Wrapping up.

This past weekend was "Orientation Day" for new "fresher" students at IUBAT.  Each semester there is an event where the faculty and the new students are each introduced individually. 

This was the 51st orientation and there were over 350 new students.  In a break with tradition, the event was help at the local amusement park which was a very big hit with the students. 

Here is a picture of Alex  (the special guest speaker at the event), myself, Dr. Miyan - the founder of the school , and Tanvir Dewan- the organizer of the event. 

On Sunday, nursing students Bimala & Saphalta braved the crowds in a local shopping area to escort me through the streets as I searched out my last crucial presents that i needed before returning home.

One picture shows the store and salesman who assisted me with finding a griddle to cook roti - as well as the rolling pin and board for making them! 

I am catching the plane in a couple of days - what an amazing trip this has been. 

The generosity of the school, staff and students at IUBAT  has made this a very rewarding experience.   

Rain in earnest...

June 3^rd

Most days I begin with a bowl of fruit & yogurt followed by a brisk hot walk to the university.  It is not a long walk but it has afforded me many great photo opportunities.  Here is a little collection of some of the children I often say good morning to every day. 

The rain has begun in earnest so I have switched my foot apparel to the jungle gum boots. I get a lot of attention with these boots – I don’t think it is the umbrella. (My apartment is the building on the right in the picture with the little boy dragging a branch). 

Old Dhaka.

On Saturday May 31st, we had a tour of old Dhaka. One of the nursing students arranged a taxi for us for the day, and guided Alex & I to many of the essential tourist sites.  We began with a visit to the outside of the Bangladesh legislature buildings, followed by a trip to the Lalbagh Fort – constructed in 1677 in the “Bangla-Mughal style. We found the Star Mosque after a few attempts of winding through some very narrow congested streets, and we checked out the Buriganga River. I decided to pass on the boat trip! The only thing missing in old Dhaka were the elephants…. Apparently they aren’t allowed in the city anymore.

rickshaw.

Here is the most common form of transportation that i use other than walking.  

You want to be careful picking out a rickshaw as some of the seats are very narrow and tilt forward  - 

making it much easier to throw you out into oncoming traffic when you are hit by a car or are surprised by a sharp turn!

 The first Bangla words I have learned are "Aste Aste" .... slow down!

 

CHN class

Here is a picture of my Community Health Nursing Class.  These students are in their 4th year of the program and are going to graduate later this year.  They are going to be doing community assessments of 4 different communities in the area over the next few weeks.  I am looking forward to their learnings and their presentations.

School of Hope.

 

May 22^nd

Yesterday I went with 9 senior nursing students to a small elementary school in another part of the city to assist with a health screening day.

 The Hope school is a project of a small NGO that have been working to support education in that neighborhood for 20 years. They invited us, and 2 physicians, to do a brief health assessment on each of  the 160 children.  We did the vision & hearing screening, and when the line-ups got too long for the doctors, we took a break and the nursing students went into the classrooms and did health hygiene teaching. 

The children were excellent at following our instructions as they “snaked” through the line-ups and multiple instructions. Most of the illnesses were respiratory and diarrhea; they had very good vision, and just a few children had some hearing loss. The height and growth chart placed most of the children in an undernourished category. The school provides lunch & vitamins/nutrient supplements everyday. 

cattle

This is one of my new friends. I pass him on my walk to school every day. Sometimes the cows get loose when it rains and they run around enjoying the coolness.  This is in the middle of a dense city with shacks and new apartment buildings all lumped together.  Yesterday , as we were driving down airport road... think Kingsway with 4 lanes on each side .... at twice the speed - we saw a guy herding 3 cows down one lane going into traffic...

no classes today...

May 15^th

Friday is a holiday in Bangladesh – no classes – people take a bit of break. I spent my day working on lectures and taking pictures out of windows. At the university today I stopped to watch the construction for the expansion of the school through the 2^nd floor window. It was a bit like watching Circe de Soliel – with the man on the rope swinging on top of the piling while they poured concrete. Worksafe BC would not have been happy.

This afternoon the rain returned for a few hours with the trademark thunder and lightening. It cooled things down and stopped all the construction in the neighborhood – ahhhhhh. A boy on a red bike rode around the streets for ages – totally soaked to the skin – thoroughly enjoying the rain.  Another little boy just could not resist a good dunk in the mud puddle below my porch.  Later he got a ride on the bike.

visiting hospitals.

May 14^th

I spent the last two days visiting hospitals and meeting administrators with Alex talking about student placements, looking for opportunities for partnerships. The icddrc-b (cholera hospital) was much like I had imagined.  Last month they were admitting 800 people a day for a short stints of  IV therapy – hard to believe. For adults, that is often all they need, but many children and infants are admitted for longer stays. They have a special care unit for the very sick infants that our nursing students work in – the students have an excellent reputation at the centre.

 

The private & NGO hospital administrators we met have lots of plans for expansion & development of services. There is a demand for private care and some institutions use this model to fund another hospital where they provide care to the poor population. They all agree that Nursing standards need to improve in Bangladesh. 

Fact: there are about twice as many doctors (50,000 ish) in Bangladesh as there are nurses (30,000).

Nursing Day

Today was International Nursing Day. The students planned several activities and presentations to celebrate nursing and to raise awareness at the University about the importance of nursing. 

They began with a presentation of a survey that they had done of the students & faculty at IUBAT where they summarized findings for body weight (BMI) – identifying underweight, normal and overweight population. They presented a very thorough overview of healthy eating. I noticed a few faculty members taking notes.  

After this there was a formal presentation with speeches – I spoke about the wonderful opportunities that nurses have to make a difference every single day.  The insight that I have a daughter in nursing and that my mother was a nurse was well received – multigenerational! 

Following the tea and cake, the students did all kinds of presentations – songs, dancing, a skit and some comedy.  Lots of talent here – and really great to see another side of the students lives and to have so much fun celebrating nursing. 

10 days in.

May 10th  

It is hard to believe that I have been here for 10 days already. Most days begin with a walk to the University – past many construction sites and people heading off to work or school.  We visitors from Vancouver do stand out in the neighborhood and receive lots of greetings from children along the way.  The big morning challenge is crossing the road in front of the school – a recent addition is a man with a big stick who assists us and others in crossing between cars. 

The school of nursing is a very busy place.  Alex is teaching 3 courses , I am just teaching one and sitting in on a few others. The students are very friendly and welcoming – in my first community health nursing class the students did a great job of analyzing the health issues and identifying ideas for addressing them. 

The weather continues to be hot – but we had rain yesterday so that cooled us down a bit. I think there is more on the way.  I may get to try out my gum boots as the roads in our neighborhood are dirt and the drainage is poor. The dirt is really more like red clay – fortunately I haven’t slipped in it yet! 

3 photographs

kid in market

fish sellers

full moon from my roof

Departures & Arrivals

Sunday may 3rd

The time came and we were off to the airport-many hugs & kisses & best wishes and sweet good-byes. An eagle swept by the window at the Gate. Many hours later after a short stop in Hong Kong my arrival in Bangladesh at midnight was forms, immigration, address, swine flu?, then stamps and off to get my bag and then meeting Musa and Bimala who make me feel very welcome.  A short drive through the night to the guest house and to my room & shared apartment. It rained before I arrived today for the first time after a long hot spell – I am lucky.  The air smells so warm and humid and tropical. 

In the morning Bimala and I walked to the university passing all kinds of construction, and bicycles everywhere. Later we went shopping for a new panjabee (shirt) – most are too small for me so we checked out the men’s as well. The rickshaw rides are carnival like – colourful, intense &  dangerous,  Bimala says your first words should be “aste aste” (slowdown!). 

In the afternoon another big storm – wind, lightening and rain – people and cattle running for cover, roads filling up with water. I stood on my porch and watched the show unfold and felt the lovely cool rain. 

Getting ready to go....

Here I am one week before I land in Bangladesh thinking about the travel, anticipating the city and the heat and the school.  I have taken myself up to Powell River this weekend to try out my new suitcase and savor the air and the landscape, and hang with my best buddy before my 6 weeks away. 

I think I am ready – shots done, travel gear together, visa & passport & plane ticket… very supportive family and very supportive team at work.  I am so grateful to the wonderful people I work with who have to a person said… “Yes I can take care of that for you while you are gone!”.