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
