B
angladesh News
Monthly update 46
September 2014
Mission Partner joint sending with Church of
Scotland, CMS, CWM, Methodist Church and Us
(formerly USPG)
Community Health Advisor
Church of Bangladesh Social Development
Programme (CBSDP)
Address
Flat 5N Quamroon Noor
Apartments
9/1 Sir Sayed Ahmed Road
Block A Mohammadpur
Dhaka 1207
Bangladesh
[email protected]
Hi Everyone
On 16th of this month I officially moved into my current apartment in Dhaka and started a
new phase of my journey in Bangladesh. I will never forget my time spent in Jobarpar and
the many friends and memories made. After three years I knew God was ready to do
something different in my life and use me in other ways and I’m glad He is still doing that.
When I return to rural areas I realise I do miss the peace of living in smaller towns and
villages, the simpler way of life and the people. This month I visited the Jobarpar project
where the staff are involved in Integrated Community Health (ICH). There are three nurses
and three community organisers. They have and are still dealing with changes in the project.
Change doesn’t come easy and often people
are upset, unsettled and feel uneasy. I was
there for several reasons and one was to
reassure the staff of my help and input
wherever that is needed. I may not be
working in the area however it is as are all
other projects part of my working area.
Their Programme Organiser is now working
in the north of the country as a Project in
Charge and so there was a need to have
someone organising the ICH and so I
discussed with the Project Manager and the
project accountant about ideas. We all
agreed we should give Rekha the Jobarpar
Community Nurse a chance to carry out this position. She was pleased to be asked and
quickly agreed. Rekha is a good nurse however does not have a great deal of people
management experience however we are prepared to give her a chance. As I was writing this
the story of Jesus calling His disciples came to mind. Jesus was prepared to give fishermen, a
tax collector and other labourers a chance. Men who had maybe no or minimal educational
background and look how it all turned out and what wonderful people they became because
of his choices and guidance.
When I visited Jobarpar I met with my previous ayah Sopa and her youngest son Leon. I was
delighted to see them. Sopa has no job, her husband is a daily labourer and she has three
sons, one at home, one at a hostel school in the south of the country and another son who
lives with an uncle in one of the bigger towns in the area. Even though the family do not have
a steady income Sopa is so grateful for the three years she worked for me and even told me
that on my latest visit. She now has a two room home with proper wooden walls, a tin roof,
several goats, chickens, ducks and two cows. She smiles as she tells me about what she has
and continually tells me how it was because I gave her a chance and a job when she had so
little. I am glad I took the chance even
though it was a struggle working with
someone who had almost no English
and I understood so little Bangla yet it
worked for three years and I am proud
of her.
I feel this quote sums up how Sopa has
felt in the past and how she feels now.
‘All anyone asks for is a chance to work
with pride.’
W. Edwards Deming
I visited Meherpur in the west of the country once again in September. In the past there was
a large project with many staff however currently there is a small programme running with
few staff. Along with the project manager
I visited several government projects, a
women’s training group and a young
adults training centre. Women and
young people getting a chance to prove
they can do something with their lives. I
was really pleased and delighted to visit
and build on relations with other
projects and with the lovely sunflower
cushion cover presented to me before I
left them.
There are many women’s groups around
the Meherpur and on this occasion I
visited one group in the Bollobhpur area.
I talked with the women, they asked me lots of questions and wondered why I wasn’t married
and wanted to know if they could get me a husband as a number of them have sons. All of
them of course are late teens early 20s!!
Its jute harvest and everywhere you can
see it being dried over bridges, on long
poles and anywhere they can find. The
jute when dried is then bundled and
transported to factories where they make
it into bags, sacks and other crafts.
The photograph on the first page is jute
being harvested in Meherpur with a view
of India in the background. Below many
bundles on their way to a factory.
Thanks for

The first year in my new home in Dhaka and making many
new friends in the apartment building and at my yoga class

Being able to help many projects in various ways

Safe travels every day

Catching up with friends and colleagues in Jobarpar
Prayers for

Many people who are still displaced due to flooding

My ayahs nephew who was so homesick he has left the
Christian school/hostel and returned home

Church of Bangladesh partners consultation next month

Plans in operation for several project areas which now need
implemented and continued safety as I travel to these areas.
Until next month Pat