7 Questions With David Adhikary
Thanks for asking your questions of David, the Compassion field communication specialist in Bangladesh. Here is the wisdom he has to share with us!
1. First of all, thank you so much for all you do for the precious children of Bangladesh! My question is, as you go through each day seeing a multitude of needs in these children’s lives, what do you find yourself praying for most often? (Lindy)
You are always welcome. Actually, I feel a deep pain when I find myself in a position where I can’t afford to help each of my children to solve their problems.
Every night I pray that at least they could have their dinner and have a sound and peaceful family environment.
2. I would like to know the specifics of how the global food crisis is affecting the people in Bangladesh and how it has affected Compassion’s program there. Have you cut back days that the children meet? Has it made a difference in the type of food that you can afford to serve the children? (Cheryl J)
The price of rice and other food products including lentils, flour, oil, and sugar are increasing continuously from last year.
According to different sources, the cost of the cheapest rice has increased by over 90 percent, and for the better grade rice, it is over 64 percent.
According to the statistics provided by the World Bank and United Nations, the daily income of a lower-level person in Bangladesh is between $1 and $2.
Each family requires at least four pounds of rice each day, which means if they only buy four pounds of the cheapest rice, they have to spend $1.18, which means they have little or no money left to buy vegetables, oil, and other food products.
Compassion Bangladesh hasn’t cut back the number of days that the children meet. Instead, we started an extra day of Compassion program.
Most of the child development centers provided a meal five days a week, but now they are providing a meal six days a week.
Some centers had to reduce their expense for food revenue; they decreased the quantity of food.
After receiving the support of the Global Food Crisis fund, this lack has been filled and children are getting food according to the new, revised menu.
Your support and prayer made it possible.
3. How far do the students travel, on average, to get to the centers, and how do they do so? (walk, bus, etc.) (Beth Ingersoll) (more…)
Continue Reading ›A Day in the Life of a Bangladeshi Cycle Van Driver
Kamrul opens his eyes and looks out the window. It is still dark outside. He gets up and goes outside his house.
Kamrul washes his face with the water from the nearest pond. He breaks a branch from a nearby neem tree, whose branches are thin and good for teeth, and begins to clean his teeth. He is wearing just a lungi, the traditional Bangladeshi skirt for a male. He prepares himself for the hard day ahead of him. Kamrul, the father of Compassion-registered* child Mukta, is a cycle van puller. (more…)
Continue Reading ›Throw-Aways
I’ve been putting off writing this post. There are some things that are just easier not to think about.
They’re called “throw-aways,” people whom the world has no use for. (more…)
What Does Sponsorship Mean? (I Didn’t Think I Would Cry)
I know poverty. I have lived with it. So I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary on my way to Shan’s house. I was carrying two bags of groceries as I negotiated my way through the crowded neighborhood. Then I stopped. I literally felt a thud on my heart and tears began to roll.
10 Questions With Edwin Estioko
Recently, we gave you the chance to ask Edwin Estioko, our Field Communication Specialist in the Philippines all your burning questions about himself, the Philippines and Compassion in the Philippines. Here are his answers …
1. Can you tell about the time when you first decided to work for Compassion? (Catherine)
Before Compassion I was production manager for OMF Literature (the biggest Christian publisher in the Philippines) and a writer of children’s books. I grew up at church serving and teaching little children; playing with them and just enjoying their company. When I saw the ad for a Communications Specialist for Compassion International in the Philippines, I was literally drawn in. Feeling a strong sense of peace and confidence that the Lord was calling me to this beautiful ministry for children, I applied for the post and on the same week filed for resignation from OMF despite not knowing for sure whether Compassion would hire me or not. Thank God they did.
2. What goals do you hope to accomplish in your area? (Jason)
I hope that through the photographs I take and stories I write about Filipino children I could reach as many readers as I can around the world so that more and more people would stand up for children and advocate for them, so that more and more could see that thousands of children and families here in the Philippines truly lack opportunities for a better life (or simply for a livable minimum) despite the fact that they are hard working and full of faith.
What drives me is Proverbs 31:8, “to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
3. What have been the toughest times of your life, and what have you learned from these trials? (Juli Jarvis) (more…)
