I know that I promised that this web post would be about my work, but as we've just had Easter here, I think it’s actually a good idea to give some attention to the Easter celebrations, even if it is just to show you how beautifully decorated our church can be!
Palm Sunday
Last week began first of all with Palm Sunday. Sundays here are normal working days and I had had a pretty busy day. So I missed the Palm Sunday procession. The people from our church processes waving palm branches and re-enact Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The route ended with a service in the church, which had been wonderfully dressed with palm fronds.
Easter
Easter Sunday, though, was of course free. In the morning there was a service in a packed church. The decorations were rearranged and will probably stay put for a good while. It is a celebration together of the resurrection of Jesus. You can’t see it in the photo, but outside there were benches for at least 50 extra people who came.
Towards the end of the service there was a sudden cloudburst from which everyone outside en masse escaped by rushing into the church. Because the service was almost over, two friends and I made it quickly to one of their houses. In the photo you can just see some of the people standing under the church porch....
Every good feast day in Bangladesh is celebrated with food. In this photo you can see the pans from which the food was served. A meal here means rice: in this instance rice with lentils and goat curry.
This is the party tent, which is not waterproof. Fortunately the rain only lasted for about 15 minutes so the meal went on as planned. There were three ‘sittings’: people sat down, received their meal, and then left so that the place settings could be re-laid for the next group. Eating is by hand, which saves a lot of washing up of cutlery.
To round things of here’s a photo of me ‘in my Easter best’.
I’ve been back in Bangladesh now for 6 weeks and have adjusted to work here. My first few weeks back were not as busy as usual. That was because the opposing political party caused problems with public transportation. They were trying to get more political power. Thus it was more difficult for people to get to the hospital. Officially the transportation problems are still in effect, but in everyday life things continue normally and the patients can travel again. During the day you can get a bus but not at night.
This past weekend there was a conference with all the people from my mission board in the capital city of Dhaka. About half of us live and work in our project and the rest live in and around Dhaka. I was given the task of arranging transportation to the conference. With all the transportation problems we couldn’t go with the bus and chose to go with the train. When all was said and done, 2 groups took the train and a small group went by airplane.
Half of the group in which I was traveling had tickets for first class, and the rest traveled in second class. I hadn’t traveled often in second class and found it to be quite an experience!
Station
Intercity train
Second class wagon
In the second class, as you can see, the compartments are open with a small aisle in between. In each compartment there are 2 benches with 4 seats facing each other. The benches have a very straight back. They are not soft at all. After 6 hours I needed to stand for a while and stretch my legs — everything was rather stiff!
There is place for 4 people to sit — but that doesn’t mean that that happens! There were at least 5 people and the woman next to me had a 2 year old child on her lap. Every now and then another child would come and also sit with her. There wasn’t very much space to sit! But when you remember that the ticket cost less than 5 euro, you can’t complain too much! The people that continued to come and sit had an even cheaper ticket with no seat number.
Here is the place where I sat. When I wanted to sit back down the woman who sat in my place stood politely up.
I also had to get used to the fact that in second class people walk continually through the aisles. In first class that doesn’t happen as much. People selling snacks as well as beggars also passed through.
I am now in my friend’s home waiting for the train to go back. The long distance trains run the whole week. One day a week there is a rest day. With the political unrest the trains cannot ride through the night because the rails are inspected for possible sabotage. That means that in the course of the week the trains are later and later. Now the train that should leave at 10 in the morning is 13 hours late and will leave late in the evening.
In fact I enjoyed an extra day in Dhaka after the conference. I bought a new sari, which I will wear for Easter, and some household items that are not as easy to get in Parbatipur. But I am not really looking forward to traveling back. We have once again second class tickets and will sit straight up the whole night. But that’s how it is and eventually it will be just fine….
My three months in the Netherlands are history! Today, I will travel the last leg of my journey to my house on the LAMB Hospital compound in Bangladesh. I look back with gratitude to these months full of encounters with people whom I could tell about my work in Bangladesh. I am grateful for the hospitality I received and enjoyed time with my family. During the Christmas holiday, my brother and family come over from Spain, so ‘everybody’, the whole family of 21 people, was in the Netherlands.
I drove well over 8500 km (5100 miles) during these months, thanks to a small car that I could use. It was such a pleasure to be able to come and go where I wanted without attracting attention in a crowd. That’s quite different in Bangladesh.
Also, I gained a good 10 kg (22 lbs) in these months! That’s what happens with a lot of good food that I don’t eat otherwise, and with the limited physical movement during the Dutch winter.
Below is a picture of when I gave a talk in my sending church in Maastricht. Here, too, it was good to familiarize people anew with my work in the hospital.
Even though we hardly had a real winter, we did have a few days with a touch of snow…
Skating on an artificial skating rink in Utrecht. In this picture, you see my father, 2 brothers, sister-in-law and myself. I had just taking off my skates, but I assure you I really did skate, on very wobbly ankles…
What’s next? Back to work as of tomorrow. During the last month, a replacement surgeon from Emmen helped out, so I know there still are a few patients after all the surgeries. I have also been in touch with the hospital about a patient with an infected wound. Tomorrow I’ll find out about the rest. I’ll stay in touch!
Six weeks ago was the last time I wrote for the blog. At that time I was in the airport waiting for my flight. That seems like a long time ago. Since I have been back in The Netherlands I feel like I am being spoiled. My aunt and uncle have loaned me this red car which I am using to travel through all of The Netherlands. In addition to this I can stay with friends anywhere I go and they feed me delicious meals. There is nothing that I do not have or want! I have already gained 10 pounds! Right now I am mostly at my parents in Oosterbeek and from here I travel throughout the land.
At the end of October I worked in maintenance aboard the Eendracht. The Eendracht is a 180 foot long 3-masted schooner. Before I left for Bangladesh I was a voluntary boatsman on this ship. The ship was in dry dock, so we didn’t sail, but there were many things to repair to keep it in good working order. At the end of my 10 day stay on the ship, it was the put back into the water. I always enjoy this time of hard work, without too much complicated thinking, and coming in all the nooks and crannies of the ship that you normally do not see. I did notice that I was getting older! After 10 days of work on the Eendracht my knees were bothering me!
For the last 2 weeks I have been doing an internship at a burn center in Beverwijk. In Bangladesh I come in contact with more burn injuries than that I have been trained to deal with. My skills in dealing with burn wounds were not enough. Now I had the opportunity to see modern burn procedures — how you determine when and how you should operate and what the care possibilities are or are not. Here I also had the opportunity to show pictures of my patients and talk with the doctors and plastic surgeons about the procedures that I had done. It was an excellent opportunity for me to learn more. During this internship I stayed with a colleague that had organized this internship for me. I know her from Maastricht and she treated me like a queen! It was great to be able to get to know her and her husband better.
I have no more internships or congresses planned but I am busy with visiting people (my red car is indispensable!). I will tell about my work in several different places. You are more than welcome to come and hear about things in Bangladesh.
7 december 10.00: in the church service of the Baptistengemeente Maastricht
I'm writing this update at Dhaka Airport while waiting for my flight that will at long last bring me to the Netherlands. So I'll be ‘home’ for the next three months. A time to relax, catch up with friendships and spend longer with family. I'll also take the opportunity to talk about my work and life in Bangladesh in my church community and in other places.
In November I'll have the opportunity to spend 2 weeks at the burns unit in Beverwijk. Hopefully I'll be able to discuss the treatment of burn injuries and related problems I've been experiencing. The main question I have is why a particular kind of skin transplant never or rarely seems to take well in my patients. What can I do to improve things here?
Two weeks ago was Durga Puja, which is one of the bigger yearly Hindu festivals. One of the operating theatre staff had invited me and my housemate Rebecca to go with him. The photo shows different tasty specialities that were prepared in honour of the occasion. Unfortunately no photo of Debashish and his family.
The last few weeks have been busy. A longer operations list than normal and lots of outpatients to see. As the word went round that I was going to be away for a while, many patients wanted to see me before my leaving. Because I knew I was going to be away for a few months, I didn't want to leave behind any problems that patients might have, but I couldn't manage that completely. In particular, there's a 9-month-old girl I'd earlier operated on to correct a congenital anal deformity. The day before I left I had to surgically create a stoma because the suture line I'd made had begun leaking. I'd much rather be present to complete the whole treatment myself. The paediatricians now have to handle it themselves with me emailing from a distance. So I'm leaving with rather mixed feelings.
Last week's evening walk before leaving here. As you can see, the rice is growing really well and harvest will be in about 3 weeks time. The bridge in the picture is made from bamboo with a woven network of bamboo for the surface. It's springy when you walk over it...
I just had to show you this picture as well. A fun football game was on progress and these men were spectating. The calf really was having a good hug.
The road from Parbatipur to our hospital.....
Thank you so much for supporting and helping me over the last 2 years. As soon as I know when and where I'll be in the coming months, I'll put the information here on the website. Hopefully see you soon.
Today’s picture features my shoemaker. My slipper’s toe-piece tore loose yesterday and in the Netherlands I would not bother to have the slipper repaired. But these are my favorite slippers. It is not just that a good lady-friend paid them for me just before I left for Bangladesh (good memories!), but they are very comfortable for my feet. All good reasons for not wanting to get rid of them.
The shoemaker is just across the street from the hospital. As you can see, he is prepared to do all kinds of shoe repairs, while he also polishes shoes. I delivered my slippers to him (you’ll find them in the circle on the picture) and I was able to retrieve them after only half an hour. Of course I could have waited for them, but then I have to sit or stand near the shop, and usually attracts more attention than I appreciate. The toe-piece now has an extra piece of fabric to attach it to the sole again. I hope it will last for a while again.
In my last news update, I wrote about the surgery on a 10-year old girl with a tumor on her kidney. Fortunately, the surgery went well and the girl is doing much better. We still have to wait for the report from the pathologist to see if the tumor spread to the lymph nodes. The last few weeks have been reasonably busy in the hospital, At times I had about 20 patients admitted for surgery and that is about the maximum that I can oversee. That is because I do my round of visits in the hospital in the hour before I start surgeries and I cannot fit more than 20 patients in that one hour.
This week, a urologist from India will come to our hospital to assist with surgeries that I cannot do myself. I think we may have far too many patients for him, so I hope we can keep things under control a bit. My role during such a urology camp is to keep an eye on the logistics. Which patients can we operate on during this week, and which patients have to wait for the next opportunity? Who gets to go first, second, and so on. There are also a few types of surgical procedures that I could probably do myself in the future, so I want to assist in those surgeries.
There’s an extra problem for the day that this urologist will arrive: a general strike has been announced, and that means that we cannot pick him up by car at the border as we had planned, but that we have to arrange for another means of transport. He and another colleauge will now be picked up with several motor cycles and I hope it will all work out, without them running into some hostile demonstrations.
Little by little, I begin to plan my time of furlough in the Netherlands. I will be in the Netherlands from the end of October to the end of January and I have to schedule additional surgical training, plan visits with my supporters and prayer partners, and leave some time for rest and refreshment. I’ll keep you informed!
In the previous blog post Antje said she continues to be amazed at the speed with which the rice is planted. She made a movie of that which we want to share with you.
Last Tuesday it was Eid—the festivities marking the end of Ramadan. During this week almost all of Bangladesh is on vacation and travels to their ancestral village to celebrate with family and friends. At the hospital the clinic was closed for 2 days in order to give the Muslim workers a chance to celebrate. As for myself, other than 2 invitations for lunch, I didn’t notice too much of the festivities.
In general you did notice that people were relieved that the fasting time was finished. Fasting takes a lot of energy and in addition to fasting there is also nightly prayer. For those who take the Ramadan seriously your sleep is also affected. When this is combined with your job, it can be rather draining.
The rainy season is almost over. That means that the majority of the fields are full of water and that most of the rice is planted. Rice is usually planted in a small field and when the plants are large enough they are planted in the field. I took these 2 pictures from my balcony. You see a group of men planting with a riksja on the way to Parbatipur. I continue to be amazed at how fast these men can plant rice. Within 30 minutes the field was planted.
During Ramadan things were quiet in the hospital. Everything that could wait was postponed and I did not do very much surgery. Now life goes on as usual. In the coming week I have several larger surgeries planned. One is a 10 year old girl with a large tumor on her kidney. The books tell me that these tumors burst open easily and that does not help the patient’s condition. I hope to get the kidney out without the tumor bursting. The family of this girl is too poor to have her operated on somewhere else let alone pay for chemotherapy, so the importance of a successful surgery weighs on me. I am thankful for the training I had in Maastricht after my surgery study. I don’t know if I would otherwise attempt to “just remove a kidney.”
I hope that you are all enjoying your summer vacation!
Last week I went for a walk to Parbatipur with 2 other women from abroad. LAMB Hospital is about 3 km outside the town and it takes an hour to get to the centre. We walk right alongside the railway line and so avoid any road traffic.
The trip to Parbatipur was to buy material to make clothes and also to get an impression of how football fever has gripped the nation. Bangladesh doesn’t have a team in the World Cup, and never has had, but it makes no difference. I have been told that when TV became more available in Bangladesh it was Brazil and Argentina who did particularly well and so their popularity was more or less equally shared across the country. Many people have been fans of one or other nation since their youth.
Here you get an impression of the way the flags fly over a village:
This is what the town looks like now. This photo was taken on a corner where a huge screen was set up to see the competition. The careful observer will be able to spot a Dutch flag....
It’s actually in the middle of the night here when matches are being played. In order to see that last two when the Netherlands played I had to set my alarm clock for a quarter to two.
It’s advantageous that it’s Ramadan. During Ramadan Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset. There are also set times for prayer during the night. So people are up very early – in the middle of the night – so they can follow the fortunes of their favourite teams.
These two photos are of the renovation work being carried out on the railway. In a large part of the country there’s only one line so trains have to wait before they can pass one another. As well as this, part of the land has narrow gauge and part has standard gauge. This means that only certain trains can travel on certain journeys. The line between Parbatipur and Dinajpur is currently being repaired in order that both gauges can travel on the same line. We walked past the place where the old and new rails meet. As you can see, signalling is done by hand. In the second shot you can see the line that will lead to the emergency bridge when the bridge is renovated.
Things are pretty quiet on the work front. In our area about 70% of the people are Muslims and so they are fasting. Most of these folk don’t want to come to the hospital during the month of fasting so they don’t want to have any non-emergency surgery. So I’ve had time to prepare some teaching and also to take it easy for a change. The weather has been fairly hot and humid over recent weeks which is tiring. You know it’s hot when you take a cold shower only to start perspiring again while drying yourself.....
Today, our household help told us that at the moment, fish doesn’t cost the usual 120 taka per kilo (€1,20) but 160 taka. When I asked her if there was an explanation, she said that it is because of the harvest. Most of the rice has been harvested so now people have money to spend. I suppose this is the free market......
Below you’ll see a few pictures of the harvest. Because people have been busy working the land, it has been less busy in the hospital. Also, it seems like the rainy season started suddenly this past week and that also makes the hospital less busy.
The first few weeks of May, I had my vacation. A lady friend friend (who also works at LAMB) and I went to Malaysia, to the beach of Perhentian island. A time to rest and do some snorkeling. I had never been snorkeling yet, and was very impressed with what I saw in the water. We saw large water turtles, three sharks, and a lot of smaller fish with very many colors. Unfortunately, we didn’t have an underwater camera.... It was good to be away from the business of daily affairs!
