Latest news from Bangladesh

16th December 2007 - More Updated Visa News
Hi again, well we have more news on our visas. They have been extended! We have visas now hopefully till the end of January. We have to visit the High Commissioner a few days before Christmas to show him we are who we say we are and to check that everything's ok and then once these run out in January, we will re-apply for another 2-3 month visas which will give us enough time till the end of our stay in Bangladesh.

Keep praying for this situation, as we REALLY want to stay in Bangladesh, it's amazing!

16th December 2007 - Chandraghona
Well since we last wrote we have spent three weeks in Chandraghona with Les and Fiona Allan, at the christian hospital there which was founded by BMS in 1907. Christian Hospital Chandraghona, is in the south east of Bangladesh, and while we were there, it celebrated its centenary.

Before the centenary started, in the first two weeks of our stay we were involved in lots of preparation and we were kept busy doing a variety of different things.These things involved teaching sunday school to nearly 100 children, helping on the childrens ward, observing the work done in the womens health, leprosy centre and operating theatres as well as sociallising with the nursing students, painting a mural and preparing for the centenary.

We produced an exhibition about the past of the hospital which was opened for guests of the centenary to explore, we ran a centenary souvenir shop selling plates, mugs and t-shirts and we even performed several songs with the nursing student choir (in English and Bangla.)

As well as all this, we also split up into pairs and followed two of the BMW's (basic medical workers) into the villages and went into peoples homes to witness their routinely medical checkups. (Me and Anna even got to name a newborn baby.)We found the work that they do really interesting and as we went into peoples homes the hospitality they showed us was amazing! Even those who were living as the poorest of the poor produced food and drink for us and welcomed us in with open arms.

During the Centenary, guests arrived from the UK, Japan, India and other areas of Bangladesh to give thanks to God for the history of Chandraghona Hospital. Previous national staff who used to work at the hospital came back and were reunited with old friends and 20 current and past BMS mission personnel who used to work at the hospital also flew from the UK to witness the celebrations. It was a really joyous weekend filled with love and support for the hospital and its workers, and it was a great opportunity for us as a team to learn a bit more of the history that BMS has with Bangladesh and meet so many amazing people.

We were lucky enough to watch a cultural evening show as well which was a showcase of talent from singing, dancing to mimimng and acting. The performers were either staff of the hospital or local people from the hill tracts, and we were able to see lots of tribal dances, including the bamboo dance and Tui's famous bottle dance which was absolutely amazing!

Throughout the celebrations we had lots of fun, and were able to dress up in Saris and tips which was great and we made lots of new friends too.

After people had returned to the UK and the celebrations came to a close, we stayed on for a few more days and went on some boat trips to Rangamati. It was such a beautiful area of Bangladesh and the natural beauty was a vast difference from the scenery we've been seing in Dhaka. It almost seemed like a world away.

Chandraghona was an amazing experience for us as a team and we're really glad we got to go down at such an important time in the hospitals history.
Hannah xxx

18th November 2007 - What we have been doing so far
Hello everyone! Here's just a quick post to tell you all the things we have been doing in Bangladesh since we arrived.
We have mostly spent this month teaching English in a school in Dhaka. It's a fee paying school in the morning, and that pays for the children from slums to come in the afternoon. The kids are so lovely and so happy to be at school (even though their english isn't so good- I've heard "I am a Mango" too many times!) and although we can't speak too much Bangla, we are making progress. The Bengali system of not planning anything and doing no preperation can be frustrating, we just want someone to tell us what to do!
So, we have also been enjoying the city of Dhaka which is very crowded. We've had some completly Bangladeshi experiences : hearing the call to prayer blasting from the Mosques, eating with our hands, wearing Shalwar Kameezes, learning the national anthem, travelling by rickshaw and of course catching the bus to school which is much more exciting (and scary) than it is in Scotland and England. But Dhaka has other nice things : eating classy Movenpick Ice Cream, going to coffee world (the Bangladeshi Starbucks) and Harry Potter t-shirts that we purchased for 80 taka.

On Tuesday, we set off to Chantragona Hospital which is about 6 hours away by car. The roads should be bumpy after the cyclone and it's a lot more basic over there - we are expecting lots of cockroaches, rice for breakfast and maybe a chance to dress up at the hospital centenary.

All in all, nothing is ever boring. Even with the disaster of the cyclone, the Bangladeshis are so resillient (not sure if that is spelt right!) and the goverment is delivering aid as fast as it can. At the moment we feel like we are learning a lot more than we are teaching anyone!
Bye everyone,
From Anna

17th November 2007 - Cyclone in Bangladesh
Cyclone rescue effort under way
Aid workers are struggling to reach hundreds of thousands of survivors from a powerful cyclone that ripped through southern and central Bangladesh.
Almost 2000 people are confirmed to have died during the storm, a toll that is expected to rise further.
The cyclone has destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of homes.

Bangladesh is still an amazing place, we've done so much.

Bangladesh is however in quite a bad way especially today after the cyclone, 2000 people have died so far and the number is rising, 7 of the dead were found in Dhaka. Where we are staying in dhaka wasn't badly affected, although there was some damage caused due to things falling down in the winds (trees and buildings etc). All of the team are ok and Chandraghona, where we will be going on tuesday for three weeks, is also not badly hit. But, if you can get people to pray for the situation in Bangladesh and for us in how we deal with it and all the things we will be seeing, it would be really great. Thankyou xxx

13th November 2007 - Updated visa news
Well the visa situation is still changing, but we're told visa changes happen to most missionaries whilst working here in Bangladesh, so we're not too worried. Currently, we have 2 month tourist visas which expire on the 1st December, so at present it means we have to leave the country then.

These visas also have a condition that means we have to leave Bangladesh every 30 days. So far whilst this has meant we've been able to take an enjoyable trip to India, having to do this every month could turn out to be quite tedious and very frustrating, so we are hoping to to renew our visas to 6 month multiple entry visas, without any conditions and we are praying that this would be able to happen quickly and without any trouble.

However, since arriving in Bangladesh, we have been able to get 6 month multiple Indian visas, so if the worst came to the worst, we could go to India and work alongside one of the teams there for the remainder of our time.

2nd October 2007: - Visas Problems
Ahhh... problems with visas, but hold on...it's not the end of the world.
After initially applying for research visas we've found out today that we can't get hold of these. This means that we will have to re apply for Tourist visas.

As a result, we now have two months visas as from the 1st October, this would mean that on the 1st of december we would have to leave the country to renew them. However, we can renew them another month whilst in the country until the 1st January. Come the new year though, we will have to leave Bangladesh because of the visas, and its during this time that we hope to take our weeks holiday either to Thailand or India. If this all goes ok, after the holiday we plan to then go to chandraghona to work in the hospital. If in the worst circumstances though, we can't get into the country again, for the last three months we will be working in Kolkata in India alongside the action team there, in mobile school projects and Mother Teresa ones as well.

Because of all the travelling, as well as seing the Kolkata team, we may even get a chance to see the Dehli and Thailand teams too.

So, the adventure awaits us! We're so excited and can't wait to be in Bangladesh!