I’ve been in the Netherlands for two weeks now. I look forward to almost 4 months of catching up with family and friends, various opportunities to speak about my work in Bangladesh, and even some time for vacation.

On the home page of this website, we’ll list the dates and locations where I will share about my work. Most of the presentations will be held during church services. On March 19, there is an afternoon meeting at my sister’s in Schoonrewoerd that will be less formal and with lots op room to ask questions.

I was a bit shocked to discover that my last blog story was nearly 3 months ago. High time to write another one before I’m overwhelmed with life in the Netherlands.

Early February, we had a picnic with hospital staff. Early in the morning, 18 busses took us to a kind of amusement park. People had a chance to admire the park, take selfies and buy cheap toys.

Everyone was dressed up for the occasion, and some still needed a make-up touch-up just before departure …

I was part of a team that helped to prepare lunch bags. The cooking had been done at night. First, the little bags needed to be filled with meat and vegetables.

Then, little cardboard boxes were filled with rice, meat, chicken legs, vegetables and a slice of cucumber. Finally, the lid was put on. We made a total 700 lunch packages …

These lunch bags were distributed in 10 minutes, and in another 30 minutes all the food was gone! I felt very content that we had all the food ready on time. Because of my help with the packages, I didn’t have much time for the amusement park, but I don’t regret that very much. When I showed up outside, I was accosted immediately by complete strangers who wanted to have a selfie with me. That can get quite annoying.

For the time being, I have left life in Bangladesh behind me. I delegated my various tasks as medical director to other people. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a surgeon to replace me in my absence. Surgical patients will be referred to other hospitals for the moment, or they will have to wait until I return. I certainly hope that the patients who know me will not get into any serious complications while I am absent.