4 December 2006

Dear Friends and Family,

Advent, the time of silent beginnings, is once again upon us. It’s my favorite liturgical season, as it is pregnant with hope and whispered glimpses of the Kingdom.

Bangladesh is likewise at a point of beginning anew, only not quietly. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) five-year term of governance expired at the end of October, but when it was time to hand the government over to a non-partisan caretaker government to arrange the elections, bedlam broke loose. The primary opposition party, the Awami League, objected to the person chosen to serve as chief advisor for the caretaker government, therefore violent rallies and riots broke out in the streets. Then the Awami League called its first blockade of all roads, waterways, and railways and forced the closing of many businesses. Several people were killed and many were wounded. Since then, the quarrels have continued over choosing a chief election commissioner, revising the inflated voter list, and setting the election date.

During the first blockade, I was stranded in Rajshahi. I had stopped by Christian Mission Hospital for a brief visit on my way to run a community-health training seminar for nursing students at Bollobhpur Hospital in the southwest. Each day of the blockade I watched the news on Bengali television with friends and colleagues. It was disturbing to watch, as thousands thronged the streets, car windows were shattered, and vehicles were set ablaze. I was appalled by an evening news broadcast of a man beaten to death by an enraged crowd, while the cameraman, and nation, looked on.

During the second blockade, political activists removed rail lines to enforce the siege, and a train derailed, injuring 50 people. During the third blockade, Les was stuck in the southern port city of Khulna, where he went for a two-day meeting and was unable to leave for five days. Stewart and I were to have met him in Rajshahi for a Thanksgiving meal with friends.

Last August I was invited to lead the evaluation of a village health-worker training program in the tea garden district of northeast Bangladesh the end of November. But with these repeated blockades, I didn’t know if the evaluation would be able to proceed until the day I was to leave. It’s disappointing when plans fail, and it’s hard to invest in the necessary preparations for my next commitment when I don’t know if it will materialize. But the evaluation was squeezed in, and I returned to Dhaka the night before the next blockade commenced.

Now we are in the midst of our fourth blockade, and the two political parties are still unable to negotiate their differences regarding the upcoming elections. The number of people reported harmed by the violence varies, but best guesses put it at about 80 dead and 2500 wounded. And it’s not over: there’s still a month and a half before the elections will be held. To keep abreast of the political developments here, the Web site of our local newspaper is helpful, as is this site dedicated to news about Bangladesh.

Last month, I visited the Church of Bangladesh’s Duaripara Family Development Project, which serves the families of garment workers living in a crowded slum of Mirpur, a suburb of Dhaka. Soon I will help them set up a program to monitor the growth of young children in the area. Last week I met with 60 members of self-development groups organized by the COB Women’s Development Office. These women all live in slums across the Buriganga River from Old Dhaka and have meager access to health-care services. The opportunities here in Dhaka to serve the poor and disenfranchised are abundant.

Les leaves for the States in a few days. Stew and I will join him once the semester ends and the American International School lets out for Christmas. We’re looking forward to time with Everett, who is finishing up a semester at South Louisiana Community College in Lafayette, and Laura, now in her second year at Baylor Law School.

In January, I’ll be starting the Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction Program at San Francisco Theological Seminary. It meets for three weeks in January for three years. It is the beginning of a new phase in my spiritual journey, another Advent, and I hope to find therein a deepened and sacred perspective of hope in the midst of the stark reality of crowded slums and political chaos here in Bangladesh.

If you’d like to receive an occasional informal email update on what we’re doing, send me an email. There’s also a link on our Web page to order a free copy of a 14-minute DVD about our work.

Thank you for your being with us in Spirit in this trying place at this trying time.

May the joy and hope of Advent fill you to overflowing,

Cynthia L. Morgan

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 117