Monday 6/12: Got news this morning that Jays had a baby girl! I think it’s neat that now at Hesston there’s two girl babies that will be Shania’s age. When Layton was born several other ladies that were due close to the same time had boys too! Anyways… When Sumita came to clean this morning her allergies were flared up. She went to my pantry and got a raw onion and ate it to try and unstuff her nose. Oh we had a good laugh together as she shuddered at the awful taste! I told her I was going to have Jared do that the next time his allergies are bad.😂 It rained this morning. A downpour for quite awhile. Layton was very sad he couldn’t ride bike. I rummaged in my bored box and pulled out some slime I had bought at UniMart. I keep random little things in my bored box for when he’s bored or needing a change of scenery. He LOVED the slime and played an played with it. Had a quiet afternoon. Jared helped me cut up all the mangos I had gotten last week for the freezer. After supper Jared worked on some CEUs to renew his Kansas nursing license. People have asked if we use our nursing skills here at the clinic. The answer is no we do not. We don’t have Bangladesh nursing licenses. Our Dr Elizabeth does all the assessing and treating at the clinic. The people that come to the clinic usually don’t need any sort of urgent care or dressings.
Tuesday 6/13: Jared had around 20 patients at the clinic today. The RO system at the clinic has been having problems. Keeps getting holes in the tubing. He replaced it two weeks ago and now there’s another hole! He is suspicious it’s mice. One of the sisters said during the night she felt something nibbling on her toes. So needless to say, after lunch Jared went to Farmgate in search of mousetraps. Had singing this afternoon with the sisters. The last few times they’ve been teaching us Sunday school songs from their childhood. It’s been really fun learning them! I wish Layton was more enthused about singing them but he could care less. I’ve started taking along things for him to do while we sing. He gets awfully bored otherwise. After singing was over, Jared had some matters to tend to with a patient. Kelly had sent a eye patient from Golpaganj that needed some financial assistance for testing. (Kelly and Trevor send their
patients to Dhaka if they have done everything they can to help them.) Went to Hotel Shuktara at Farmgate for supper. Hadn’t been there in months! The waiter said “I haven’t seen you for quite some time!” Jared told him we had a baby that’s why! We got egg drop soup, garlic ginger prawns and spring rolls. Layton has taken a real liking to egg drop soup. The view is always amazing from the restaurant since it’s 9 stories up. Some smog this evening but not terrible. Walked home.. When we got home our neighbor man wanted to visit for awhile. His children are the ones that Layton plays with. He knows very good English. His oldest daughter is studying abroad in Australia. He was enthused because he got a visa for him and his family to move to the states to Mississippi so his children can get a better education. He was in the Bangladesh army for 17 years and now is a higher up in a bank close by.
Wednesday 6/14: Jared let me sleep in as during the night the two hoodlums needed me lots. Sometimes I almost wonder if it’s even worth it to sleep in. I get up and everyone is out of sorts because mama hasn’t been up before hand making sure everyone’s morning is off to a good start. You know the little details… the precise amount of sugar a 6 year old likes in his cornflakes, just how Shania likes to be wrapped tight but not too tight so that she can still find her thumb… Daddy manages these things very well in fact just as well if not better than mama but for some reason MAMA is the special one! Went to the clinic for lunch. Chicken curry and then the vegetable mixture had okra, carrots and potatoes in it today. On the way there our rickshaw’s tire got caught in the drain grate on the street. Layton and I flew off and thankfully Jared and Shania stayed on! Layton hit his head good but he was fine after he collected his wits. That is why Jared always holds Shania when we are riding on one! The driver felt so bad and we assured him we were all just fine. Payed him good so he wouldn’t feel so bad. It was so cute he put his hands around Layton’s face after he was back in the rickshaw and in English said “I am so sorry!” While we were eating Miriam and the sisters told us what to expect at the next Eid. Muslims have two Eids… the first one was in March and now the second one is the end of June. The 2nd one is considered the “sacrificial Eid.” Sounds like we should have plenty to watch. Apparently they slaughter live animals right here in Siza Court. Stay tuned…. 🤢 Sumita and Josna weren’t too happy with one of the patient’s mother. She was chewing pawn (a big green leaf) inside the clinic and spitting it all over the floor. The pawn makes a red juice which stains their teeth and lips. We often see red puddles of pawn spit on the street and sidewalk when we are out walking. It’s a big no no for people to chew inside the clinic. I guess this lady took the bucket that the sisters have in the hallway and took it in the bathroom and spit in it too. Jared and I had to stifle our laughter at how underlying disgusted Josna and Sumita were by it all. They take great pride in how clean the clinic is so this was a horrible occurrence.😂 they took her pawn away and hid it until she leaves.
Thursday 6/15: This morning people were in and out. Sumita came to clean, Jon came to get Trevor’s passports to get their work permit finished up, the caretaker came to get money for the electric bill, etc. Jared and Layton went to the guesthouse to change the water filters on the RO system. We are very diligent at changing the filters. If they go too long without being changed they don’t work well and we don’t want to be getting sick from bad water. Something Jared and I are paranoid about. We take our own water everywhere. The rest of the day we stayed indoors under the fans. Layton was the only one brave enough to go ride bike in the heat with his friends. Until he had a accident. After supper Layton said “mom, I want to message my friends.” This is the first time he has asked to do that since we came. He had quite a list… Marcie, Kobe, Silas and Nixon, Stacey (his speech teacher at Goessel), Amber, Shantel and Raelynn!
Friday 6/16: We changed our church services to Saturdays at 4:30 pm to see if this better accommodates our brother Shurov and his situation. So no church today. Went to Aarongs and got some bigger dresses for Shania. Then went to Farmhouse Burger for lunch and then to UniMart for some groceries. Layton played with one of his friends in the evening. He’s getting quite an assortment of people to play with. I have thanked God so many times for them all. A child just simply needs other children to play with. It feels something in them that playing with mom and dad doesn’t.
Saturday 6/17: Sumita came to clean, and Lucky came to cook! Lucky told me that at her other cooking job that she has been so hot while she cooks that she can wring sweat out of her orna. Thankfully now the electricity has been staying on since the one power plant got coal in, so I made sure she had the kitchen fan blowing on her while she cooked today. She made sweet and sour chicken, okra, then a mixture of potatoes, carrots and green beans, and then fried pumpkin. Earlier in the morning, I had went and bought a significant pile of vegetables to eat throughout the next week. I told Lucky to make her yummy okra and pumpkin so she did but she also used up all the other vegetables too! Oh well, I can always get more! She loves to try new things with what I have on hand. She rummages through the fridge, freezer and pantry and concocts quite the assortment of things! At 4:30 we had church. Shurov wasn’t able to come until 5. Was worried he wasn’t going to show up. He always get a a ride on one of the pickups to come to church and he had to wait 30 minutes for one as the streets were quite busy. He said “now I know why we have church on Fridays!” His father has said he can keep coming to church as long as we don’t have services on Fridays. Jared had some thoughts on how God can use our small amount of faith and multiply it into something bigger. He always worried that his thoughts out scattered. I tell him I think he does fine. Being able to only say a sentence at a time then having it interpreted would really rattle me too! Came home and made mango smoothies for supper. After Lucky’s big meals no one feels like eating. Seems like the rice just expands and expands in one’s stomach.
Sunday 6/18: Jared had clinic. It was a quiet morning at home for the children and I. Layton and I played some games then he wanted to be teacher and play school. He made me a worksheet and I had to practice my numbers from 1-5.😂 so at least I have learned something while we are here! A cloudy morning… with some rain. Shania napped off and on seemed like she was feeling kinda lazy! Jared and I have noticed the past week or so that it looks like her hair is starting to have quite a red tint to it! Wonder if it will be auburn like Janalee’s? She is starting to recognize the three of us and just grins away and screeches when she sees us. Yesterday I had her sitting on my lap while we ate lunch and she got so excited! Kicked her little legs like crazy and waved her arms. Lucky was pretty sure it meant that she wanted some rice! She told me when she is 6 months old to mash up pumpkin and potatoes to feed her. This evening the AC technician was at the guesthouse to fix the old AC unit. Jared went over there and called and said “Kelly’s are here you should come over!” I totally forgot they were coming into town, so that was a neat surprise!
“Story time with Grandma” (I miss you Penner!) This little girl was the recipient of Jamesport’s Bible School Money. Jared wrote this up so thought I’d share!
Johana is an 8 year old girl that lives with her family in a cement apartment building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her father and mother own a small clothing business.
One day in December of 2022, Johana was playing outside in the rain. Nearby where she was playing, a pole was leaned up against an electrified power line. With the wet conditions, the pole became electrified and Johana accidentally touched it with her right arm. She was shocked by the electricity and got severe burns on her right arm. Her family rushed her to the hospital, where she stayed for about a month. After multiple skin grafts and surgical attempts to save her arm, it was decided that her right arm would have to be amputated about 3 inches below the elbow.
She has fought multiple infections and is now on daily antibiotic doses that cost about $10 USD per dose. Since December 2022, her family has racked up medical bills in excess of $7,000 USD. (This may not sound like a lot to Americans, but to Bangladeshis this amount can appear to be a large sum of money. The average worker in Bangladesh earns about $3,000 USD per year and many earn significantly less than that!) Her mother and father have had to go into debt to pay the medical bills.
As of May 2023, she has limited movement in her right elbow, but it is hoped that she will slowly regain strength in the remaining part of her arm. Once she regains enough strength, she will need an artificial arm or prosthesis.
Accidents like this are devastating to Bangladeshi families. Even though Johana is an otherwise normal little girl, this accident may prevent her from getting married or finding a good job when she comes of age.
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