Is it safe to travel to Bangladesh? Or is it still too dangerous to go to the capital at the moment? A difficult decision for many. After much deliberation, we did not close our project in the summer – thank goodness.
Our help for the poorest people in the slums is still urgently needed. Not least because we have recently opened new locations in the slums. Dhaka, a city of 14 million people, is growing and growing and so the slums are also changing. Slums are constantly on the move, people are settling and medical help is usually not available and if it is, it is unaffordable for our target group.
Hilltraud Fussenegger made her way to the capital of Bangladesh after a very last-minute request as to whether she could spontaneously step in. It was her 6th mission with German / Austrian Doctors. This was her 5th time in Dhaka.
“I recently returned from my assignment in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This time everything happened very quickly – I jumped in spontaneously. I am always amazed by the friendliness and kindness of the Bangladeshi people. Due to the insecure situation in recent months, we were traveling with police protection, which I complied with, although I felt very safe and found the constant police presence excessive. But we have to stick to the rules. In any case, the effort paid off: there were also more serious diagnoses such as severe burns and injuries, pneumonia and kidney infections, newly discovered cases of diabetes and many dermatological diseases.”
Hilltraud Fussenegger likes to do the assignments spontaneously, she says: “That’s the great thing for us pensioners, we don’t have to make any major preparations, we no longer have to worry about the practice and, above all, who knows what will happen in a year’s time?”
