Home of Love

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

German Eye Hospital in Chittagong

I took 4 children to get their eyes checked at the German Eye hospital. The place is run locally but funded from outside. It is an establishment of great service to the Bangladesh public. I love being there as it breeds hope that other hospitals could be well run. It is clean with waste baskets around and it's well lit and airy. In one shopping center close to our house they have a crude looking box standing in the middle painted with the following: 'Spit Box, use me'. I always have to smile when I walk by and see spit and candy wrappers all around the box but rarely inside! This hospital is not like that they have waste baskets and EVEN use them! I like the hospital because it is one of the few places that rich and poor are forced to sit side by side. The rickshaw driver's family sits along side the school teacher's family. In this society of unspoken castes that is something rare.
Of the 4 that I took, two kids needed glasses and one will need further testing. If you remember us writing about Uttom the little sick guy that was in the hospital for so long when he first came, he is the one that is under investigation for serious eye damage from the cerebral malaria he had as a newborn. We hope that they won't find anything. I am trying to get the Dr. appointments all taken care of before we leave for our 3 month furlough.

posted by Colleen at 6:13 AM

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Sports Day

The first annual Sports Day was held at Bora Primary school on May 19th. It might have been the most fun some of the village children had ever had in their lives. They were all thrilled to have the day off of school and have so many games to play. Races were run and jumps jumped. Many won medals and all received snack packets at the end. Mr. Beag, a P.E. teacher from Korea was the sports day organizer. Mr. Beag is here for one month to assist in teaching our staff how to do P.E. and also to teach the Korean language to some of the orphanage kids. He is living with the kids at Home of Love and does so well. We wish he could stay longer!

Luke

There are 69 kids in Bora school

posted by Thomas at 7:58 AM

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Bristy gets electric shock

The most petite of all our little 1.5 year old Bristy stuck her finger in a live current socket last week and was burnt. We thank God and His angels that watched over her very life that day. Many people in Bangladesh die from electric shock each year. Some children lose their hearing from electric shock and so I was quick to speak to her and see if she could hear. The tip of her finger is melted in a bad way and now infection has entered the scene. Please pray for Bristy as she heals up that God restores that little slight finger totally.

posted by Colleen at 11:17 AM

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Mango Crazed

The kids are crazy about mangos as this is the end of the big season that has lasted for the last couple of weeks. Here you can see the kids picking them from the very top of the tree. The mangos are big and ripe, about the size of a big potato. The little ones were waiting patiently on the ground hoping to get one that dropped. Two kids were assigned to stand in the pond (it's not deep right now before the monsoons) and fetch the stray mangos that land in the water. Our staff has been very busy making mango chutney and sweet jam. Chutney is a kind of relish made with mustard oil, chilies, spices and left to set for many days.

posted by Thomas at 10:56 PM

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Mr. Beag from Korea

We have a P.E. teacher from Korea visiting us for one month. He is teaching also the Korean language to some of the kids. We have all quickly grown fond of Mr. Beag and his fun-loving ways. Mr. Beag will teach P.E. at the Bora Primary school across the pond from Home of Love and help out in other ways. We appreciate him taking off of work for one month in order to help us like this.

posted by Thomas at 9:12 PM

Monday, May 16, 2005

Prayer for the children's education

We need people to stand with us to pray for the Home of Love children in their studies. Their grades are not good and each year some fail and have to do a class over again. With understanding we know that it's up to the child to study hard but also we know that God can give His favor and help to concentrate. The children need God's help in this. As a mother I know how much time I take for my own children's education i.e. checking their bag each night, going over homework, drilling test questions, meeting with the teacher, etc. These children however have no parents and just a few staff to watch over so many. So we ask you to remember the children in your prayer times, in order that one day they may be educated and be able to change much in this country.

posted by Colleen at 7:18 AM

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Bob and his frog

Here is Bob with his frog and no, he is not sitting on a log in the fog. That would be like Dr. Seuss... Thomas likes to eat frog legs; he says that he enjoys the fragrant meat. Just goes to show that Bangladesh has much to offer, you don't have to go to France for delicacies.

posted by Colleen at 7:54 AM

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Surf's up in Chittagong?

We are hosting a team of young people from Hawaii this month. They just spent some days at the orphanage and had a great time. We did some cleaning projects, played lots and heard about their lives. It was a good time for all. The team is busy helping with various projects and seeing first hand how life in Bangladesh would be if they lived here.

posted by Thomas at 9:55 PM

Toys for all

Some days ago toys were distributed to the smaller children as we had received a few boxes from some friends leaving the country. It was a fun day as the toys were examined on all sides and treasured.

posted by Thomas at 7:26 AM

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Who will be the next Chittagong city mayor?

Yesterday the big awaited election for mayor took place. It was a national holiday and the streets were officially closed for vehicles in order to hinder vote thugs and violence. Over 1.1 million voted. The days before the election were loud and chaotic as multimedia advertising is not big here so they resorted to loud speakers on rickshaws covering each neighborhood and big parades on the streets. It was all the people were thinking and talking about. For 36 hours during and after the election the roads were closed, all businesses and schools closed. On actual Election Day, all mobile phones were disabled due to the threat of misuse for premeditated violence.

Women and men line up to vote in separate lines.

The polls opened at 8 am. Two minutes later these boys were removing the
posters to re-cycle.

For the illiterate the ballot is made easy by posting symbols by the candidate's names. The symbols are always together with the corresponding name on all the placards and when they go to solicit votes they carry a big symbol (like a chicken, lamp, airplane, TV) at the front of the parades. The candidate and his symbol go hand in hand.

posted by Thomas at 10:51 PM

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Graduation

The Asha sewing training school congratulated their 23rd batch of graduating students this week. There were about 30 women who were able to receive their certificate and finish their training. Some won awards for best and second best seamstress. Colleen was invited along with other guests. She spoke to the ladies inspiring them to go forward as women and change the nation; stressing the need of using their new skills for empowerment. Asha School trains young women in factory sewing and cutting. Jobs are set up for the ladies after their completion of the course if desired at good Korean factories in the city. The school is for free and a part of the NGO "Aid for Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh".

posted by Thomas at 11:25 PM

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Shape up its testing time!

At Bora school the first of three main annual tests is being given right now. The children come early in the morning and have at least 3 hours of tests. The school doesn't have anything else happening during the day besides the tests, P.E., etc. is cancelled. Yes, school life in Bangladesh happens to be very different than how we know it in our countries. The Bengalis' conclude that education holds the key to a better life and so each and every parent here is pressing their child as hard as possible to do better than they did. Kindergarteners (4 years) are drilled on numbers and ABC's and forced to write line after line hour after hour.
Why are we not changing the system you might ask? Slowly we hope to do so but changing the national curriculum is quite a daunting task for legislators alone let alone foreigners!

posted by Thomas at 7:11 AM

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Friday School?

We have church on Friday so our Sunday school class for the little ones should be called "Friday school" but we still say Sunday school. Thomas and our two daughters Hannah and Larisa are the leaders. Each Friday one of the older kids is asked to come and tell a story in Bangla. The little ones look especially forward to the puzzles they get to play with after the story (they are human like all of us!).

posted by Thomas at 5:48 PM

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Baby taxi = playground

Our son Ruben loves to be at the orphanage. Playing in this old "baby taxi", as we call them here, is also a favorite activity. Pictured with him are Bob and Moshi. These boys find entertainment the old fashion way and climb trees, check holes for snakes, play hide-n-seek and various other games. For a 3.5 year old boy it's an adventure wonderland.

posted by Thomas at 7:39 PM