31 January 2003
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Dear Friends in the USA,

My name is Stewart Morgan, and I am writing from Bangladesh. My parents, Drs. Les and Cindy Morgan, are missionaries here. When we first moved to Bangladesh, I was only seven months old. Now I am 13 years old, so I have been raised here for most of my life. We live in the city of Rajshahi, located in the northwestern part of the country. Our house is only a few blocks from the Ganges River. I have had fun growing up here with my brother, Everett, and my sister, Laura.

All my friends in Rajshahi are Bangladeshi and do not know English, so I had to learn Bengali quickly. Now I am fluent in that language, and I even feel confident going to the market all by myself. Sometimes when people are talking in Bengali they think that I don't understand them when I really do.

I have traveled around a lot in Bangladesh on trains, buses, boats, and rickshaws. I have gone with my parents many times to the villages, and I have visited many people in their homes. They always serve us tea and cookies and sometimes rice and curry. We always eat rice with our hands, because that is the tradition in Bangladesh.

My parents are missionary doctors who work in a hospital near our home. I often go on rounds with them, and I have learned about the diseases that are common in Bangladesh. I like seeing my mom treat malnourished children. Even though they are really sick when they first come to the hospital, they get better soon. She feeds them a nutritious supplement called "chatu" that is tasty and has a lot of calories and protein. She created it herself using local foods.

One common disease in Bangladesh is malaria that mosquitoes carry. So I sleep under a mosquito net every night. Another common problem is snakebites. Once a poisonous snake came into my bedroom! We also have to be cautious about the political situation here. Our family had to evacuate twice, the first time during the 1991 Gulf War and the second time in 2001 during the war in Afghanistan.

Since there are no English-medium schools in Rajshahi, I did home schooling all the way through sixth grade. This year I began eighth grade at Woodstock School in India. It is an international boarding school that lies in the foothills of the Himalayas. From the school you can see the snow-covered mountains in the distance. Sometimes I go on hikes through the hills. Last semester I roomed with five other boys, four from India and one from Korea. My best friend is from America, and his father is my dorm parent. I will be going back to Woodstock on February 3.

Even after I have moved back to America someday, I will always remember how much fun I have had living in Bangladesh and going to school in India.

Sincerely,

Stewart Morgan

Ridgewood
Woodstock School
Mussoorie, Uttaranchal 248179
INDIA
Email: stewartmorgan@woodstock.ac.in

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 159