February 28, 2010

When I spoke to Rakib this morning, he asked me why I did not call him last Sunday. I informed him that last Sunday was Scout Sunday in the US and I had attended church service at the Neshanic Reformed Church with the scouts of Troop 1776. I went on to explain that on Scout Sunday, scouts all around the US are encouraged to attend church wearing there scout uniform, as a way to show that “a scout is reverent”. I told Rakib that Reverend Hill, the Pastor of the church, gave a sermon to day that reflected on his own father / Son scout experience of building a pinewood derby car with his son, and how a father can sometimes more involved in building pinewood derby cars that the scout does. Rakib did not know what the pinewood derby was. I explained and after I did he seemed to understand what the event was. I also told Rakib that I was asked to speak to the congregation and inform them of Rakib’s progress in the past year. I told Rakib about the special offering that was collected for him and that last year the members of the church gave enough to pay for three months of his education expenses. I let him know that it would be a few weeks before we knew how much was offered this year. Rakib said that he thought Scout Sunday was a great program and asked me to thank everyone for helping to pay for his medical college expenses.
Rakib asked what our scouts were doing. I told him the Venture Scouts were continuing to plan and train for the Teton / Yellowstone Trek and the area of training we were focusing on at this time was meal planning. I explained that we would be carrying all of our meals for up to seven days and they had to be light weight and nutritious.
I went on to tell him that Cub Scout Pack 1776 held there pinewood derby recently and the Cubs decided to donate all of the profit they raised from the sale of food and beverages at the event to the Troop 1776 Rakib education fund. I told Rakib that I had emailed him a few photos from the event.
Rakib said that he had to inform me that he Lost 200 taka. He said he had to spend some of his miscellaneous expense money to buy some extra food. He said that the he had attended the two recreational events that his teachers had arranged. Most of the cost, of the student tour trips, was paid for by the college. He did have to buy some food while on the trips. I told him that he has not lost the money, the food was a just expense, and that I thought the word lost was a translation issue.
I asked how his study was going. He said he had a medical science test last week and the teacher did not give him credit for his answers to one of the questions. The question was, “how does the body control water and electrolytes and how does it balance them”. Rakib said he had answered the question in detail and was confident in his answer. He asked the teacher why he did not get credit for his answer. The question was a two part question. The second part was “what is the summery of the question”. During the oral portion of the exam Rakib told the teacher he had answered the question in detail and that he did not understand the second part of his question. The teacher explained that he wanted to know what
resources and reference material the students used to get the information for their answer. Rakib told the teacher what books he used to obtain the knowledge of the subject and the teacher agreed to give him full credit for his answer.
Rakib said most of his study is hard and he must spend most of his time studying. Rakib said he and his two roommates have become good friends. They are also medical students and they have formed a study group and help each other. He said “a group study is a must for a medical student”. Rakib said that for the past three days he has been studying until 3:00 AM. He is studying for his first card exam. A card is an area of study and there is a card exam at the end of the study period. Rakib’s first card exam will be in anatomy. He said he enjoys anatomy and feel he will do well on the exam.
Rakib asked me to extend his love to the Scouts and their families. He specifically asked that I thank the members of the Neshanic Reformed Church and the Cub Scouts of Pack 1776 for the money they raised for him, their compassion and generosity. He also asked that I tell the Scouts he was proud of them for attending Scout Sunday. I assured him that I would.