November 8, 2009

I spoke with Rakib this morning (Monday). Rakib & I tried to contact each other yesterday but there must have been a problem with the phone lines, neither of us could get through. This has been an occasional problem but, surprisingly it has not been a big problem.
Rakib will spend the morning studying and attend coaching class in the afternoon. He will go to the internet cafe tomorrow to collect additional study material. He said he did not receive any email from the scouts last week. He would like to hear about the scout’s families, culture and scout activities. He request that scouts send a photo if you correspond with him. Photos should be in a small format if possible, they take a long time for him to download. I asked Rakib if he has been involved in any scout activities. He said no in an apologetic tone. He said that he had to spend all of his time studying for the medical college admission exam; this is his priority at this time. He intends to get involved in scouting again when he attends college.
I asked Rakib how he spends a typical day, he offered the following routine.
7:00 AM – He wakes up
7:30 – 9:30 AM – Study time.
9:30 AM – Breakfast
10:00 – 1:00 PM – Study time
1:30 PM Midday meal
2:00 – 4:00 PM Travel to and Coaching Class (On Mondays Rakib stops at the internet café and collects study material posted by his teachers. Some he reads online others he pays the café to print and takes them with him. He also checks to see if there is any email from the scouts.
4:00 – 6:00 PM Rakib travels back to the student hostel and tries to spend a little time relaxing. He talks with the other students and sometimes takes a walk with them in the late afternoon early evening.
6:00 -6:00 PM Rakib uses this time for personal hygiene. He washes his hands and feet.
6:30 – 10:00 PM Rakib continues studying
10:00 PM Late meal (Dinner)
10:30 – 1:00 AM More time spent studying
1:00 AM Bedtime
At some time during the day Rakib finds time for worship
Rakib asked me how things were in the U.S. I informed him that it was not a good week in the U.S. I told him that there was an attack on some of our soildiers at Fort Hood, and that many were killed or injured. I could tell immediately that my comment had stuck a cord within him. Rakib knew of the event and that it was a Muslim man who committed the attack. He told me that the government has released a statement condemning the attack. He was quite upset that some radical people had praised the event.
He spoke a bit about the newly elected government. He said they were making new rules, “some are good, some not so good”. Unlike the U.S. the Bangladesh government has some control over scouts Bangladesh. The new government has made some changes to the national leadership of Scouts Bangladesh which manages both Boy and Girl Scouts. Rakib was not sure if this was a good change. Under the previous government daylight savings time was instituted. They did not make any provision to change back to standard time during the short days of winter. The new government has not done any thing to change it back. This has caused a problem as children must walk to school in the dark. He stated, “using daylight savings time at this time of year is also counter productive as it causes the use of more energy than standard time would”.
I asked Rakib if any of the other students spoke English and if he could practice speaking English with them. He said that the students going to medical college or medical college coaching class spoke English. He informed me that all of the medical books are written in English. He said that Med. School coaching class was over in November and that he would like to attend an English language class in December to improve his comprehension of the language.
Rakib ended the call by extending his love to all of us and by wishing all good health of body and mind.