Dear Friends,

 I am really sorry for this ‘all in one‘ letter, 

but I have just come back from Bangladesh, leaving again in four days and I wanted to give a feed back of my trip and an up-to-date information about ‘Bholas children’ project that some of you already know I started over three years ago (at the beginning it had another name – ‘Permanent Address’).

Sadly I had to leave on the morning of Walter’s birthday (13th January), but I can assure you that we celebrated the night before with also a very yummy cake, appropriately called ‘concerto’ Even more, the actual morning of the birthday, we had another celebration with the appropriate candles on a special French tresse bread accompanied by the ‘Happy Birthday’ tune.

I should introduce now two of the participants of this early morning (6,30 am) celebration, because they were also my companions during my trip to Bangladesh. The unique, incomparable, exhilaratingly amusing and above all infinitely supportive Jose’ Luis Andarias De Prado from Madrid, and the very young (compared to us!), funny, eccentric , at the same time profound and very socially, environmentally and above all animalist involved Eleonora Belelli from Recanati – Italy. We , the Three Musketeers and our ten pieces of luggage (!?) were duly picked up by Ali (with his van) and taken to Heathrow airport Terminal 4. Although we were over two hours before our flight (BA 145 to Dhaka), we endured a long queue . We were very apprehensive about the weight and number of pieces of our luggage, and decide to choose our checking-in desk, agreeing that a man would be better than a woman!! Ah blasphemy! Traitors! I must admit that as women we should have supported our gender, but let’s face it, because of our ‘wonderful’ ‘precise’ ‘efficient’ ‘accurate’ ways our gender express its ‘perfect’ nature, women hostess at checking -in desks in airports are more likely to make you pay excess luggage weight than men. Therefore we chose a nice, smiling, welcoming young man by the name of Oleg from Ukrain. Presenting our passports of three different nationalities I talked of globalization, of the brotherhood of ‘us’ foreigners …..”Ukrain ?... oh beautiful country…. we are planning to go there……now we are going to Bangladesh on a humanitarian mission…..” . “How many pieces of luggage?” ‘Oh…. seven to check in, three hand luggage…. you know…. humanitarian mission…” Oleg smiles and get all the luggage through. BUT ! For Eleonora no seat yet because the flight is overbooked; we must wait. By the way, this trip was the first encounter of Eleonora and Jose’ Luis and I can say it was “laugh at first sight”. Waiting, above all in airports, not knowing if you are going or not, can be very depressing, tiring, unsettling……. but not for the Three Musketeers , the exhilaratingly funny Jose’ Luis; the laughing Eleonora and the only ‘down to earth’ me, Bruna! We were all ‘up graded’ to Traveller Plus, meaning better and bigger seats (not bad at all…..). We arrived in Dhaka at 2 am (very uncivilized hour), but how nice not only to see very happy Ali (this another Ali), but recognizing immediately the friendly driver of the Swiss Park Hotel, where Jose’ Luis and I stayed last time we went to Bangladesh (this was the first for Eleonora). At the hotel we were welcomed by familiar and smiling faces (it really felt like home) and the typical glass of fresh mango juice. We managed to get a few hours rest and then we had to go around Dhaka to change money (a really hazardous mission!) spending most of the time in terrible and noisy traffic. Eleonora couldn’t believe the constant blowing horns that made the ‘Italian way’ sounds like paradise! We were going to Bhola, the southern island where the project is, by over night ferry; on the way we stopped to see some car dealers looking for a van we would like to buy to use as transport for the children. The latest Toyota model of 12 seats (in Bangladesh becoming 16-18 !!) would be the ideal one ……. Inshallah… The ferry to Bhola island left at 8pm and arrived at 6 am in very thick fog and very cold weather. Delicate Jose’ Luis, as usual, couldn’t sleep at all; Eleonora and I although ‘freezing to death’ managed some hours sleep. Ali, as usual, didn’t have a cabin and slept on the deck covered at least with one blanket. It was actually a surprisingly magic approaching, just guessing the outlines of the palm trees, of the wooden fishing boats, of the hundred rickshaws and as we got nearer, the multitude of people looking at you with such an awe …… it felt like coming from another planet (that in fact it is!). Eleonora, although tired and still very sleepy (one of her constant features!) couldn’t believe the ‘royal’ welcome ; grumpy Jose’ was immediately restored to a better mood by recognizing the smiling faces of our friends/staff of the Bholas Children home that came to take us and the ten pieces of luggage! Fog …. cold ….. damp …. “Aren’t we supposed to be in a warm, tropical country?” asked Eleonora? …. both thinking of our summer clothing in our bags …. At the home, the children were waiting for us, a little apprehensive presented each of us with beautiful bouquets of flowers and above all sounds and smiles of happiness, hugs, words of surprise….. cries of joy…… “mammy Bruna”…… “Yousuf….” Ali had organized our accommodation within the boundary (as he calls the home/ school), transforming the two therapy rooms into a double and a single rooms, with a shower room with loo next door but with only cold water. “Maybe the other shower in the main building has some hot water…..” he said to a horrified Jose’ Luis that was already thinking of going back …..Eleonora mentioned that while studying in Spain in the winter, she had not hot water for over a month …… I assured him I had a lot of wet wipes that would keep him clean and smelling nicely …. “think of the children…….” It was in fact the beginning of an incredibly amusing , funny and very cheerful time and experience. Usually when we talk to people about the home in Bhola with orphans and disabled children, in one of the poorest and prone to disaster areas of the world, they think that our visits there are not only difficult and uncomfortable but above all not very cheerful. In fact there was constant laughter. The three of us joined-in in perfect harmony and humour (good ‘globalization’), Eleonora accepting with great panache and laughter Jose’ Luis assertions that she brought bad luck! Whenever something went wrong or didn’t happen: “….there… you see? … it’s her bad luck!” (the final touch was Jose’ Luis’s flight back to Madrid from London was cancelled …. eh ..eh.. eh..) We had a wonderful time in an unusual surrounding and dimension. We really felt it was good and special to be there. We felt somehow privileged to be able to experience and receive so much love, so much laughter and fun, so much enthusiasm, so much appreciation from the children for whatever we did and gave to them. It was and it is always an extraordinary atmosphere to be playing, working, studying, eating, talking with blind children, deaf and dumb children, spastic children, autistic children all together, helping and supporting each other, being very happy and always smiling and being so ‘normal’ . Eleonora was really surprised and impressed by their attitude and by the special, happy atmosphere that surrounded us. It doesn’t mean that these children don’t argue, at times fight (never viciously) or show anger and disappointment, in fact they show and live all the normal emotions that all children have , but there is always present among them a very special love and respect and humour towards each other that I am sure comes from their wonderful ‘Dadu’ , Ali. Jose’ Luis and I saw the positive changes that happened sinou and with ‘carino’ Joselito and more pieces of luggage!”. We are planning to build bigger and better sleeping areas with proper toilets, bigger workshop and activity rooms, a proper kitchen (we are still cooking on an open fire) and two visitor rooms so we don’t have to use the therapy rooms. Therefore we always need to raise money to build the new areas, restore the old ones (really needed), to feed the children, to cure them, to train them. We are also looking for schooling materials, educational toys, arts and crafts, training items for blind, ideas and instructions for blind and deaf and dumb to learn future jobs. Above all we need friends to come, to see, to experience and live personally what is happening with Bholas Children, or support us crazy Three Musketeers that will always go galloping across the Oceans to be with them.