Smiles from Home of Love Orphanage

Simply precious!

Two girls.

In this culture, it is uncommon to eat with silverware! The children quickly taught us the correct way to eat with your (right) hand.

"We will see you again!"

Uncle Joshua and Aunt Deborah

Sodham Chundra Chakma (aka Uncle Joshua--highly esteemed) and his wife graciously welcomed us into their beautiful Buddhist home to for 2 weeks after other plans fell through. Although he is a very strong Budhist, his heart grew very fond of us. Several times, as his grandson and daughter spent days in the hospital from dehydration, he requested us to pray to our God for him and his family. Saying goodbye was actually tearful. In 2 weeks, we became family. I now have a Chakma name: Bonosree Chakma which means longest. He was a proud Uncle and we will all miss him much. Please pray for his salvation, that he may come to worship the one true God!

4 bags + 1 passenger = A LOT of work for that poor rickshaw driver.

Rickshaw ride, anyone? This is the most common way to get around in Bangladesh!

Boys like flowers, too

Sam, Tyler, and I received flowers from our English students.

Merry Christmas from Chakma

Christmas Eve we opened gifts around the construction paper Christmas tree. Although we missed our families dealy, we now understand that Christmas isn't about tradition or even family.

Traditional Chakma dress

Here, we are sporting the traditional Chakma dresses. We did not wear these daily because they fell off so easily. I can't figure out how the women keep them on as they work. As a parting gift, our English students presented each of us with a sash.

a Chakma home

The last 2 weeks we have spent with the Chakma tribe in the hilltracks. These people are amazing. They work so hard and are so kind. It is a primitive way of life. No electricity, farming is done mostly by hand, and making a meal from scratch requires nearly a full days effort.

group traveling

A luxurious form of traveling in Bangladesh!!!
After a 90 minute drive down the bumpiest road ever, we thought we had it rough. Our knees and backs showed bruises, but this turned out to be a better form of traveling than the mini jeep we took back!