from Womb to Tomb

on my second visit to a healthcare organisation in dhaka, my boss at FPAB sent me to another NGO organisation called Bangladesh Women's Health Coalition.

in the morning, i took the ritual of a CNG taxi to mohammedpur, the west part of central dhaka, the journey itself in the morning is pleasant. the road takes one past the parliament building which i have yet to snap and also the impressive structure of bangladesh's astronomy centre. regarding the stars, bangladesh spent a whopping 120M USD on building this? its strange why education like this takes prioty when that money could have been utilised in an appropiate channel eg the poor people!! or rurual education!!! lions led by donkeys...

so i reached the head office of BWHC a little early and i met the good friend of my boss, Dr Julia Ahmed. the striking thing about her is that she is relatively young to be head of an NGO. i would say she is early forties and is in good health. i was in her office for about half an hour discussing my reason for being in bangladesh and my reason why i have chosen in essence reproductive health when i could have chosen any speciality and any destination in the world.

i told her honestly that the idea of seeing the world is a desire of mine, and i would love to be where chewee/tony are or even where raj is but this opportunity to return to the homeland and to not be a tourist but someone who has a more grounded understanding and dare i say it, maturity is a chance that i couldnt pass. i admit frankly now, that dhaka is not the best place in the world especially for a social life or having fun, but i have london for that and i have my friends and also a certain special someone in manor park that i can have fun with.

anyways, Dr ahmed, explained what BWHC was about and the moto they have is, healthcare from the womb to the tomb. today, i was in for a treat, i would be sent by the company car (luxury or what) to see all the clinics they have in their urban programmes, they do rural programmes, but me being the city boy i am is finding it difficult being in the countryside. i think i get nightmares about the rural clinics of health care because i hate bangladesh countryside, for some, its natural beauty, for me it is a symbol of boredom. (no offence to the lovers of bdesh countryside)

the first clinic i was sent to was about 3miles away from the supreme court. the supreme court is this strikingly whilte building in the heart of the city and it is where all the legal things are fought about, i dont know whether or not the place is an honest place to be involved in as a lawyer but one thing which i know about bangladesh, is that, never trust the government, even if they are involved in a massive crackdown at the moment. this is a country with people with hidden agendas and a lust for money and social status.

so i arrived at the first clinc. there was a loss in the translation, i thought i was going to spend the whole day there but this was purely a visit. this centre was a maternity centre, it was a building situated right in the heart of one of dhaka's most poorest populations, and it served the people not just as a maternity centre but also as a health care clinic. the building was four floors. the ground floor was the reception and pharmacy, the second was the GP clinic, the third was the obs/gynae section and the top was the office. the lady who recieved me here was dr rebekah. she was a wonderful women, explaing what the centre does and who it serves and all the history and any answered any of my curiousities. people have been treating me with very warmly here, i wish people could be a bit more like this in england, especially at the hospitals.

so, i was then handed over to the anaesthist who deals with c-section pts, his name is dr rashid, very nice guy, young tall and a bit overweight. he then gave me the grand tour of the centre, introducing me to all the staff as 'Dr Mirza' (still feels weird knowing that im not gonna be Mr anymore) explaining to them all that i am from the UK and here to have a look at health care here. the staff were very friendly and really nice, asking me if i want a cup of tea every 5s, but it was touching. after the ground tour, i was then shifted over to the driver who brought me here to go to another urban clinic. i was sad to leave this centre, cause i really liked it and wouldnt have minded spending the day and doing some medicine in their GP section of the building.

i now went to another clinic in an area which was more poor than the centre i was at. the clinic was small and here, they have a doctor, a counsellor and no pharmacy. the doctor that works here was a young doctor, probably 25 and her name was dr khan. the striking thing about her was that she was really pretty, (hubba hubba!!!) but she was cool, she gave me the brief guided tour of the place and explained who her patients are and etc. after 20mins, and another 5 offers of a cup of tea, i then sadly departed, not being able to use my charm on her to go to the second to last clinic i was going to visit.

the place was called gandaria, and it was situated a mile north of the big river buriganga. this place was right in the heart of 'old' dhaka. the area was made of a meshwork of slums where most of the patients live. as you can imagine, the patients here are commonly ill with TB being the most common disease. dr shilpi, a young doctor was the lady in charge here. her job here was similar to that of a gp, patients come in, their notes are provided and then bang, same as a GP surgery in england. the difference here compared to the other places where i had visited, was that, i was now playing an active part in patient diagnosis and management. dr shilpi, gave me the privaledge of taking the history and and prescribing the medication. i saw a crazy number of patients in the space of 3 hours, all these patients are sadly very poor and dont have very good education. its just hard to comprehend this exists especially in the comfort of england. but i tried to do as much as possible to help, for example, with one patient, i taught him how he should be using his asthma inhaler. dr shilpi, had her faults, she didnt give a damn how he was using it, but, i told her simple things like education is imperative!! i was afraid i may have been patronising her, especially since i am still a student... but at the end of the day, she was really nice to me and said i am welcome to have dinner with her and her husband at their house. after we finished the clinic at 4pm, it was time to move on to the last place to visit for the day.

this place, if my parents knew i went to would be upset but i am the today and they are the yday. this clinic was not a clinic as such but a place with counsellours providing healthcare and advice. no doctor chooses to work here because they fear they may not be employed elsewhere. it sad that a mentality like that exists here but i will explain to you why.

the final clinic i visited was the drop in centre where commercial sex workers visit to receive healthcare and advice. it also serves as a nursery for their children so they can receive education whilst the mums are at work. poverty is so desparate in bangladesh that there is an estimated number of prostitutes that exceeds the population of some small countries. islam and a conservative social culture mean nothing when it comes to helping the poor in the land of bangladesh. so if you are curious why i went to visit this place, its beacause i care about these people whilst others do not.

i was received here very warm. the lady who works here is called anodha, and she was a former sex worker and now a trained health care advocate. teachin about condom use and recognition of STIs. she was really nice and i was touched when she called me brother. i told her, please dont call me brother, call me shuwaib. she went to show me her humble clinic, and the achievements they have made displayed by photos taken by BWHC. she was a very proud woman. i got to meet some patients that were here and spoke to them about what they were concerened about and i once again answered the questions about why i am in bangladesh. but i didnt mind, i am just satisfying their curiousity like i am doing with mine. at the end of the half hr i was there, i had a crowd of 6 patients, and i demonstrated to them how to put on a condom. if no other doctor will show them, i really should. the 6 of them knew exactly how to put one on, they didnt use my willy to demonstrate but i bought some bananas for the demonstration.

i then popped my head into the nursery to see what the kids were learning. so innocent and yet forgotten by their people. i said my goodbyes and i promised anodha i will return and teach the kids the english alphabet before i head back to england.

it is sad that an NGO takes resposibilty for them and not a GO. on the bright side of it though, and slightly contrary, BWHC is funded partly by the bangladesh government. however, it is a shame the government can not just come out and be frank about the internal problems of the country but does the easy option and just pay someone else to do the work for them.

i got home that evening for 9pm. i stopped off at Kozmo lounge, the best place for coffee in this city. its a nice coffee shop. i will take pictures of it, but i go there to just wind down.

anyways, im off, gonna chill for the rest of the day.

shuw