Bangladesh Rotary: Feni

We left at 6 AM for a four hour trip to Feni on the east side of the country and close to the Indian border. We saw the same description of the countryside as the Lions Team: lush countryside full of rice fields, fish ponds, and vegetable plots. What a breadbasket — and it needs to be, with 165 million people to feed.

From Bangladesh 2009 Photo Album

806 bedkits today and a three-day total of 3006. Whew!

It will be a short day tomorrow with some time to catch our breath in the afternoon.

The emotional moment of the day was one school bringing 34 blind kids and it was just heart-breaking. We just took our time and cared for them as best we could in the short time we were in their lives. John was handing out the bedkits and made sure that each child was able to feel the bedkit before a helper whisked it off to the bus for the ride home. Another school insisted to the Rotary organizers that a five-hour bus ride from the most southern tip of Bangladesh was worth it for 25 of their poor children to receive a bedkit. They left for their five-hour ride home already tired but very happy.

From Bangladesh 2009 Photo Album

So, to continue the theme of 'fun for all,' Mike showed the kids what snow was like using snow crystals we traded Sue Orr, of the Lions Team, some bubbles for. The picture says it all.

Doug took a turn at driving the bicycle rickshaw van that was delivering bagged lunches for the kids. This was quite amusing to the parents and other community people gathered around.

And lastly it remains quite a challenge to get the kids to smile for the picture so we started to get them to clap or wave which of course elicited big smiles -- but when it came time to take the picture it was back to being serious again. The kids waiting in the line watching this came in for their turn clapping and waving and we couldn't get them to stop for the photo.

Hmmm...are we trying the wrong approach?

Team Rotary Bangladesh

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