Feed 150 hospital patients in Bangladesh

Thank you to all our donors who are supporting projects at Cox's Bazar Hospital for Women and Children.

This summer monsoon season in Bangladesh (June, July and part of August) has bought record floods to the Cox's Bazar area. The areas surrounding the hospital were regularly underwater and the main path leading to the hospital was usually covered in a foot of water. This made it impossible for patients to walk to the hospital, and those who could afford it made their way in rickshaws. This of course was not possible for the very poorest who can ill afford transportation fares.

The hospital director, Jalal Shoaib, reported also that the inclement weather prevented much progress to the ongoing construction work on the new training center being built at the hospital. Now that the summer rains have reduced, the patient volume has doubled at the hospital both inpatient and outpatient. It is apparent that those who could not travel during the wet season suffered at home and came out when the roads were cleared. It is also the time for many seasonal illnesses related to drinking contaminated standing water. Diarrhea and dysentery are now common, and is deadly among the weakest - the old and also malnourished children.

It is therefore important to provide nourishing food for the poor hospital patients. At the moment, the floods ruined much of the vegetable crops so greens and fruits are hard to come by, or are too expensive. Rice and dhal (boiled lentils) and fish are still available and provide inexpensive nutrition.