Recently, I was invited to a celebration with one of our co-workers for giving her children a name. In Bangladesh, people usually wait a few months before naming a child.

This co-worker is a women who works with us in the rehab center for children. I know here already from my first term in Bangladesh in 1997. Being 16, she attempted suicide by jumping before the train and she lost her lower legs on both sides. She now walks on two prosthetic legs and manages quite well. Her life hasn’t been easy after this recovery. Her first marriage ended early on with her husband abandoning her, and with difficult she learned to stand on her own (financial) legs, which is quite a challenge here. A woman is always expected to have a man a guardian, her father if she is unmarried or her husband when married. If you are deserted by your husband, you return to the home of your father, but you are not always welcomed back. In her situation, with her father passed away, her older brother provided for her at least in part, but she built her own little house, and slowly added piece by piece.

Last year, she married for the second time. It seemed to be a good man, they got along well together and we had hope that her life would become more stable. Unfortunately, this man turned out to have a second family at about 3 hours travel distance from us. Just after she had become pregnant of twins, her husband essentially deserted her, taking along a large sum of money that she had borrowed to buy land. Her husband stops by once in a while, but overall this woman is left to her own.

Fortunately, other co-workers in the rehab team have taken her in in their midst, and they look after her. After two months, she delivered a healthy set of twins, a boy and a girl, and now we were invited to celebrate their name giving, Nayim and Rupsie. The ceremony with the Imam had already taken place when we arrived. We had the honor to hold the children and to eat rise…

We are thankful that the children are growing well, and keep trying to support her. We pray that the babies will grow up to become strong children, and that they will taste God’s love.

With the babies

Babies, mother and visit

Always great to hold a baby!

The meal, with rice and goat curry, lentils and vegetables; we eat with our hands

The courtyard before the house: the hay pillar, clothes on the line, and bricks waiting until there is enough money to continue building.