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.