Home of Love

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

February 21st

This national holiday is celebrated across the country each year in remembrance of the war the Bengalis' fought with Pakistan in order to speak their mother language. The name of the holiday is actually called, "Mother Language Day". Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world with such a holiday. On this holiday, letters from the Bengali alphabet are used as decoration on the streets and in the shops and flags are hung everywhere even on the 3 wheeler taxis.

The Home of Love celebrated this year with a drawing and poem writing contest. Our walls are now lined with pictures and it looks very festive. We gave 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes.

from Ronald

We had many entries and ended up with creative masterpieces.

posted by Thomas at 9:07 AM

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

APAB

APAB is the acronym for the non-government organization that we work with. Home of Love is registered and administrated through APAB. This vest was worn by one of the Korean volunteers that recently visited us. APAB is multicultural with Korean, Bengalis, Americans and a lone German. You can read what APAB stands for on the vest.

posted by Thomas at 1:01 PM

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Thomas is laid up

I wonder if "laid up" a real phrase or just something cowboys say. Anyways, Thomas has been in bed with back pain. He might have a slipped disk or something; we have no doctor in the city that we trust so we don't know for sure. It must be quite serious to keep him lying down. He normally takes only a few hours off a week to rest. All the kids keep asking me if "Kuehn-Uncle" is better or not and they have been praying for him 2x a day.

posted by Thomas at 10:45 AM

Friday, February 23, 2007

2nd Best Day of the Year

We went to Foy's Lake on Feb. 21st for a day of fun, fun, fun! Foy's lake is an amusement park located outside of the city on a lake. It's very pretty and well done. The kids LOVE going there, if possible we like to take them once a year. We chose a public holiday so that the kids wouldn't have to miss school. Each small child was assigned to a big boy or girl. That child then stayed with the bigger one the whole day.

After riding on many rides we all met for lunch and then had another hour to finish up all the tickets. It was truly a grand day, but Thomas and I were glad to get them all back home safely. Taking 71 persons to an amusement park is a big job!

We thank those who made this outing possible.
(The best day of the year at Home of Love is Christmas.)

posted by Thomas at 12:40 PM

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Thanks!

We all came back safe from the park and had lots of fun. Pictures will follow later. Thanks for your prayers!!!

other visitors

posted by Thomas at 1:40 PM

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Entertainment park

Tomorrow, on Wednesday the 21st we all (children, youth and workers) plan to go to Foys Lake. This park is about 45 minutes away and a favorite to all. Please pray with us for protection.

posted by Thomas at 9:14 PM

Monday, February 19, 2007

In with the new- Out with the old

In order to build, a few old big trees had to be cut down. Luckily we have scores of trees lining the field in front of the high school. Some are highly valued and cherished mango trees.

view from the orphanage across the pond to the new school

posted by Thomas at 12:28 PM

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Rafting part II

I know we have already put up a blogg about rafting but it's so prevalent right now, I must write again. For awhile it seemed every free moment was spent on those rafts, at least for a group of the kids. Colleen remarked to me, "It is almost like being out on the water and squatting on that raft is in their blood or something!" Maybe it's a part of being a Bangladeshi? The only problem with this explanation is that my own three kids seem to be passionate about those bamboo rafts also!

Another interesting observation we have made concerning rafting is that it's almost as much fun to watch as it is to go out yourself!

You can see for yourself the persistent looks of those who watch from the sidelines.

posted by Thomas at 10:31 AM

Friday, February 16, 2007

Rain welcome

After months of dry weather we finally had a big rain last night. The kids are busy trying to drain the playground and having fun in the process!

posted by Thomas at 10:22 PM

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Sun rising Junior High school opening

Feb. 04, 2007 was the opening ceremony of the High school that I have mentioned before. The grand building is now finished and stands proud and tall among the village skyline. There were over 400 guests who were invited from the community and acquaintances from the city. The new building is three stories with a large multipurpose gymnasium on the top floor and 12 big classrooms on the other floors. The high school was built opposite of the Bora elementary school in order that the schools might share the big open field in between.

Two Korean diplomats from the South Korean Embassy in Dhaka also attended the ceremony, afterwards one commented to me that he was so delighted that his country could be a part of starting schools, clinics, orphanages, etc. just like the Americans did for his country over 100 years ago. He said, "Finally, we get to give back some of the generosity shown us". We can only hope that in another 100 years that Bangladesh will be in the position to give back to other poor countries.

There were 20+ Koreans that came for the opening ceremony, they performed traditional dances and provided the much needed help in decorating and organizing such a function.

The construction of the school was sponsored by the Kang Nung Community (Church).

posted by Thomas at 2:58 PM

Monday, February 12, 2007

Kite flying

As soon as the wind is right and the kids have a scrap of free time then kites begin to dot the sky around us. I find lots of forlorn kites stuck in trees when I take walks out in the countryside. The kids build their kites out of bamboo and old plastic bags but at a price of just a piece of bubblegum, most kids just buy them from the shop. Mark loves to fly kites. Here in the picture you see a foreign made one.

posted by Colleen at 3:23 PM

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Construction

These two workers are discussing building ideas as they hunch in the hole. Maybe it helps to think? It must have worked because the new building looks wonderful!

This is the front side of the new middle and high school building.

You are also invited to stay tuned for the opening ceremony!

posted by Thomas at 11:27 AM

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Mrs. Joli cuts cake for 70 persons

Here in this picture Joli is busy cutting cake into squares and hoping she is not cutting too little or too less. It is a difficult job being a housemother for so many kids. Joli is gifted with an amazing organizational talent, fantastic memory and is a true multi-tasker. Without staff like Joli we would be lost.

posted by Thomas at 12:01 PM

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Who's who at the new middle school?

In early Jan. the heat was on to get a coveted seat in the middle school. Each potential 6th or 7th grader had to pass a test in order to get in. When the entrance exam results were out everyone was interested in knowing who got in! Not only the kids were interested but the neighbors and others folks hanging around. We are happy to report that all of the HOL kids passed the entrance exam and are already participating in classes.

posted by Colleen at 3:59 PM

Monday, February 05, 2007

"Winter sports"

Table tennis and badminton are two winter sports in Bangladesh. If you take a walk in the early evening you will see a lot of people playing badminton. Normally in summer you would be drenched in sweat from the act of just picking up the racket so much that people traditionally do not play during the summer season at all. In the picture Sonia Driscoll is playing against Mr. Jang the Boy's hostel administrator.
In winter we all love to be outside. It is very odd that when we go inside the house or building we put on our jackets and socks on, but when we go outside we take them off! What a paradox! The buildings are built to keep the hot sun out which is great in summer but can be quite chilly in the winter. Our house temperature remains in the 50's day and night.

posted by Thomas at 12:04 PM

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Old fashioned playdough

The children love playing with clay. Sometimes I get presents of different shapes and figures from the formed and then sun-baked clay. The 5-10 yrs. old children all enjoy this pastime; they sit outside and create their masterpieces. Some of our rambunctious boys put small rocks inside clay balls for a more forceful throw, which is my son Ruben's specialty. Watch out its raining rock spiked clay balls!

posted by Thomas at 9:10 AM

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Gardening

The back field is being prepared to be turned into profitable gardens; first the weeds were burnt and collected. Now the boys have the laborious job of hoeing and spading hard stubborn soil that has been lying dormant for more than two years.

posted by Thomas at 11:19 AM