It was world breastfeeding week at the beginning of this month. This event was marked in our hospital by a gathering with speeches, a number of songs and a drama sketch about the importance of breastfeeding for the baby and good nutrition for the mother. There is a tradition on many Bangladeshi families that the youngest daughter-in-law is the last person to be served. They are often undernourished even though these are the years when they are pregnant or breastfeeding. This year’s theme, ‘Breastfeeding: a key to sustainable development’ is therefore very much a current issue in the area where we are working.

As medical director I need to always have a talk up my sleeve ready for this kind of occasion, because I usually find myself required to contribute. Sometimes I receive advance notice, but people often take it for granted that I will have something to say so I’m not always asked beforehand.

As I wrote last time it’s the rainy season in Bangladesh. I wrote then that enough rain had fallen, but unfortunately it stopped just after that last blog. This means that people have to irrigate the fields in order to keep them moist enough. In the photo you can see how the rice is planted. The field is so wet because a diesel water pump has been used. The next photo below shows how very dry the field became as a result of too little rainfall.

Irrigation significantly puts up the price of rice on the market. Many families in our area plant rice in the rainy season for eating the whole year round. Rice grown in the dry season is more for people who have money to invest and the opportunity to take it to market. So if growing rice now demands extra costs, this pushes up the cost of rice or results in much smaller harvest yields.

With the cessation of rain it’s become quickly much warmer and more humid. It feels about 40â°C. For the last 2 weeks I’ve had constant itching from heat rash. I comfort myself with the thought that it shall become more pleasant as October begins ;-)