America letter # 10. Bangladesh shesh.
February 10, 2008
Dear friends,
It is almost two weeks since I came back to Dubuque after having traveled around in Bangladesh for a month, but it takes time to get through emails and come to the point of writing a letter.
“Bangladesh shesh” means “Bangladesh finished” and this means that J-term is over and that the spring semester at Wartburg has started. Though my travel in Bangladesh is over, my thoughts are often there, and my supervisor on the independent study I had, has got a long reflection paper to read. (Tips to those of you who are supervisors: Set a maximum length for reflection papers.)
I did much traveling in Bangladesh. I found out that I had slept in twelve different rooms during my stay, and I had a few hours on bumpy buses around the country. I was south to Barisal and north to Kurigram. I had the chance to visit many old friends and see some new places.
One week of my stay was spent evaluating the partnership between Buskerud YWCA-YMCA (my region in Norway) and Bangladesh YWCA, which has lasted for 10 years. It was great to experience how ten years of exchanges have developed an open and honest relation which made a meaningful and fruitful evaluation possible.
I spent another week in the orphanage of Missionaries of Charity, where I also was in November 2005. Roman Catholic Marian devotion is still a bit heavy for me, and has more clearly than before helped me to appreciate my Lutheran heritage. Newborn orphans are still wonderful, and create both sad and happy feelings when you hear the mothers’ stories and are witnessing long anticipated adoptions.
The possibility of relating my experiences to my studies by reading and writing gave the journey something extra. There is always something to learn about myself, and it seems that I always am the one I learn the most about, though there are obviously also elements in Bangladesh to learn about.
The learning continues. I have again several exciting courses on my schedule, and you will get a taste of them as the semester continues.
Greetings from Hanne.
Dear friends,
It is almost two weeks since I came back to Dubuque after having traveled around in Bangladesh for a month, but it takes time to get through emails and come to the point of writing a letter.
“Bangladesh shesh” means “Bangladesh finished” and this means that J-term is over and that the spring semester at Wartburg has started. Though my travel in Bangladesh is over, my thoughts are often there, and my supervisor on the independent study I had, has got a long reflection paper to read. (Tips to those of you who are supervisors: Set a maximum length for reflection papers.)
I did much traveling in Bangladesh. I found out that I had slept in twelve different rooms during my stay, and I had a few hours on bumpy buses around the country. I was south to Barisal and north to Kurigram. I had the chance to visit many old friends and see some new places.
One week of my stay was spent evaluating the partnership between Buskerud YWCA-YMCA (my region in Norway) and Bangladesh YWCA, which has lasted for 10 years. It was great to experience how ten years of exchanges have developed an open and honest relation which made a meaningful and fruitful evaluation possible.
I spent another week in the orphanage of Missionaries of Charity, where I also was in November 2005. Roman Catholic Marian devotion is still a bit heavy for me, and has more clearly than before helped me to appreciate my Lutheran heritage. Newborn orphans are still wonderful, and create both sad and happy feelings when you hear the mothers’ stories and are witnessing long anticipated adoptions.
The possibility of relating my experiences to my studies by reading and writing gave the journey something extra. There is always something to learn about myself, and it seems that I always am the one I learn the most about, though there are obviously also elements in Bangladesh to learn about.
The learning continues. I have again several exciting courses on my schedule, and you will get a taste of them as the semester continues.
Greetings from Hanne.
posted by Hanne at 7:53 PM
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