April 27, 2010

Rakib signaled me to call him this, and when I called back he asked why I did not call him on Sunday. I reminded him that I let him know the last time we talked that I would not be able to call him last Sunday, and that I would be on a Venture backpacking training hike with the Grand Teton Venture Scouts in Massachusetts State. Rakib said “I understand”.
Rakib said he was still studying for and taking written and oral exams in four areas of study; physiology, (systems of the body) anatomy, biochemistry, and cardiology. Rakib got his final grade in physiology. He got a combined grade, written & oral exam, of 68.2 the highest grade in the class was 71.4. This puts Rakib in seventh position in his class of 121 students. Only 60students passed the exam. The rest will have to study more and take the exam again.
Rakib asked me if I got the photos he emailed to me. The photos were of him and some other students at the New Year festival held at the college. The photos were taken with a friend’s camera. His friend put them on a pen drive so he could take them to the internet café’ and send them to us. Rakib told me he bought a new shirt for the festival with some of the money we sent him for miscellaneous expenses. I told him I saw the new shirt and he it looked very good on him and that all of his friends looked like they were dressed very nice for the occasion. I have attached several photos of Rakib and the other students to this update.
I asked how everything else was going. Rakib said it was still very hot and the power failed often; a fan and rechargeable light would be a big help. Rakib asked if we could increase the amount of money we send each month for drinking water by 100 taka. We now send 400 taka per month for water. It is my understanding that each hostel room has a large bottle of drinking water. The cost per month is 1200 taka and the cost is shared by the three students in the room. The water is not refrigerated and is warm at this time of year. Rakib said he would like to occasionally buy a cold bottle of water. I asked Rakib if he had running water in his hostel room. He said he did in the bathroom, they put it into a container and use it bathing and cleaning the toilet only, the water is not ok for drinking. At the end of the conversation Rakib said “don’t worry about sending extra taka for water, I can get buy with what I have”.
I told Rakib I was at work and had to do some work for my employer so I had to keep the call short, and I would call him on Sunday. He said he understood and said to give his best wishes and love to the scouts and all of my friends and family.