Bangladesh: Feni distribution

Day 8

What an amazing but tiring day! Sorry for the delay in getting the blog and photos to you as we had to stop and take a breath or two. Our day started at 4 am as we prepared to leave the beautiful tea plantation District of Sylhat for a 5 am departure.

Today’s distribution is in Feni, approximately 240 kilometers and an estimated travel time of 4 to 5 hours. Pot-holed and congested roads took us 7 ½ hours to reach our distribution site. We all felt that our day was over but it was just about to begin. Even though we were late the Rotary Club of Feni Central was prepared and we were raring to go.

We were welcomed by the clapping and cheering of the children and an exchange of their Rotary ball caps and bouquets of flowers. Within 15 minutes we were ready to go with the 832 bedkits to be distributed. The organization, pre-planning, and preparation by this local Rotary club was outstanding and it certainly worked to our advantage. We finished this distribution in record time according to the Overseas Volunteer Organization from the Rotary Club of Dhaka. Hats off to Faruk, Milon, Jamal, and Bayezid for their excellent distribution site and their hosting of the volunteers.

From Bangladesh 2010

When we arrived 300 of the children were dressed and ready to go. As the first 300 were being photographed, the next groups had arrived and were also ready to be photographed. Roped off secure areas and private change rooms with teacher supervision also helped in the organization of the day. The shaded areas for the children to wait and to have lunch (juice box, biscuits and banana) provided by the Rotarians was also an added bonus.

The distribution was completed and we were quickly driven to a local Rotarians home where seventy people sat down for a true Bengali lunch. A feast enjoyed by all!

After that we were then taken out to the village of Gonuk some 20 kilometers away for some home visits. What an outstanding experience for all! We first visited the home of a young boy who had received a bedkit in last year’s distribution. His father welcomed us into their home and was so proud of the gift that his son had received last year. As we walked through the village it was beginning to get darker and darker and as we walked the crowds got larger and larger. We had a great time interacting with the children and many of the older locals. We taught them a new reply to “how are you” with the new reply “fantastic” and as we walked towards the next home loud cheers were echoing through the village. We felt were like the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

The next home visit was the home of this year’s bedkit recipient. Many of the children in this particular village had received a bedkit and were still proudly wearing their new clothes.

Thank you, donors, as it was truly evident that there are many needy children deserving bedkits. After the visits to the homes, we were truly emotionally drained by the experience. We headed to the hotel to check in and have a quick clean up before being taken to a cultural evening performance. We were entertained by local dancers and singers and then were treated to a very late dinner and we eventually made it back to the hotel by 10:30 pm. An 18 ½ day but the experience is one that none of us with forget.

Sadness is starting to creep in as we complete Day 8 with only 2 more distributions to finish, one in Chittagong and the last one in Cox’s Bazar.

Mike Foster
for Bangladesh Team 2010

Leave your comments here.