Curses and blessings

Publish date 31-01-2022

by Renato Rosso

Stories and people of Bangladesh during the pandemic.

I spent the first six months of the pandemic in Bangladesh. A classroom in the school, closed by the new restrictions of the Bengali government, became my residence: a bed, a gas stove, a computer, a corner of the church, in any case everything I needed. In those months that were summer in Bangladesh, the affected by the virus were not proportionally as many as in Europe, but for us the problem was the blocking of work activities, in a country where 70% of people live day to day. If there is no work, after three days you stop at home, forced fasting begins. If the virus had arrived 10 years ago, when the population was much poorer, it would have been a massacre as it is today in some very poor regions of India.

In Bangladesh, after the first months of the pandemic, cyclone Amfan was added, which forced over two million people to live in two thousand special shelters, for many weeks, without any distancing. Some thousands of them took shelter under simple tents, without drinking water or sanitation, while the rain was raging. The various organizations such as Caritas, religious congregations and some diocesan groups have rolled up their sleeves in this moment of serious emergency. A detail that deserves a few lines is the fact that the government has organized various aid but only for Muslim families saying that Christians, having many friends in Europe and America, could get help from them. On that occasion I wrote a letter to present the situation a little and many responded generously, so it was possible to add significant help to 400 mothers who were breastfeeding their babies in the first six months of life. The support consisted of four supplement medicines (prescribed by medical specialists) to be taken every day for six months. Moreover, since in the most affected parishes, many Christians had about 250 houses completely destroyed and about fifty were left without roofs, with the aid it was possible to accommodate almost 300 families in decent homes. Other organizations provided food, clothing and basic necessities.

With the period of monsoons, and therefore of interminable rains, a third of the country ended up under water. In those days the Bengali monsoons put a third of the country under water, but woe betide if this misfortune does not happen every year, because it fertilizes it, like the Nile when it overflows into Egypt. This calamity makes the lands of Bangladesh and Egypt among the most fertile in the world: thanks to this misfortune, they can produce three crops a year and, in some areas, even four. However, the water blesses and curses at the same time. When it enters homes, bringing unbearable humidity, as in this period, it increases the spread of diseases and their aggravation. Masum, operated 4 times by our Italian volunteer doctors, needed very special and expensive medicines which he was unable to buy for over three months. He has finally restarted the treatment. Bidu, who had been in hospital for a long time after a stroke, telephoned me and told me that he no longer walks and therefore we need to think about a new, more decisive treatment. Abdullahà let me know that the mother who was operated on last year is better, but the father, who had already been treated for a heart attack, has had two relapses. Also today, Sushanto (33 years old, father of two children) entered the hospital to be operated on for a thyroid tumor. Before starting the surgery, they realized that the heart was not functioning well and they postponed it for a few weeks, hoping to do an expensive angioplasty to dilate two almost blocked arteries.

But would you feel like saying to this young dad: "Die in peace because your operations are too expensive and with this money you could cure about twenty sick people?" If I were in his place, I would be happy to hear someone say: "" Don't worry, we'll do everything to get you the operations you need. " I am fortunate to have many friends, who are the most precious gift in the world. If you only knew how many miracles they have done in this country! Prayer is also a gift, it is not just a wish that everything goes well, but a reality like the stones of a house or like a medicine, or even like a caress, a hug, a kiss. My neighbor, a 40-year-old tinsmith, dedicates a lot of time to prayer during the rainy season, having less work. When he meets the beggars he says: "I have no money to give you, but I can pray for you." He then he puts his hand on his head, makes a long prayer and a sign of the cross on his forehead. The beggars thank him as he had given them a gold bar.

 Thanks to monsoon water, the country is one of the most fertile in the world, but the same water produces diseases that are difficult to treat due to poverty.

Renato Rosso

NP Novembre 2021

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