Picnic to Flames!!!!!!!!

Bengali firemen with their little firetruck (red pick-up)

FireWOMEN of the day

Remains of the 12 ft. haystack

Whitest firefighters in the country!

School picnic was off to a great start with little girls and boys reciting Bangla rhymes and songs. Hair pieces and belts were given out to celebrate the end of the school year and special snacks were shared while watching a little cartoon-what a treat! After lichiis, ballons, and special egg curry for lunch, the kids went to their rooms to take their afternoon naps.

            Normally, Lisa and I will only eat a late breakfast and early dinner here because they feed us so well we can’t handle any more! But today, all the teachers were called to eat a delicious curry lunch together to end the picnic. God must have known we needed the extra caloric energy for what was coming.

            Just minutes after we come up to our room after lunch, Lisa looks out the window to investigate why the children are making so much noise during their nap time. She finds all the kids being taken from their rooms and ushered onto the grass in front. Woah! She spots the smoke and follows it to flames behind the cow stalls of our small campus. “Kelsey! Their trash-burning fire has gotten out of hand!” We race down the stairs and comfort the kids for a few minutes before running to join other staff at the scene. The once 12 ft haystack right beside the cow stall is now going up in flames. Immediately we begin running back and forth carrying bucket after bucket of water and sand to throw on the flames. In the smoky chaos our lungs burn and at times we cannot even see, but still we throw sand and water at the haystack, relentlessly fighting the flames licking around the edges. After about an hour of this a few firemen show up. By this time we had some control of it, but we were glad for the hoses the firemen had in the back of their little red pick-up. With the firemen spraying all the water, our job became removing all the hay from the haystack. With water, soot and ash flying everywhere, we reach again and again for smoldering hay bundles and fling them behind us.  Though some are quite warm, they do not burn us.

            By the time we finish strewing the 12 ft haystack all over the ground, we are covered head to foot in ash, soot, and hay and reek like a….firefighter I guess! We must have been quite unrecognizable as the kids wouldn’t even come near us and one little girl screamed when I looked over at her! Shati(our amazing cook)was so worried about all of us working out there she sent us all tea as we left the site of such great misfortune. Two showers later we still reek, though we fare better than our clothes! Four times we have washed them now yet still they smell as bad as the smoldering haystack behind the cow stall.

            Walking through the burnt remains this morning I am again filled with gratitude for how closely God was watching over our little campus yesterday. He fed us so we’d have the energy to fight, he let the kitchen lady hear the distressed cows and alert everyone of the fire, he kept the flames from spreading across our campus or to any of the electrical lines nearby, and he brought the man to work on the antenna because he turned out to be the only one on campus who had the fire department number! After all the scares and uncertainties, the only thing we ended up losing was the cow food. And, we gained an unforgettable bonding experience with the people here…good common trauma J

Independence Day

Decorated courtyard

"Pakistani fighters"

Freedom fighters(Bangladesh) are victorious

Music and decorations appear well before 8 a.m. today. It is not only the first day of Christmas vacation, but Bangladesh’s Independence Day and we are celebrating by having a sports day with all the kids; the first sports day they’ve ever experienced!

The event begins in the courtyard with all the children standing at attention in the grass facing a flag atop a bamboo pole.  The compound is filled with 100 little voices belting out their national anthem. Then the honorable guests present (the founders and board chairman of the orphanage) together cut the ribbon and the event officially begins! Children scatter to the four corners of the courtyard and gather around their team flags. Their excited anticipation is beaming from their faces as they squirm on the wall eagerly awaiting the first event. Being the oldest kids of the orphanage, the 1^st and 2^nd graders get to start the first event, a simple race across the courtyard. Then my beloved KG class and finally the two youngest groups race. After each race, the 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd place winners are ushered over to some bricks arranged as a podium to salute their achievement. Then the caregivers, teachers, and even the Waids got to race!

Next I witnessed 100 kids play their first game ever of musical chairs! It’s such an exciting game to win, but all the elimination makes lots of  ‘losers’ of the game as well….there were a lot of tears with that game L However, the tears were soon dried with the following frog race. With their hands on the back of their thighs, 100 cute little ‘frogs’ hopped across the grass as fast as their little legs could bounce them! Then their hands were tied behind their backs for the final event and they raced to tear a candy off a string with their mouths. With the string hanging just above their heads, they jumped and jumped until they grasped the candy firmly in their mouth or fell and couldn’t get up because their little hands were tied! Even Shuniti was wheeled over in her new chair to play the candy game alongside the other children.

To finish the events, the boys were dressed in costume and emerged with sticks and painted moustaches, representing the freedom fighters who fought against Pakistan for Bangladesh’s independence. A role-play of the fighting and Bangladesh’s triumph ended in an excited victory parade circling the courtyard.

After a mid-day break, a frozen banana, and a last-minute dance preparation, the awards ceremony was held. Once our dance was over we were able to enjoy Bangla rhymes, songs, and dances presented by cute 5-8 yr old girls. Finally, the winners of the morning received their awards; hairclips for the girls, wind up planes for the boys and other special treats. Then we got our special treat—eggplant and potatoe curry for dinner! MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

A visit to the freedom fighter(a friend of the Waids and veteran of Bangladesh’s independence war) was such an appropriate end to the holiday. Well celebrated and thoroughly enjoyed by all was this country’s 39^th birthday! 

It chills and it thrills

I sit on my bed still snuggled under my sheet and blanket. A cool morning breeze coming in through the window keeps me chilly after a cold shower. I am thankful for the thin sweater I bought in Dhaka for $1.50 and the socks I never thought I’d use. After days with a misery index of 118 F, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever feel anything but hot and humid here. December has brought cooler weather with it and though it is chilling, the new feeling is also thrilling! 

Along with the chills come the thrills of warm clothes! Hour after hour has been spent finding long pants and jackets for each child here. It has been long but rewarding work as their faces just beam when they are handed their new ‘wardrobe’ for winter. One night while saying goodnight to the kids we discovered even the caregivers had been given new pajamas for the cooler weather. One mother was wearing her new pj’s and others must have been watching as we marveled at how nice they were because pretty soon there was a whole group of them crowding around eager to model their new pj’s! The sheer thrill of wearing their new knit pajamas was beaming from their faces. 

The night of the kangaroos was my favorite. December has actually brought some ‘American cold’ weather, and the kids weren’t warm enough with their regular pajamas. So, all the younger ones were given kangaroos (the cute pajama one-sies).  We came to kiss them all goodnight the first night they had them and we were greeted with the cutest sight! They all run in their new kangaroos towards the gate as we approach yelling, “Kelsey Lisa Teacher! Kangaroo! Kangaroo!” I have never seen so many kids in one-sies in one place before! Jumping around, tugging at our clothes just absolutely thrilled to show us their new pajamas, they made the cutest kangaroos I’ve ever seen 