Bangladesh, Day 0: Something about 7 days

In SF ready to go!

Last Tuesday evening I made the decision to go to Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh to volunteer as a midwife in the Rohingya refugee camps. Exactly a week later I boarded the first of 4 flights to get me there. I’m amazed at how many things came together to make this happen in just 7 days. Between Tuesday and Tuesday, I …

• Bought airfare (this took a lot of time and thought, ya’ll — Cox’s Bazar is really far)
• Secured paperwork for my Bangladeshi visa
• Booked lodging and in-country transit
• Got vaccine boosters and malaria pills
• Somehow organized a super successful fundraising campaign (thank you to Brady Forrest for spreading the word, and especially to everyone who donated!)
• Bought, received, and packed over 100 lbs of medical supplies
• And did all the other endless little things that must get done when heading on a far flung adventure

All of that while doing the regular things I do every day for work — prenatal and postpartum appointments, as well as 3 interviews for potential new clients, and arranging coverage for my home birth practice during my absence.

Thank you to my midwife colleague, Treesa McLean, who pointed me to MedShare. This is a fantastic non-profit with a medical mission store in San Leandro. I got to go on a medical supply shopping spree early Tuesday morning, which allowed me to cram every cranny of my bag with good, good stuff.

And so, while I was going to write this first post from SFO, instead I passed out from exhaustion on those hard airport chairs while waiting to board my flight. Now I’m sitting in the Hong Kong airport waiting for the second leg of the journey, feeling excited and a little trepidatious. Everything has been happening so fast that part of my brain is confused at how I’m suddenly on the other side of the world. But while the execution was swift, the intent has been many years in the making. I’ve been wanting to do this trip for a long time.

So, first 15 hour flight down. 3 more (thankfully shorter) flights to go. I’m sure my brain will catch up soon.

Clean birth kits on their way to Cox’s Bazar. Currently being loaded on a plane to Singapore. Made possible with YOUR donation dollars.

I’ve been communicating with volunteers on the ground who say that even the most basic supplies are absent in Cox’s Bazar. Pictured: stainless steel instruments, disinfectant wipes, baby wipes, sterile gloves, infant feeding tubes, cloths for drying babies, bulb syringes, Lidocaine, and a neonatal resuscitator.