When my plane landed in Dhaka early in the morning on October 20, I had already been looking forward to it for a few weeks. This is my seventh assignment here in Bangladesh. I am curious about the changes in our projects, curious about our new places of work, because we always need new places to reach even more people.
Finding meaning and confidence in our world with its many difficulties is not always easy for me. It can only succeed if you are prepared to accept the chaos and inadequacy of the world. Above all, this requires trust in life. Trust in what drives this world and trust in humanity. Only those who can trust are prepared to work for change and improvement.
And life offers endless opportunities to do so, one after the other. In Bangladesh as well as in Austria. Seize the opportunities and then make an important experience: By standing up for life, life does something to us. It makes us more alive and more joyful. Getting involved ultimately makes us happy.
Back to Bangladesh:
In our medical projects, we continue to care for those who fall through all the safety nets, who are destitute in the slums of this city of 20 million people. If you have never experienced the conditions under which these people have to live, it is hard to imagine. They lack the knowledge, the strength and the material means to change their lives. We try to be a reliable point of contact in the chaos through our continuous presence.
As doctors, we can provide urgent medical help. But that would not be enough. We can give many of the numerous children a chance in life through our schools. And this seems to be working: children from the early days of our slum schools are now teachers in our schools themselves, and there are numerous successful life plans among our protégés, from lawyers to small business owners.
I came to Bangladesh for the first time fourteen years ago. There is still a lot wrong here, but so much has changed for the better! I am currently working on the project with Johannes Decker, a retired general practitioner. When I see how respectfully and lovingly he treats these poor people, any doubts vanish.
Helping is happiness, if we get involved!
