No need for more.

Ra-june. One of my favorite days in Bangladesh.

(Ra-June. Wearing my orna I gave him as a blanket)

Ra-june is a street boy. He lives on the streets and begs for his family. Ryan and I met him one evening around 11:00pm. He was begging for money. We instead took him to get some food. He was inspiring. When told to get whatever he wanted all he would pick out was one roll. Upon prompting I was able to convince him to get a few other things, but always he insisted on the smallest amount. When we finished we started walking away with him, only to find out that he would not be eating this food. It was for his little brother and mom. I quickly returned to the store and bought him some food for himself. He was so grateful, offering me his food. This is a boy who had nothing. Not even a place to sleep, for I saw the hard pavement that his lightly clothed body would be laying on that night. He had no blanket and it was cold. Even I a foreigner would sleep with two blankets that night. But still he took no more or asked for anything. Ryan and I were so impressed with this boy, his tattered clothes, bare feet and wholesome heart, broke, inspired, and pulled at my inner most soul. This boy was something I never expected to find on the streets, he was more then I think I could ever have been if I was in his shoes.

(Ra-June and I right before his bath!)

The next day we met up with Ra-june and this day was my most memorable day in Bangladesh. Ryan and I took him with us for the day. We took him out shopping, let him pick out (with LOTS of prodding) new clothes, shoes, toiletries, we went to lunch together, got him a bath. It was the most amazing day ever. This boy was inspiring. Never once did he ask for more, never once did he complain. During this day his eyes changed from pools of nothingness to flickers of joy. He gave me Joy. We met his mother on the street and his brother.

(Ra-June and Ryan after Ra-June's bath and his new clothes!)

Ra-june was the most remarkable person I have met in a long time. Life had given him nothing, yet when given the opportunity to get anything and everything, he was not greedy. He was not entitled. He was happy. He was content. He was Inspiring. That day Ra-june challenged me to look at every principle and stance I have built my life on. That day he inspired me to be a better person. To be content and not always looking for more. That day Ra-june gave me Joy again. A joy that was not found from getting but from loving. A Joy is not based on your position or location in life, it is based on a choice. It is based on something bigger then me. It is based on God. Ra-June's attitude is something I aspire to.

back in the USA.

(Ruth: My Girl at Bangla Hope, I love her.)


So today is my second day back in America. SO many emotions are flooding my soul and confusing my heart.

I arrived home Sunday at 1:00pm. After 20 hours of traveling I was quite tired, emotionally drained and in need of a nice shower. I was greeted at the airport by my family and friends. I walked down the hall way towards baggage claim and I saw them. Instantly my heart overflowed with Joy. Around 20 of my amazing family and friends were huddled at the gate awaiting my return. They had signs and the warmest hugs. I finally drove for the first time in 5 months. I drove home in my dads convertible with my favorite sister in the passengers seat and Brock and his friend in the back. We cranked some tunes and sang our hearts out. At home there was a party waiting for me, all my favorite foods and many of my favorite people.

Being home is so bitter sweet. I miss Bangladesh, Argentina, My kids. But I am excited to apply all that I have experienced to my life and relationships here. I have come up with a new motto. I want to:

Continue being PRESENT: Not dwelling on or missing the past, instead being thankful I was fortunate enough to be blessed with the opportunity to experience all that I have. Not worrying about the future, but placing my future in Gods hands and living the best I can each moment. My God is So big, so life filled, loving and Joyous: That is what I want to bask in each day.

I miss you.

Bangladesh my home, I miss you.

I miss waking up to the red sunrise.

I miss my kids meeting me at the gates and calling my name.

I miss singing you all to sleep.

I miss telling stories.

I miss giving hugs.

I miss appa de bows.

I miss rice.

I miss dirt.

I miss badminton and 5 crowns.

I miss street kids and hawkers.

I miss the smog.

I miss the people.

I miss everything.

Bangladesh when will I come see you again? I dont know. But I know I will not be able to stay away too long.

Hand-me-downs

Our Children at BanglaHope are dressed exceptionally well. Wonderful people in America send over brand new clothes for our kids. So every year Mrs. Waid goes through all the clothes and replaces all the grungy ones. These ones that are considered grungy by American standards are like gold to the villagers. On January 24, 2010 we handed out gobs of clothes to the villagers. We had so many clothes. After we finished handing them out to the near by villages we piled into the back of the pickup and handed them out to the people in the streets, surrounding villages and anyone we saw. People were running after our truck, hands flailing and laughing all the wa

y.

You may now...WALK AWAY...with the bride?!

In Bangladesh PDA is not allowed. To call Bangladesh conservative would be an understatement, but as usual Bangladesh never ceases to amazing me. I went to a wedding today and the bride and groom did not kiss, talk, or really smile. But, I know they are happy.
O-Be-Dum is our handyman at Bangla Hope he can fix everything. He is a Catholic man who worked at the Catholic hospital before coming to work for Bangla Hope. He fled from there to escape an arranged marriage so he could marry this girl. :) I am so happy that he actually got to marry the girl that he wanted. I have started thinking....I think that when I get married I want to have two weddings: a traditional one in the states and one with my Bengali family in Bangladesh!

O-Be-Dum and his wife

Their rings

She looked Beautiful...

The get away car :)

Teaching.

One of my main duties at BanglaHope is teaching English. This has taught me two things: I LOVE working with kids, but I do NOT like teaching them! :) But these last few months I have enjoyed getting to know my kids inside and outside of the classroom. When we first arrived our children spoke no English, now almost 5 months later the bigger kids can all speak some english and many are forming broken sentences! I am SO proud of them! IT really amazes me how different we all really are and how uniquely God created each of us. My kids sparkle from the inside out and I cannot wait to see what they become!

Me and some students at reading group one afternoon

January 17, 2010

Clinics started today. Ww saw around 300 patients everyday. I played doctor quite well, but this defiantly gave me an insight: I don't really want to be a doctor, at least not family practice. But this was an amazing experience seeing all the patience was a minute reminder of how lucky I am to be healthy. Every person had aches and pains, worms and colds. We gave out lots of Tylenol, smiles and hats.

Me playing Doctor

Jehanna and I with the REAL Doc :)

This is a boy that I worked with, he had no eye ball

Pharmacist Jehanna

It was SO cold these poor children were literally freezing the second day of clinic we ran out of hats, I was able to go get some more to handout...thanks poppie for the Christmas gift again.

January 15, 2009

Today my children and I made Butterflies. We made them out of Coffee filters, popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. They are decorating our classrooms and filling out room with color.

Me and Marjorie (and her BEAUTIFUL Butterfly!)

Sorry.

I have been really bad about keeping my blog up this last month, the truth is I have been busy soaking up and giving all that I can to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has stollen my heart. I will now do my best to catch you all up on what has been happening with me, my ambitions, my kids and God. One thing I have learned for sure: Life is not worth living if it is just lived for yourself.

Bangladesh: Finally home.

I woke up at 6am. This is unusual. This is only unusual because I want to bed at 12:00am last night.

My evenings have been filled with Badminton, 5 crowns, lots of laughing, hugging kids and last night we watched the Olympic opening games!

Bangladesh I will be leaving you soon, and even as I type that I get a sickening feeling in my stomach. I will miss you more than I have ever missed anything in my life. You have become my life, you have shown me a new way of thinking, you have helped direct me to know a bigger greater, grander God then I could have ever imagined. It seems surreal that soon I will not be waking up to roosters crowing in my back yard, greeted by a 104 kids every morning: I will miss every part of you.

Here I have found true Joy: I have LIVED NOW with TRUST and Joy and I am so thankful for all that you have blessed me with. Bangladesh I have a little more time with you and I am going to savor every minute of it.