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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Hashi
Our newest child, Hashi is slowly adjusting. She is no longer speaking her tribal language to us but has discovered that we really do not understand it. She enjoys sitting with Thomas in the office and staring at his computer. Hashi has yet to fully live up to her name of Smiley but we believe that God is doing a work of healing in her heart and that when He is finished she will be joyful. Please continue to pray for Hashi, it is during this crucial time that she could get bitter and seeds of deep sorrow could come into her heart as she cannot understand anyone and is very lonely. Pray that God helps her to adjust and keeps her heart soft towards us. Hashi is about 4 years old.
posted
by Thomas at 12:53 PM
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
TB skin test
It was a great JOY to have no one test positive for TB this year. This is the first time in 3 years that we have not had any TB positive kids. Great news for our staff also, who will not have to remember to give anyone medicine for every day for 9 months! Thank you, God for eradicating TB from our home. We will continue to test the children and staff each year as we have done before. So Young Park and Ran Suo Park, two volunteers with the Korean Koica helped us to do the test's.
posted
by Thomas at 11:26 AM
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Accident
Not far away from the orphanage a new bridge is being built. It has taken a long time and we are impatient for it to be finished. This construction site has only added to the immense traffic, dust and stress of driving. During the day, there is always a traffic jam around the bridge. This road is an important one, a third world type of interstate linking two cities. Even so, the building progresses at a snail's pace. It is done unprofessional and irregularly, work has been going on for over three months.
Last week there was a significant set back as a car rammed into a cement machine sitting on the edge of the construction site and both vehicles were thrown into the big hole about 15-20 feet down. This happened at night as the construction sight is marked by only a single red flag and no lights whatsoever. The driver was killed. We send our sympathies to his family.
Driving in Bangladesh is terribly dangerous. Every evening before we eat dinner, our family sincerely thanks God for His protection on the roads. It is not something we take for granted.
posted
by Thomas at 4:08 PM
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Maui Team
It was fun to have the Maui team visit us for a few days. The young people on the team instantly bonded with our young people and played a lot of basketball. It was great to have the whole team and have them get in contact with our kids here at the Home of Love. Thank you for coming, Maui team!
posted
by Thomas at 3:56 PM
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Therapy
Hannah is doing John's therapy. Thank you Hannah! (and John for the nice smile)
posted
by Thomas at 8:27 AM
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
"Why did they cut down the trees?"
I must have asked 5 different people this question, after the tree massacre happened in our village. I was so sad, the huge old trees that flanked our property always seemed so fatherly and grand, and now they were suddenly sawed off at every angle and left like naked totem poles. As I walked my regular path I noticed more and more trees were sawed off, the trees that used to provide much needed shade and provided homes for all the beautiful birds we have in our area.
The villagers shrugged and asked why I even cared. They have yet to realize that I have become a Chowderihatan (village name) in my heart and the needs and issues of those around me are important to me. After smiling, proclaiming my love for Bangladesh and marveling the locals with my broken but understandable Bangla, the story began to emerge that they all needed money for food so they had sold their tree branches as firewood. The situation in Bangladesh has not been this bad in a long time, the poor are really starving. The middle class are struggling to eat as they did a year ago, as the prices of food items have skyrocketed.
Written by Colleen
posted
by Thomas at 12:34 PM
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Winter vegetables
Winter is always our favourite season to eat and buy vegetables. The tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbages, spinach, carrots, etc are all so fresh and tasty. Since Bangladesh does not have green houses, we can only get these things in the winter season when the temperatures are not scorching. In Germany, I know it is the rage to buy organic vegetables, we do not know anything else. All vegetables come from someone's garden, whether it is Abdul's, Kamal's, or Muhammed's we do not know, but they sure taste good!
The majority of the population though this year will not be able to afford many winter vegetables. They are just too pricey. The prices of essentials have risen beyond belief. Some people have cut their meals down to two per day. The orphanage used to buy rice for 12 cents a kilogram, now it is up to 40 cents a kg. When you figure that the kids eat 25 kgs (55lbs) of rice a day that adds up. Imagine how the poor are faring? We are doing fine though, God is gracious and His provision abounds.
posted
by Thomas at 3:24 PM
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Aloha Ken, Sonia and Murray!
"It was great to have you even though it was a short visit. You have all three invested so much into the "Home of Love". The chicken biryani dinner you paid for was delicious and made us all eat too much! Thank you for the gifts and the love you spread around."
posted
by Thomas at 4:35 PM
Monday, February 11, 2008
Medical problems = challenge
When someone is sick and needs to see a specialist, we are faced with the challenge of first finding a Doctor, there are no yellow pages here, it is only word of mouth and experience that yield results. God has been gracious to give me a few trusted Doctors who are specialists in their fields and that are willing to help us and treat us very kindly. I have been able to establish a relationship with them, which is key. Now it is no longer that our kids are looked at like poor orphans, but the white people's charges, a vast improvement.
Recently, we retested our 20+ children with past TB (tuberculosis). All reports came back normal except three. So, I called our friend, a paediatrician and asked how to progress. He ordered three sputum tests and redoing of the x-ray. Okay, here we go. That means explaining to staff and the 3 kids that they will need to do these tests for 3 consecutive mornings, this means collecting the "stuff" and handing it to the high school bus driver by no later than 9am so that it can be delivered to a laboratory in the city. This means organizing the redoing of the x-ray. Then this means organizing someone to pay those bills, pick up the results at the lab and deliver them back to the Dr. who is not at the same location. The travelling alone on these roads is very difficult and nerve racking. You can just imagine how seamless all of this happened!!!
At the same time we were organizing Debra's tonsil operation and daily watching Luke's treatment of severe impetigo. We must make sure that he collects the Neem (healing plant) leaves, gives them to our kitchen staff to be boiled and then washes with them, afterward applying two different creams that must be mixed together. Luke, age 16yrs., must be questioned often during the day if he has remembered to shower and put on his creams and take his oral meds. It is difficult to be in charge of so many children. It is trying to work with kids that do not want to cooperate or could care less about my deadlines with Drs. I have to remember they are but children and hope they will one day realize how much we did for them in terms of keeping them healthy! It is no wonder that I am going gray.
A huge thank you to Jay Litchfield who is the kindest Doctor I have yet to meet. Jay has not only helped me many times with medical questions, provided much needed quality treatment to the HOL kids but has made himself available to help whenever needed. We thank God for all the Doctors of different religions that have opened their hearts to the Home of Love children.
posted
by Thomas at 6:20 PM
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Debra's operation (on the right)
Debra, age 13yrs. had to have her tonsils taken out recently as they had bothered her for years. The Dr. also thought that her deep voice could be due to many infections and tonsil pain she has had. For the operation, she had to be in the hospital overnight, which she disliked as it threw her out of the running for getting the Perfect Attendance Award at school. Debra had won that award the last two years! The pain was manageable and the ice cream medicine was quite yummy. Today Debra goes for her final check up.
posted
by Thomas at 12:02 PM
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Much coming and going
With 63 kids and 10 staff at the "Home of Love" there is always much movement. Three are coming back from there school and Colleen is taking two of the smaller boys for a short walk.
posted
by Thomas at 11:10 AM
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Uno
Hardly a day passes when the children at the Home do not play Uno. Since there are 63 of us it is rather easy to find a playmate. To find a complete Uno deck is a more difficult task. But we improvise.
posted
by Thomas at 2:51 PM
Monday, February 04, 2008
Damage
In case you wonder why there is no news from the "Home of Love". - The Internet Submarine cable in the ocean near Egypt is damaged. The Internet speed we are getting is very low and unreliable. Please bear with us and keep coming back to our site. If there is no new entry, would you kindly please pray for us? We need all the help and blessing from God we can get.
posted
by Thomas at 2:48 PM
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