is placed. The project director and the nurse sit at this desk. We have a weight scale, BP cuff, stethoscope and thermometer for patient assessment. The doctor is the one that assesses the patient. The nurse does not take BP or temperature. Once the doctor is ready to see patients, she calls out the number and the patient comes in and sits down on a chair at the table. The doctor assesses the patient and writes prescriptions accordingly. Most patients come in with mild complaints, like back aches, headaches, knee pain, itching, fungal skin infections, eye problems, and of course, cleft palate/lip, etc. Some come asking for financial assistance for major medical problems such as surgeries, medical supplies, medicine, etc. Once the doctor is finished seeing the patient, the patient record is given to the project director and assistance is given, if applicable. We keep a small stock of about 100 different medications; antibiotics, anti-fungal creams, cough meds, Tylenol, BP meds, a few cardiac meds, diabetes meds, a few anti-psychotics, vitamins, lice cream, de-worming medicine, etc. The policy is to usually allow the patient’s to come every other month and if they are poor to supply them with 1 months’ supply of medication. They are then supposed to buy the second months’ supply themselves. If the patient is pregnant, has Cerebral Palsy or other serious chronic diseases, or has cancer, we allow them to come once a month. In these cases, we will give either all of their required medications, or give them a 20 day supply once a month, depending on circumstances (if they are poor, we help them more). Most meds are sold in packs of ten, so this means they have to buy one strip of their medications. This is called making the patient’s put skin in the game... If they come asking for assistance with medical bills, we try to help some. Especially if we sense that they are poor. If it is a serious problem, we may give them up to 12,000 Bangladeshi taka (or roughly $118 USD). We usually only give money to those that have proper cash receipts or memos from the doctor or hospital.

We also stock powdered milk and baby formula. We usually only give this to malnourished children and/or cleft palate/lip babies and children. If budget allows, we like to give each cleft palate/lip baby up to 12 boxes (500 grams) of formula once per month. Sometimes this is possible, but sometimes there are so many babies, we can only give 6- 8 boxes of formula. We try to prioritize giving to those who are underweight, which usually means the mother/father are too poor to buy formula.

When we arrive at 9:45 am on clinic days, there are usually several patients waiting in line. They are each given a numbered card. Most patients are courteous and are honest about who is first. We usually see 20-30 patients in 3 hour period. We operate 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

There are many poor people in Bangladesh, which consequently means that we cannot help everyone, but we try to do our part. 

Jared Regehr 

May 2023 

May 22-28, 2023

 Monday 5/22: Jared had clinic today. Since we didn’t have clinic last week or yesterday he was really busy today. He really enjoys the clinic. He says it’s getting easier for him to say no to the patients that seem to just be there for the handouts. Sometimes they get perturbed when they get turned down or they think they don’t enough financial help. Miriam says “they should not be annoyed! We give much taka to them.” It was a normal day for me. This evening Jared grilled up all the chicken I had marinating. Layton was all excited because he thought it was all for supper. He said “mom it smells so delicious!” We let him have some. If he is asking to eat meat we let him!!!!! Watched the airplanes for awhile too while we were up on the roof. With there being more of a breeze and more rain lately the air is definitely clearer so it’s easier to see the planes. Sometimes you just hear them roaring above and can’t see them. Our mango trees in the backyard are loaded with mangoes. Unfortunately they are all out of our reach from our veranda. The drivers and moyla ladies have been going back there and picking them up off the ground. One day we kept hearing this loud boom in the backyard. Every time we raced to the back veranda to see what it was because it was quite loud. We never could see anything. Finally we realized it was the mangos hitting the tin roof of a shack back there😂 Sumita just laughed at us jumping! Loud crashing noises make both Jared and I jump… must be the nurse in us still. There’s a new mango dokan that just went up beside our regular fruit dokan. Looks like they have several different kinds. 

Tuesday 5/23: Layton could hardly stand it that Shania slept in this morning. “Mom can’t I pick her up?” She is over 10# and 21 inches long. Her legs and arms are starting to get little fat creases in them! Guess I don’t need to worry whether or not she is getting enough to eat. Wish I could get Layton to put on some weight. Jared called mid morning and needed some things at the clinic. We took a rickshaw there since it was so hot. Layton said “are you sure you know how to tell the driver how to get to the clinic?” I said “sure I do!” Several of them know where the clinic is and you just tell them “office.” He is rather doubtful of my abilities at times. Don’t blame him.😂 I am too sometimes. 😂 on the way there we met Tanvir with a load of milk for the clinic. He was finally able to see Shania. He’s been bugging Jared to send him a picture of her. We didn’t stay long. Came home and did random things. Had singing this evening at the clinic. I was really looking forward to going since we missed last week. All the usual ladies were there except Miriam. We were right in the middle of singing a song towards the end and the electricity went out! So that was the end of that. The wind picked up and it rained and rained. We stayed for awhile hoping it would let up but finally we just left. We made a dash for home in the downpour and got home absolutely soaked to the bones. Layton thought it was all quite an adventure😂 We were going to go to Parktown for supper since we haven’t been there for a long time. Thought corn soup, spring rolls and some cashew chicken sounded heavenly! I didn’t want Shania to get drenched on the ride there so we just came home. When it rains in Dhaka the streets fill up with water pretty quick! Not flood style really but huge puddles so we got our puddle splashing in. One tries not to think of what could all be in the puddles. Thankfully we had brought a huge umbrella with us and Jared had me use it to protect the baby. Trying to dodge between cars, rickshaws and not bumping into other people’s umbrellas proved to be quite a task. I got the umbrella hooked on a gate once. Once we got back to the main road we had the sidewalk to ourselves. I told Jared it was probably the only time that would ever happen! . Ended up making grilled cheese sandwiches and egg drop soup for supper when we finally got home. Jared thought it was good comfort food for a rainy evening. It really cooled down which was enjoyed by all! The guard told Jared “boss! Ekhon thanda!!” (now it’s cold!) With the slightest change in weather or temperature or wind it seems like everyone comments about it being or getting “thanda.” 

Wednesday 5/24: Woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning! Layton and I went down to the courtyard right after breakfast and played badminton and rode bike for awhile. Jared went to Gulsane to an office somewhere to drop off a packet to get Shania’s “born abroad” paperwork started. After he got home I went to the tailor. Dropped off a 3 piece to get sewn. I’ve been putting off going there for weeks. Been worried that my Bangla isn’t good enough to convey how I wanted it sewed! Sumita finally told me I better go soon before the 2nd Eid comes (the end of June) otherwise it might be awhile until the tailor can sew it. It went better than I thought. I had written down all the phrases that I needed to know beforehand so that really helped. Lanae and Lisa helped me with some of the phrases because I wanted him to sew the pants a certain way. When it comes to having a tailor sew for you there’s so many details that need to be discussed it seems like! I told him round neck, short sleeves, long kameeze and elastic in the waist on the pants. If it turns out ok I’ll take him two more to sew. It’s the same tailor that Amber used so I’m pretty confident he’ll do a good job. This winter I’m going to have him sew some actual dresses for me, as my postpartum ones are getting plenty big on me. When we got to the clinic for lunch I told Sumita I had finally taken my 3 piece there to get sewn. She laughed and thought that was funny. She saw the receipt in my purse and wanted to know how much he charged. I said 500 taka. She was horrified! She told Josna and Miriam that the tailor charged me way too much and that her tailor only charges 300 taka maybe 350 if you ask for piping on the edge of your kameeze. I just listened because not too long ago Miriam was griping that the sisters and her took their clothes to their tailor and “he has no brains” was how the story ended.😂😂 So I’d rather pay more and have things turn out than not. I said he probably charged me that much because I’m a foreigner. They thought that was probably true. 😊 Anyways I’ll go pick up my 3 piece next week some time. Josna made chicken curry for lunch. It was as good as always! Spent the evening at home doing home things. 

Thursday 5/25: Got the teacher room ready this morning for the girls last stay in Dhaka! Kinda sad… after they leave it will be quite awhile until there are teachers in Bangladesh again. Lisa is going to teach her children next year and I’m going to teach Layton kindergarten. Doyle’s won’t need a teacher for awhile for their girl. So probably no teacher until Layton starts first grade. Jon brought over the teachers passports with their exit visa stamped in them for the teachers for tomorrow when they fly out. Got some encouraging news in regards to some paperwork about getting funds released. The children and I went and ran errands for awhile in the morning. In the evening Kelly’s, Trevor’s and the teachers all came over. Jared got pizza from the Pizza Hut, Lanae brought brownies and Lisa brought a salad with REAL LETTUCE! If you ever want to see a bunch of happy CSI people… pizza and ice cream and being together usually does the trick! 

Friday 5/26: I typically focus on only sharing the positive things of our lives and leave out the negative and the struggles. Some have said they wished they knew when we were struggling so they knew to pray extra for us.  It’s hard for me to share when the challenging times arise because I don’t want anyone to get the impression that we aren’t happy here or such like! But life is real here just like at home. Pray for the church in Bangladesh. Seems like there’s several members that are down or discouraged. Pray specifically for the ones that have chosen to not attend church, those on repentance, those that used to be members. In a culture like Bangladesh it’s not easy to be a Christian. Pray for the missionaries that are supposed to be leading the congregations and encouraging the discouraged ones. We feel like children some days and wonder how we are supposed to have the wisdom and maturity to know how to answer their questions. Some times it seems like God called us here for our own sanctification and personal growth. In the end we all are just helping and walking each other home. On the bright side… today church was full! We could have used an overflow! Kelly’s, Trevor’s and the teachers worshipped with us… Miriam came and who should come with her but Lucky herself.😊 Made my heart so happy to see her there. The singing was beautiful. Had 4 part harmony… really miss congregational singing like that at home. Kelly had the message in Bangla. He had Sumita read the verses in Bangla for him. There were two patients and their mamas at the clinic so they peaked in with wide eyed wonder at all the Bedesis having church. The one little boy had already had his cleft palate operation and he was just crying and crying. He was so hungry for rice like he saw his mom eating but all he could have was milk! I felt sorry for the poor little fellow. I was in the kitchen changing Shanias diaper and I turned around and there were the mamas lined up just watching me! Ater church we all went to Farmhouse Burger for lunch and then to UniMart. While we were waiting for them to ground up some beef for us they offered us some oxtail. We declined. We enjoy trying new foods but oxtail seemed a bit much. There was a young guy making cotton candy for free so all the kids lined up to get some. I don’t know why kids enjoy that stuff. Basically a sweet spider cobweb. 🤢 Layton was thrilled because he’s been begging for some ever since he saw the boys selling it on the street. In the evening we all ended up at the guesthouse and bugged the teachers about how much luggage they had! When it was time to leave they put their American head coverings on. Miss Kalli put on the same dress that she was wearing when she came 2 years ago. It was a bit shorter than the ones she wore here!😂 It was hard to see the girls go. I will really miss them coming and going when they came into Dhaka. Was so fun to be with young girls again! Felt like I was with my manor girls again when they were around. When we hugged them goodbye Layton was very worried that his Thomas and Krista were leaving. I assured him that not yet not for a few months! 

Saturday 5/27: Sounds like the teachers flights are going well. In the morning Jared and Jon went to the auditors office. (AGAIN!) They’ve about wore their own trail there.😂 Jared says there’s about 10 apprentices that do all the work. Looks quite tedious. So it’s no wonder that there’s been so many mistakes made with that many students. But they have to learn somehow. They thought about switching accountants but not every accountant here in Dhaka knows how to do the books for an NGO like us. Their trip there was somewhat of a dry run. Mid morning the children and I went over to the guesthouse. Lisa Lanae and I were going to go through some dishes, books and things that Elwoods left there from Rajshahi. Wanted to get all of the boxes taken care of before Doyle’s come. I had to abort the mission early because Layton wasn’t feeling well. We came home and I tucked him into bed and gave him his favorite hot cocoa. Shania was fussy so finally I gave up getting anything done so all three of us piled into our bed and remained there for awhile and listened to the thunderstorm that rolled through. Lately Shania will only nap if someone is holding her. The past few days her aunties have been making sure that that isn’t a problem. When I went to the guesthouse this morning, Marci met me at the street and asked for Shania before any one else could.😂 As soon as Jared got home he headed to the clinic. The sisters were having problems with the water system there. A pipe was leaking so Jared hoofed it to Farmgate but the shop was closed so he went and bought a bunch of jugs of drinking water until he can get the right part. After naps Layton seemed to be feeling better so we all headed back to the guesthouse for round 2 of decluttering and preparing. So many of the books are all rippled and worn from the humidity here. Going to give them to the moyla ladies or the caretaker to recycle and get some extra taka. Lucky came and she took quite a lot of things for herself and to take back to her village. By the time we were done it everyone seemed pretty weary so we invited them all for supper. Whitney came home with me and she made tortillas and fresh salsa and I got out the grilled chicken Jared had grilled earlier in the week. Cut the meat thin and sautéed peppers and onions… it made delicious fajitas! After supper we sang for awhile… it gave us a boost! The men had been tracking the teachers flight from Singapore to San Francisco. Right before they landed in California we messaged them and sang them the first verse of “The Star Spangled Banner” to welcome them home. 🥰 

Sunday 5/28: Jared was at clinic like usual… I spent the morning doing laundry, dishes and trying to get my life somewhat organized for the coming week. Trevor and Kelly were both over to get various things they needed. Trevor is going to send our Dhaka cycle back to Kulna by train and then Jared is going to find an electric bike. We just don’t need that big of a cycle here in Dhaka. We either take the van or go by CNG or rickshaw if we go somewhere that’s too far to walk. CNGs will take you quite a distance. Spent the rest of the day doing usual things. 

May 15-21, 2023

 Monday 5/15: We left Chitra Resort around noon. It was such a beautiful morning before we left! Went and swung in the hammocks by the river and watched the sand boats go by… had breakfast there at the kitchen. Potato balls, veggie mixture, a sweet rice cake of some sort, tortillas and a fried egg. It was edible😊 Kelly’s went back to Golpaganj and we followed Trevor’s home back to Kulna. We had never been there yet! So fun to see all the sights while driving. It looks like in these villages a person can do about anything if you have bricks and bamboo poles. Drove past a brick kiln… piles and piles and piles of bricks. Layton took a much needed nap on the drive. He has been playing HARD the past few days. Got to Trevor’s around 2:30 and unloaded the cars. Had lunch and then crashed for awhile. Around 7 we decided to go to Kulna for fuska and chotpoti. We all hopped on vans. (Flatbed rickshaws with electric motors). Took three of them to haul all of us!! Trevors convinced their guard to come too. Layton was pretty nervous about the ride but as long as he held my hand he was fine. It was about a 20 minute ride into town. Taking a rickshaw is fun because you go at a slow enough speed that you can enjoy the scenery. Every village house has rows of poo sticks either leaning up against their fence or stacked up in a shack. Sticks with cow manure pressed around them that are then dried and used for the cooking fires. Laundry on the fences or hanging off the porches, naked babies running around, ducks, mama hens and their chicks scratching on the road, goats and their offspring trotting around, cows tied to trees and grazing on the sides of the road. Eventually we pulled up to the restaurant dokan and sat down at a table outside where everyone else was sitting. We hadn’t even been sitting for 5 minutes and all of a sudden a ferocious wind came up out of nowhere and just blew like mad. (Welcome Cyclone Mocha) Stuff started blowing around and people took off running for shelter. A big transformer blew not far from where we were so there was a crash and a loud boom. We all grabbed the children and ran inside the dokan and crammed as many in there as could fit. When they saw Lisa and I with the children they emptied a table for us to sit at. Lisa took Shania so I could take care of Layton. Storms of any kind frighten him considerably so he needed to be close to me for awhile. It soon started pouring like crazy but oh boy the cool breeze after the wind settled was absolutely divine! The rickshaw drivers were going to wait for us to eat and then take us back home but with the rain and uncertain wind, Jared and Trevor rode back to the house and brought the van back. The rest of us stayed in the dokan and ordered our food and some for the men. The chotpoti is a soup made of potatoes, chickpeas, onion and kaj morich. Fuska is a crispy shell filled with potatoes and then topped with chutney and sliced eggs. They served it with a sweet sauce and some sour sauce. It was really good. We asked them for some that wasn’t quite so spicy but it was still pretty stout! But if it didn’t have spice it wouldn’t have half the flavor that it does so one just drinks lots of water or sprite to cool your mouth off!!  Got back to Trevor’s and the current was out for awhile. Thankfully I had thought to clothespin my laundry on Lisa’s clothesline on the roof. With that wind I wasn’t sure if our clothes were floating in a nearby river or not but they were mostly all still up on the line. Took us awhile to unwind from the events but eventually we all drifted to bed. 

Tuesday 5/16: Jared went with Trevor to his clinic for the morning. They closed at 1230 and then came home for lunch. Us ladies and children just stayed at home. The girls held Shania all morning and Lisa and I talked quite a-bit. It was fun having some lady time with another lady that talks English😂 In the evening we went and walked along the River. It was a beautiful walk. The water was pretty choppy because of the wind. Saw a bunch of big sand boats and barges. We walked along until we came to Shanto and Shottis. They are both members. They have 2 older boys (youth age) and a younger boy. She was collecting her ducks and putting them in for the night when we got there. Lisa and I went with her to get her goats. They are like her babies. In the winter she makes little coats for them to wear. She herded them up into a little shack that’s right beside her kitchen. In her kitchen she has a window that opens up into the goat shack so she can check on them during the night! They all have names… Penny, Tyson, Lulu, the rest where Bangla names that I couldn’t understand. She made us cini cha (hot sweet tea) and then some fried patties out of dal flour and shredded carrots. The other dish was potatoes and dal mixed together and put in something that looked like a wonton wrapper. I enjoyed them both! She also had a mustard sauce to dip them in. They just fell in love with Shania. Shanto always wanted a little girl so he just held and held her. (We found out that “shani” (shu-nigh) is Hindu for flute! So several times when we were out and about at Golpaganj and Kulna people would mention about the flute when they heard her name. Found that interesting!) While we were there the wind picked up and in came the rain just like the previous night! We all stayed in their house and sat on their bed. Shanto wanted to sing so we did for awhile while one of the boys took Trevor back to the house to get the van. (We had taken rickshaws into town) One of his boys had a big plastic tote with the cutest little ducklings he was raising to sell. There are so many ducks all over out here. We haven’t had the pleasure yet of “sampling” duck yet. On the way home we stopped at a gas station for octane for the generator. There were cycles and trucks parked there waiting for the rain to let up. We noticed under one of the trucks about 6 guys were crouched under it taking shelter from the downpour!  We came home and sat around and ate and talked for awhile. 

Wednesday 5/17: We left Trevor’s around 10 and got back to our Dhaka apartment around 2:30 pm. It was wonderful to go where there was green fields and peace and quiet but coming back to the city to our home was great! The drive went smoothly. Drove through some heavy rain but it was short lived. Layton asked every little bit “are we at the Padma Bridge yet?” Crossing the Padma Bridge is always a highlight. Seeing all the boats, etc. At Eid they opened the bridge up to motorcycles and ever since they continue to let them come across. Before they had trucks waiting at either end that would load the cycles and their drivers up and haul them across and drop them off. Got home and unpacked and started some laundry. Now that it’s getting more humid I have to do laundry almost every day other wise any thing damp or wet in the basket starts to stink. Didn’t have a lot to wash since I had done laundry at Lisa’s. It was cool enough we opened the windows to let some fresh air in! Layton and I went down to the courtyard to ride bike for awhile since it was nice. The new children that moved in the next door apartment were down there as well. They could speak decent English. I had to laugh because I overheard them calling each other “scaredy cat!!” Sounded so strange to hear a Bengali using an American term like that. Both Shania and Layton were ready for bed before 9. All the fun times wore them out. Shania loved all her aunties holding her so much the past week. It appears as though she expects that sort of treatment to continue… 

Thursday 5/18: Today was a day of odd jobs. Made granola, did laundry, bought vegetables. The vegetable man seems to keep an eye on who I am buying things from. If he sees me buying from the veggie man outside the gate he makes sure to remind me that his vegetables are good and don’t I need milk and eggs? And he makes sure I know he has the good milk available! If I go to carebox he tells me he has laundry soap and hand soap available too.😂 Went to the pharmacy for more diapers. Last time I went I bought a package of what I thought was small diapers. Didn’t realize they were pull-ups. Never seen such a tiny pull up. The package said it was for 4 kg babies which is Shania’s size so I just assumed it was diapers! In the states you can’t even buy pull-ups until the toddler sizes. I mentioned it to Lanae because I thought it kinda strange and she said a-lot of people here like pull ups on their babies instead of diapers. (If they even wear them in the first place!) so now I have learned to make sure they are diapers and not pull ups! Who know buying diapers could be tricky?! The battery backup guy came and checked out our IPS system since it hasn’t been working. The batteries are old and “damaged.” So we need to get new batteries. Another thing to replace😞 in case your wondering where your CSI money goes!😂 In the evening Shurov came over for cookies and sweet tea. Layton and I worked on some alphabet worksheets and then went and enjoyed the cooler weather outside. Shania always falls asleep anytime we go outside. Probably because I’m holding her. 💗

Friday 5/19: church this morning. Jared’s thoughts were on prayer and finding our secret closet. Josna thought Shania looked bigger! She’s definitely been eating and sleeping more during the day. She’s almost ready for 0-3 month clothes. Jared and I have been talking about what we miss the most. We both decided it was going to Sunday school. Layton says it’s “mornings in Kansas.” I asked him what he meant and he said “the dew on the grass!” Went to Farmhouse for some good burgers and fries. Headed to UniMart. Trevor’s and Kelly’s come into town next week to drop the teachers off at the airport so wanted to get some extra meat in case they all want to come over. If not then I’ll just have extra in my freezer which is never a bad thing.😊 Jared likes to grill chicken for me to freeze on days when it’s cooler. Came home and the children and I took long naps. Spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on laundry, tidying the house etc. Seems like I’m not as organized and efficient as I was at home so trying to learn to give myself grace in this new season of life. I have to tell myself I also didn’t have a new baby at home either. 

Saturday 5/20: Lucky came to cook today. That is always a relief to me when she comes. One less meal for me to think about. She made dal, rice, chicken and then a unique vegetable mixture. It has papaya, long beans, carrots and chichinga in some kind of sauce with toasted garlic on the top. It was really good! She had me buy 10 kaj morich so I was wondering if it was going to be something extra spicy or what she was going to cook up. (I let her cook whatever she wants… she’s pretty creative. Plus it’s a good way for us to keep trying different foods here.) Our stomachs have all been upset lately especially Layton’s so that was why I was concerned. But when lunch was served it wasn’t any more spicy than usual so I was glad! It’s fun to see what all she comes up with. She is a cook at her other job too. She was telling us that her village house lost the tin off its roof in the wind from the cyclone. After lunch we all took naps. This hot weather seems to make us all more tired than usual! Hopefully next year we all are better acclimated to it. We are slowly getting used to it though. Now it’s in the low 90s but the humidity has definitely increased! At night it cools off in the 80s which is so nice because then the apartment cools overnight and then in the morning when we get up and leave our bedrooms it’s not so stifling! 

Sunday 5/19: Jared and Jon went to the Visa office “first thing” this morning to get the teacher’s exit visas. (First thing in the morning in Bangladesh is 10 AM!) Jon has been there twice last week to get them and he didn’t have much luck. So today they seemed to have more luck and were able to get what they needed. The IPS man came and brought new batteries for the battery backup. So for now all the broken things are fixed.😂 Spent the rest of the day doing mom odd jobs. Made meatballs with cream sauce over mashed potatoes for supper. 

May 8-14, 2023

 Monday 5/8: Jared had clinic this morning.   The children and I went and did a few errands this morning. While we were out and about at least five people told me it was “onek gorom.” (Very hot) Went to the pharmacy and got some balloons and candles for Layton’s birthday on Thursday, then went to the fruit dokan and bought a bunch of apples and mangoes. My buddy was working today at the dokan. Ever since I let him keep the change from the taka I gave him one day for fruit (the day the old Muslim man kept hounding me and he shooed him away) he always hollers out when he sees me “Hi sister, how are you?” 😊 On our way back from the fruit dokan the street was jammed up. The motorcycles were starting to drive down the sidewalk instead of waiting on the street. It’s frustrating when they do that! The sidewalks are already full of people and then trying to dodge cycles yet too while holding a baby, keeping track of Layton and carrying bags is a bit much. Jared said he’s seen some people just stop and stand right in front of the cycles so they can’t go. They know they aren’t supposed to be riding there but I guess they think they’ll be able to get closer to the front of the jam or something! The other day a guy was yelling away at the cycle drivers.😂 I just walk way off to the side of the sidewalk and walk as quick as possible until we get to Partex gullie. Came home and sat real still in front of the fan awhile to cool off. The paper says we are experiencing a “mild heat wave.” Jared and I get our jollies out of reading the Daily Star. Their terms for things can be quite humorous. Last time it was this hot a few weeks ago it was considered a “severe heatwave.” 😂 This weekend it’s supposed to drop into the 90s and rain for several days. There is a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal right now. We are so so thankful though for electricity for our fans and AC! A person becomes grateful for all sorts of little things these days. We all decided it was a good afternoon for naps until several men decided to start throwing pipes and metal pieces into the back of a truck right behind our apartment. 😂For supper I made Bacon Ranch Chicken Hobo Dinners… quick and easy just tossed it all in a pan since I ran out of foil and didn’t have enough to make it all into neat little packets like the recipe said! But when have I ever followed a recipe? It was quite a hit even with Layton! 

Tuesday 5/9: Jared had clinic. We went to the vegetable dokan to get some things. Now that it’s warmer I like to just go one place in the morning instead of going to get it all at once and then coming home completely overheated and wet. The dokan man thought it was too hot for Shania, so he had me come inside his store and sit on a chair under the fan. I sure did appreciate his thoughtfulness as there was quite a group standing there waiting on him. One of our drivers that was there drinking his cha bought fruitcake for Layton. Told the rest of the group that Layton lives in Siza Court. Had singing at the clinic this evening…  I look forward to that very much every week. It was just Sumita and Josna this time. Josna’s sister and Sumita’s friend and Miriam didn’t come. Stopped and bought some more mangoes on the way home. We’ve been eating them like candy! They are so sweet. 

Wednesday 5/9: Jared got up at the crack of dawn and went to fill the van up with gas. He was able to beat the crowd that way. After breakfast him and Layton went to get passport photos of Layton and get Shanias printed. Then they went to computer city to get some things. The house was so quiet with them gone so I took the opportunity to nap. Shania and Layton both kept me hopping during the night last night so it didn’t take much to halt the daily duties to nap! Shania was really awake and active today. So fun to watch. Once she tried to laugh. A big grin and a croaky noise.  Had lunch at the clinic. Pilau rice and chicken. Josna had ground up nuts and made them into a sauce for the chicken. Then fried alu (potatoe) patties. It was delicious! I had my last postpartum drs apt this afternoon so we just stayed at the clinic with Josna, Sumita and Miriam until we needed to leave. That way we weren’t walking out in the heat quite so much. A real feel of 112* makes a person limit their outdoor activities. Picked up Shania’s birth certificate while we were at Square. We came home and crashed for awhile. Had smoothies for supper. (and mangoes) After that I cleaned up Layton’s room. I always put it off until kingdom come and then it’s quite a chore. He’s been into cutting up pieces of paper into small pieces so that’s mostly what needed picking up. Went up to the roof after supper. Been awhile since we were up there! We noticed a flock of green birds in the mango trees. Looked them up and apparently they are some sort of parrot! 

Thursday 5/11: Happy 6th Birthday Layton Jared! How time does fly… He seems so grown up and yet such a little boy at the same time. Wants to do his own thing (thank you very much) but then wants to sit on my lap with his stuffed dog Douglas while we read Homer Price. 💙 He wanted “milk pie and boxed mac n cheese and that’s it”. for his birthday meal. We compromised and made some homemade chicken nuggets yet too to complete the meal! The amount of mac n cheese he stuffed in his belly was astounding! He said “now there’s just enough room for the pie!”😂 The pie was another story… I found a recipe that took oil instead of shortening since shortening is hard to come by. It took me several recipes to find one that I could turn into a crust. It was extremely humid today so maybe that’s why cuz usually my pie crusts turn out great. Finally just cut the flopped crusts into strips in a pan and put cinnamon and sugar over them like my mom used to do. The pie was good! The crust was crunchy but Jared said he liked it that way. Bless his heart💙 Shurov came over in the afternoon for awhile. 

Friday 5/12: Church this morning. Jared’s message was on living like we talk and not being a hypocrite. Shurov gave Layton a pocket sized KJV Bible for his birthday. Some cooler today. The cyclone in the Bay of Bengal is picking up furry according to the paper. All we should get is rain and cooler weather. After church we did our usual shopping. After we came home the children and I napped. (Still trying to get used to saying “children”!) Jared cleaned the van out for our upcoming trip. Later in the afternoon Jon came over to do some paperwork with Jared before we leave tomorrow. Spent the rest of the evening packing. 

                  Compliments of Google Images 

Saturday5/13: Headed out for Golpagonj shortly after 6. Getting out the door with a baby is abit more challenging than just a 6 year old. But she was a trooper about being rousted from her slumbers and after an initial cross eyed scowl at everyone she soon awarded us all with smiles. She was quite happy to be held by mama for three hours in the van. No car seats here which I’m still getting used to. We make Layton wear a seatbelt just like at home though other wise he is just all over the place. The drive was as intriguing as ever. It was so good to see the green fields. Now it’s rice harvesting time. So lots of rice straw piles along the road and people carrying them on their heads. Looks awfully hot and scratchy! Imagine carrying wheat straw and the chaff trickling down your hot sweaty back. (Kinda how it looks) Got to Kelly’s at 9. Layton and their children promptly got into their rooftop pool made out of bamboo sticks and plastic. Lanae and I took a short walk and stopped to see their neighbors then we crossed a bamboo bridge to see some of her friends. The bamboo bridge was an experience in itself. (See above picture) It was above a creek. I was unsure of crossing it as it was two bamboo poles side by side suspended by narrow bamboo poles. One of the young girls came and took Shania across and then I inched my way along and held onto the railing and tried to not look down below. I told Lanae I did it for the gospels sake. It was so neat to visit with those ladies! It made the bridge experience worth it. They wondered why we didn’t wear jewelry, how did I get the cut on my toe, did I know that Pampers are harmful for a baby, why were we going on a picnic tomorrow when there’s a cyclone coming? They loved holding Shania! It will be fun to tell her about this when she gets bigger. They cut up some mangoes from their tree and had us eat them.  Jared and Kelly went and saw where the new CSI dokan will be and then went to see Kokhon’s dokan. He is a member here in Golpaganj. Layton played and played and played. Water, sand everything. At one point dirt soup was being concocted! 

Sunday 5/14: Went to church with Kelly’s! That was enjoyable. Jared had the message on Unity. Thought surely we could listen to Kelly preach since Jared just had the message at Dhaka on Friday😝 Trevor’s and Kelly’s have their services on Sundays. Had a quick lunch then packed up both cars and headed to Chitra Resort. It is a beautiful place… super nice! We all had little cabins that faced the river. The cabins had huge windows and a little balcony facing the river. The cabins felt like little honeymoon suites! We had relay races after everyone got there. So so much fun! Then the children got train rides on the mini train and played at the playground. We then all cleaned up and then headed to another building on the property for the program. The children had each wrote a short paragraph on different places around the world where the children go to school and how they get there. Then was Whitney’s graduation. She was wearing the same fabric as her class at home and then had the same song too! I thought that was neat. We all said a piece of advice for her. After the festivities we went and had supper at the resorts kitchen. Fish and chicken, rice and dal. It was very good! By that time I had two very tired children so the children and I came back to our cabin and Jared stayed out with the rest for awhile. 

May 1-7, 2023

Monday 5/1: This morning we woke up to a great crash. My first thought was that Layton was trying to fill up the big Gott jug in the kitchen with ice and water for the day. But he was in our bedroom playing Magna Tiles while Jared and I slept in. Jared went to investigate and here the fan in the kitchen had fallen down, pulled the electrical guts part way out of the wall and the blades had shattered. Seems like everything is breaking around here lately… the printer, the WiFi, the washer, the battery back up and now the fan.😂 as long as it’s none of us we are all good!!! 😂 Layton of course hoped his dad would let him have the fan to take apart and see how it worked. I’m convinced he is going to be a mechanic or an electrician when he grows up. Anything that can be dismantled or has wires is his chief joy. Uncle Trevor told him he should try taking a smart phone apart. I said “that’s only funny until he actually tries it.” His alarm clock found its way into the trash because he cut the cord off of it. I said “now you won’t know what time it is when you wake up!” He said “but mom, I needed that cord.”🙀 anyways the fan soon had new blades put on and was perched back in its rightful place. This time a-bit more secure! 

Clinic was canceled today since it’s a national holiday. “Labor Day” “a day to celebrate the achievements of workers” according to Wikipedia. Jared still had to go do some things with one of the patients so he took Layton with him. Then they hiked off to Farmgate and were going to get Layton new shoes and more shorts but most of the shops were closed. Here you never know, some shops and markets are open on holidays and some times they aren’t! Jared came home with mangoes so I was enthused. They are just in season now. Spent the rest of the day doing usual things… laundry, cooking etc. Now that I have a wee babe to care for my cooking seems to be lacking luster. (Jared says it’s still good but to me it doesn’t seem that way!) I don’t put as much effort into it as I did a few months ago I guess. Been trying to find some quick and easy meals that don’t take much prep to prepare! Shania isn’t a high maintenance baby but she seems to know when mama walks out of the room to go do something. It’s not long until I hear the most pitiful wail because she thinks she’s all alone. So the princess must be comforted! Our joke is that she must have a pea under her mattress. (One of Layton’s favorite stories now.) She can go from a dead sleep to an absolute wail in no time. 😂 Kelly’s are coming into Dhaka today. They have appointments at the embassy Tuesday. Miss Trish is coming for night and staying for a few days. Looking forward to that. 

Tuesday 5/2: Shania is 1 month… she is up to 8 lbs from her 5# 8 oz birth weight. She is definitely more alert and loves to just look around and stare at us all with her big blue eyes. A sly little grin appears occasionally😄 Miriam says she looks “very strict” when her eyes are open! Jared had clinic today. His number of patients was back up to 25-30. They’ve been down during Ramadan and Eid. One day he had none and one day he had only 6! Layton and I spent the morning doing odd jobs around the house. Jared had quite a large stack of papers that needed shredding from some file cabinet clean out that he did after the Rajshahi project was closed down so we worked on that for quite some time. Layton has been loving audiobooks recently. “Those books where you don’t have to turn the pages.” So he listened to Junie B Jones off and on throughout the day. Kelly’s dropped off Sally here with Miss Trish while they went to the Embassy. Their three oldest needed new US passports. Went to sing at the clinic in the evening. Kelly’s went with us so that added some volume. They came over after singing and Lanae and I threw together some BBQ chicken quesadillas. Jared went and bought some chips and Kelly bought some fruit and bon appetit… Earlier in the day I had been racking my mind what I could put in the crockpot that would feed all of us if Kelly’s wanted to come over. I was drawing a blank so I prayed about it. All of a sudden I thought of doing shredded BBQ chicken which can be used for a multitude of things! I was thankful for the practical answer to prayer. I knew I could always freeze it if we all decided to eat out instead. The Lord and I seem to talk often about food matters. Had a fun evening with them. It’s hard to believe that in 2.5 months they leave! 

Wednesday 5/3: The past two nights Shania has slept for 5-6 hours without waking up! It’s glorious. I’m not getting my hopes up though that it will last! In the morning Miss Trish and I went to Farmgate. Had a good trip… we were dripping with sweat by the time we got home. Got Layton more shirts and shorts and some bigger sandals. The sizes here are so different. I finally discovered a Bangladesh “8” shirt for boys is like size 6. Then there were some Carters brand shirts that said 4T but they fit like size 6, so came home and all the shirts fit but 2 pairs of shorts were too small but that’s ok! The other pairs fit😃Then size 8 shorts are more like 5T-size 6. Theres no such thing as fitting rooms in the market so just did the best I could at estimating what would fit him. I got 2 3 pc sets, some cotton for a new pair of pants for one of my existing 3 pc sets. That was the first time I had went to Farmgate without Jared. Crossing the streets there always sets my nerves on fire so I was relieved when we got back to Siza Court! These people on motorcycles just drive like bats sometimes, add in the buses flying by zippy fast and then the beggars yelling “sister sister.” I told Miss Trish… “this is why Amazon is a good thing!”😂 But yet on the other hand it’s fun to go out and about to see the sights and marvel at the teaming millions of humanity all crammed into one city! One time we were walking along by Farmgate and in the sidewalk was a big pothole with a little puppy curled up in it sound asleep. Jared spent the afternoon going to the auditors office. They are still working on it. Some papers have been fixed and some still need “amends.” Maybe by the time we leave in 2.5 years the 2022 audit will be completed.😂 Jared got word from Jon that Trevor got his security clearance so now he can get a work visa! We might all be legal here yet! A comment from one of my lady friends today here… “you’re up walking and it’s only been a month?” 😂 She hadn’t seen Shania yet and I met her in the courtyard at the guesthouse. She would hardly give Shania back to me, just held her and “babo babo babo!” 

Thursday 5/4: Spent the morning catching up on things from yesterday… kept the washer going. Jared worked on papers for renewing Layton’s passport and then getting one for Shania. Some have asked if she will be considered a Bangladesh citizen. She only would be if Jared or I are Bengali. So we get a birth certificate that says “citizen born abroad” and get her a normal US passport from the US embassy. Then when Jared applies for his work visa he adds her to our family list to be included in the visa. In the afternoon Layton and Jared went to the guesthouse and put together some tract packages. Sometime soon we want to go do some of the tract routes that are around here and outside of Dhaka. Shania and I fell asleep and slept for two hours. At this point a nap is as good as a million dollars. During the day she only wants to nap if she’s laying on my chest. Spoiled little girlie! Shurov came for sweet tea and chocolate cake later in the afternoon. Layton spent the evening planning his future. He wants to build a shop large enough to drive two combines in it, then Shania will drive truck for him. Meanwhile Grampy will weld two cars together for him to see how that works out. (“Mom, do you know how to weld?”)  It’s a good thing dreaming is free! At bedtime we were having our story time and he said “Mom, I’m sure glad your not fat anymore. It makes sitting on your lap so much easier!” thank you son, thank you I appreciate the positivity.😂

Friday 5/5: Church this morning… Kelly’s came to church with us! They decided to stay in town for a day or two to do some shopping. I think the sisters liked being able to talk with Lanae since her Bangla is great! I was glad they were there because I’ve been wanting to ask Sumita more about her back pain that way Lanae could help me with the questions. The poor dear looks miserable. After church We decided to go to Danmondi this time instead of Gulsane. It’s about the same distance from our place. Was neat to see some different sites. Had lunch at Herfeys. Was actually able to find parking right close by. Sometimes you just park where you can and walk a distance. Not sure what the guard thought of the 5 white children getting their moneys worth out of the play place. At one point Layton had the rocking horse and was sliding down the slipper slide with it. I was horrified but Lanae consoled me about my child’s actions and said steam has to come out somehow.😂 I made a mental note to add that to my list of things to tell myself when Layton is bouncing off the walls here at home. Haha! After lunch we stopped at Artisan to get Layton a few more pieces of clothes that I couldn’t find at Farmgate. I just really like that store! Old Navy and Carters brands with American sizes. Plus it’s all nicely sorted out into tidy stacks by size. It is more expensive than at a market but the clothes are better quality and seem to last longer. At Farmgate I could only find cotton shorts, and Layton likes the stretchy athletic type. Thankfully Artisan had just the kind he likes! So he shouldn’t need any more clothes for quite some time unless he goes through another crazy growth spurt. Went to UniMart then came home quite exhausted! Taking a baby places wears me out. Shania was good as gold and slept the whole time so I don’t know why it’s tiring. 

Saturday 5/6: Lucky came to cook today so I was glad to have one less meal to think about. Actually two less meals because there’s always enough leftovers for another meal! Miss Trish and Kelly’s headed back to Golpagange. Layton always has a sad time when the company leaves. But this time wasn’t so sad because in a week from today we are all going to Kulna to celebrate Whitney’s graduation! (Trevor and Lisa’s girl!) we haven’t left Dhaka since revivals so looking forward to going out to the village again. For lunch Lucky made the usual chicken curry. She made some vegetables in a way that we hadn’t tried yet. Okra with scrambled eggs and fried onion, pumpkin fried with cinnamon, and then we had fried eggplant. I love the eggplant. Once I got used to the slimy texture it was good. Every time Lucky or Josna make it they always say how much Duane boss loved eggplant! They can remember what every missionaries favorite food is! Lucky has been extra careful with her cooking since I had Shania. It’s kinda cute. One time she made a huge bowl of dal, way more than we would ever eat at two settings and she said “it’s good for your milk.” Then today she said she left spice out of everything but the chicken!  Her whole face just lights up when I bring “Sania” into the kitchen to see her. She thinks her long brown hair is just beautiful. We have a very hard time understanding her village accent so it’s hard to communicate with her which is quite grievous to me. She always wants to tell me things that sound so interesting But somehow between hand motions and lots of repeating we can get the point across. I thought it was just me but the other missionaries say they have a hard time understanding her sometimes too so that makes me feel better! Midafternoon we heard the welcome sounds of thunder! I’ve learned when it starts to thunder to go out and take my wash off the line right away because otherwise the clothes and unmentionables will flutter down to the courtyard in the wind. Not that I have ever had my undies sail down there or anything… 😂 Usually there’s barely a breeze so I don’t even clothespin them down. There was a good downpour and an amazing wind!! It was like a good spring Kansas wind. This afternoon Jon and Jared worked on papers. Doyle’s papers are submitted and hopefully Trevor’s work visa comes soon. I never knew that being in the mission involved so much on paperwork and visas! 

Sunday 5/7: Jared had clinic this morning. He said he stayed pretty busy. Business is picking back up! Layton and I spent quite a-bit of time reading Homer Price and Mrs Piggle Wiggle while Shania had her morning nap. He wonders if he could learn to whistle and catch a skunk like Homer did. It was pretty toasty outside this afternoon so we stayed inside and just took it easy.