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!