Sat. May 2

We stuck around the house most of the day, waiting on the man from Dristidan(the eye hospital that we work with) to show up. So Lonnie could settle the bill for the patients sent there thru CSI. 

Then in to Khulna City for 6 mo clothes for the Bud, groceries, and hamburger and fries and fresh lemonades at Mambos https://maps.app.goo.gl/rrdKTn8NPMTptpRU7?g_st=ic

At Safe N Save where we stopped for groceries, as soon as I stepped in the door, I saw WHITE people at the checkout counter! In this land, it is a special experience to meet another white person especially here in Khulna. So, the family is from Germany, been here 5 years. Four ? yr old twins, boy and girl, and a 1 yr old boy. The children only know German and Bangla but the parents know English also. They run a home for under privileged boys is how I got it..but it is not currently operating according to full potential as they are under staffed. I got her phone number so we can go check their operation out sometime. The beggar children were being really aggressive! Kept touching our phones, pushing and shoving while we were standing by the van exchanging numbers. And then later, when I was trying to put the groceries in the back of our van, one of the boys crawled right in and wouldn’t get out till I took hold of his arm and helped him out! Then Lonnie quickly locked the doors  as he was trying to open it right back up! They have never been that aggressive before 🤔 

Hit the fruit and veggie market yet on the way home.

Fri. May 1 Worship Day

 Felt like it had been Quite a long time since I’d been able to participate much in a “Sunday”.

I just got sat down at the 1st Sunday School tho when I realized the Bud needed a diaper change😏 So I walked back to the house since I hadn’t brought supplies along for that. The twin girls (12 y.o.? Maybe) that are often in S.S., were walking with their dad and were Happy to take turns toting Gentry till they turned off on a different road. Was able to get back in time to listen to the story. 

On to Chakrakhali S.S. I sat outside of the little S.S. shed with the sleeping Bud. And about 1/2 way thru, the recycle man showed up. So that was entertaining to watch as he would dump out a gunny sack of plastics and go thru it, sorting everything. The man of the house would scrounge around the yard and add more things to the pile. The man was a cheerful jolly sort, visiting as he deftly worked. He says it’s a good job! He can make 2-3,000 Taka a day, self employed in the occupation. Versus only 500 Taka a day if he was doing it for somebody else. Bodie, the lady of the house, brought out chanachur for everybody yet before we left.

Home, to finish putting on lunch of our home brined ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, meeshti kumra(fixed like sautéed squash),…

4:00 church service. Sis. Shotti seemed happy to take care of Gentry during the service again as I tended to the task of 3 yr old. Once more a parade of Hindus with loud drumming starts their march outside the church house windows. Us ladies close the windows on our side to block out the distraction.

After church, everybody was invited in to our house. Last time Shanto was here, he said he wanted to learn how to make Thanda cha(cold tea). So I told him I could have a cold tea making demo this evening. Kobir and Liton were very interested also as their latest brainstorm is a cold tea dhokan. Kobir was super impressed with how clean everything was, so different from Bangali way. He wasn’t even noticing the cobwebs in the corners, the dust on the shelf, the smudges on the walls,.. everything is just so much cleaner than most local standards.. He was pretty sure if he had a dhokan with a high standard of cleanliness, it would be very high rated.   Shotti fed Gentry mashed potatoes and played kinetic sand with Annslie.

Shotti shared with us that Rhidoy and Pinky plan to come home for their 1st visit at the end of the month, since moving to Dhaka to work, in Jan. There were tears of happiness in her eyes. We have missed them so much also!!

This is the day also, that fellow missionary Doyle and Krystal Barkman family, left the country for their furlough..

Thurs Apr 30

 Update on Gentry, 1 wk since his follow up/6mo appt . He gained 2 lbs this week!?! 😅 making up for lost time I guess! His little chubs have returned and he seems to have fully recovered. Even his junky cough that’s been ever present the last 2+ mo. Is gone!! It’s So wonderful to have health restored. We are thankful🤍

This evening, was still not quite so hot, so we decided to take the opportunity to get back to the river. The evening was Beautiful!! The girls enjoyed playing in the sand again. We took a tub along for Gentry to sit in as I’m not quite ready for the stage of him getting covered in sand.

Stopped by Batiaghata Bazaar, on the way home, to pick up some street food for a little supper. Gentry was sleeping already so Lonnie opted to just go get the food and bring it back to us in the van. When he gave us the bags of fried food, the smell and occasion made me think of McDonald’s(or any fast food back home) just Quite a different setting! And the menu is quite a bit simpler/less items to choose from here😅

Wed Apr 29

When we got pork yesterday, they had put in quite a nice sized chunk! So we decided to try brining it and making our own ham.

In the evening, we took rickshaw van up to Bissho Rd for chatputi and fuska. The thunderstorms had brought in some cooler weather so I actually pulled Annslie and Gentry’s jackets out again for the open air ride!…The jackets have been put away since end of Jan or 1st of Feb… Caught easy bike for the way home, a little more protection for the littles in the cool night air. I still feel a little extra protective of the Bud after his months of battling respiratory illness.

Tues Apr 28 ⚡️⛈️⚡️🌩️⚡️

 An incredible thunderstorm came thru in the night! Exceptionally loud thunder and the thundering part lasted longer than what I was used to.

In Dhaka there were 14 deaths reported due to Lightning strikes!?!

Excerpt from local newspaper:

Locals said that Fuad(10), Rafi(15), and Mizan(20) were on the road next to their house during the storm. They were killed on the spot by lightning.

Manik(25) was seriously injured on his way home in a horse drawn carriage. He was rescued and taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Number Ali(65) died in a lightning strike while trying to see what was happening next to his house.

Local people said Laboni(35) died in a lightning strike while returning home after cutting grass for the cows

Ilias(37) died while going to the field to check the crops.

Local people said that Ali Sheikh(20) died after being seriously injured by lightning while working in the field

Abdul (50) died on the spot while working in the field.

According to local sources, Marjina(22) was working in the kitchen of her house. She was rescued on the spot when she was struck by lightning. On the other hand, Hasmat Ali(45) was injured in a lightning strike while working in the field and died.

Md. Suhrawardy(22) was returning home after picking up pot from a tea garden. He was struck by lightning on the way and died on the spot. He had married 8 days ago.

Locals said Samrat(26) was seriously injured and died in a lightning strike while returning from the field with paddy.

Police said, a farmer named Suman(35), died on the spot after being struck by lightning while trying to bring in magan.

Mon Apr 27

 Lonnie left before breakfast to catch the bus with Kobid to Gopalgonj. Doyle was having his Monday milk clinic day for mothers receiving formula for their babies. Lonnie will be taking care of Gopalgonj while Doyle’s are gone on furlough so he was just making sure he had everything straight. 

One of these days, we noticed blisters on the Bud’s fingertips and toes. We wondered if it had anything to do with what he took to get over the influenza.?. But did not do any research

Sun Apr 26 Year End School Program

 We froze extra containers of ice and got an igloo of cold water prepared, etc. as the power seems to be off more than on these days. Spent the morning in the kitchen preparing lunch for Doyle’s family for the last time till they get back from furlough. Beef roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, cucumber salad, green beans and carrots, and jello cake for dessert. 

We commented, that the power had been on ALL morning!! What. A. Blessing. 

After lunch, the children did another program practice yet and then presented it to us. They had memorized 7 songs and learned the skit “Stone Soup”… As long as I have friendship in my heart and a stone in my pocket..

They did pretty good, especially considering that they all sudden needed to give it a month earlier!

The teachers and children changed clothes then and went out and did a water relay. 

The power did go out a bit while the school was giving their program but stayed on the rest of the day!🫶🏼 and that seemed to be the turning point for the crazy amount of power outages we’d had for the last 2 weeks or so🤗

We pulled out leftovers and made piña coladas before they headed back to Gopalgonj.