Jessore is a much smaller city than the 20 million populated Dhaka. The area of town we were in was cleaner and not quite so crowded. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. People everywhere. And always the bright colors of women’s clothing, the brightly decorated easy rides, (bike pulled rickshaws), and huge trucks and buses. Little shops line the streets, with open fronts and business going on outside.

The weather has been hot, but nothing like my last visit. Dampness has replaced drenched in sweat – a welcome exchange! Our vans are air conditioned and there is always plenty of bottled water. Keep hydrated! And George continues to amaze with all his attention to detail and just general wonderfulness!

After a leisurely breakfast, fueled by coffee, we set out for the day’s adventures. Our focus for this trip, is child protection, focusing on child labor. WV started a project a couple of years ago to help families so that their children would not have to work. It’s a long, thoughtful process which I’ll describe another time. Today’s first visit was to see a young man, Amran, who used to work in a mechanic shop. He is now 16 and has caught up in school. He hopes to go on to university and become a banker. And that is a real possibility for this very engaging boy.

As we walked to his home, we first passed his mama’s little shop. This sweet faces woman sells general merchandise like basic food stuffs, containers, cooking utensils. It is tiny but brings in enough to keep both her children in school. WV helped her set it up but she is self-sustaining now and proud of that fact. The hand up, not hand out principle is beautifully in play here.

We then followed her to their one room home and met Amran’s beautiful younger sister, dressed in pink tunic and scarves. She also attends school and wants to be a police officer. Amran shared his story with us. Dad had had some health problems and couldn’t work so Amran went to work 6 days a week, 9 hours a day in a mechanic shop. These shops operate without any safety equipment and Amran bears a small scar on his cheek – a permanent reminder of those days.

This is a happy family, outgoing and filled with hope for the future – still living in that one room place, with the shared water pump and latrine outside. The simplest little house in America would be utter luxury to them.

What a joyful way to begin the day! We next traveled to a Child Friendly Learning Center where a group of 3-5 year olds greeted us – all in a row with their best clothes, paper flower head bands and small bouquets of flowers for us, of course! This is a program to help small children of working parents have a safe place to go and learn and play. There are two classes of 25 children each day. These are places of smiles and games and songs and dances. These darling children are just like kids everywhere – some mischievous, some shy and a bit withdrawn, but all of them so engaging. The children performed for us – and pulled us into learning one of their songs, a rhyme verse (all in Bengali) and a dance! Such fun. These children have a good start but much prayer and work is still needed to ensure a future of well being. The joy of now mixed with the reality of an uncertain future.

After the children left, three older boys who were there remained. I had noticed them before as they stood out from the happy children, with their serious, unsmiling faces. Now they, along with two village leaders, talked with us. These boys, aged 14, 12, and 11 all work in types of mechanic shops to help their families. They have been working for a year and a half to two years – again that 6 day a week, 9-10 hour day. They earn about 3-5 dollars a week. The male leader talked about his hopes for the community and these boys particularly. Child labor is now seen as the evil that it is and there is growing support at the local level to eradicate it. Thankfully, these three boys will be removed from their jobs in January and be coached and tutored to help them catch up in school. Their families will be assisted in starting higher earning jobs.

But I found it so hard to watch them, contrasting so sharply with the happy little children who’d just left. Their faces were so sober, almost devoid of expression. Hope had left a long time ago. The youngest one was much smaller than the older two and I couldn’t help thinking of my oldest grandchild – my beloved almost 11 year old Elliott. What if he were sitting in that chair? And these precious boys, sitting in front of me, are no less in need of love and the nurturing care all children should have. Only knowing that there was some hope ahead for these boys made it bearable. As we wound down and they got to ask us some questions, one of them became a little more animated and the boy inside peeked out.

Before we broke for lunch, we visited the places each of these boys works. The owners seem to now understand that these boys should be in school and support the upcoming change. We emphatically, but hopefully tactfully, supported this decision! It’s very hard to not wear the righteously outraged crusader hat but this is not my culture or my battle to fight except through prayer and support of the WV project. Thankfully, it is something I can do!

After lunch at the hotel with staff, always a rich and informative time, we headed out in the van for a couple hour drive to Khulna. The countryside is so lushly green and tropical. Fish ponds dot the landscape and even in these rural areas, there are always people. Passing by old rundown but mysterious buildings, hinting at an exotic past, I wanted to know their stories. Despite the bumps, I slept a little bit.

Oh – must mention our police escort! Since arriving in Jessore, we have had an escort everywhere we’ve gone. That means following a siren blaring, lights flashing vehicle when in the van. When on foot, we are accompanied by several officers, a couple with serious rifles! This is a government decision – to protect all Westerners – not a WV call. But I feel totally safe and it’s more funny than anything. I feel like a lofty ambassador or something – hopefully I am, in a way. The officers are uniformly (pun intended) polite and interested. It is great for them to hear about all this work.

After arriving in Khulna, we checked into our hotel (we get to stay here a few days!) and then had dinner with staff here. Also, one of our number had had her birthday on the way over here and we had told George. So, after dinner, he brings out a cake and present, a crazy birthday hat for her to wear (better sport than I) and had the restaurant play Happy Birthday! Funniest version ever. Some of the staff lit sparklers and sprayed snow! So much laughter and fun. Great way to end the day.

After our sweet devotion time, off to bed.