Bangladesh, India and Chikungunya!

We mentioned in our last letter that we were off to Bangladesh at the end of September as part of our capacity strengthening work with BMS. We had a great time there working with friends in the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha (BBCS) and its branch organisation, SHED Board (Social Health & Development Board). We were able to support them in areas such as job description development, project development and proposal writing to donors. We also got to spend time with a group of enthusiastic and brave young people who are working in different parts of Bangladesh, often in difficult circumstances. It was a privilege to hear their stories and learn of their experiences. We were also able to spend some time with Peter and Louise Lynch, fellow BMS Overseas Workers, who are based in BBCS in Dhaka. We are very grateful that we get these opportunities to meet so many amazing people in the course of our work, both in Nepal and in other countries.

After a few weeks at home in Nepal our next adventure took us to India, where again we were privileged to meet many dedicated and inspiring people. We flew from Kathmandu to Kolkata where we had one night in the BMS Guest House there (yes, there's a BMS Guest House in Kolkata!) The next day we were excited to be flying from there to Nagaland, somewhere we hadn't been to before (if you don't know where that is, we'll leave it up to you to look on a map). We stayed in Nagaland for five days, visiting a number of institutions and taking part in some workshops alongside and getting to know BMS friends who are from Nagaland and in whose team we are now based. Megan shared about disability inclusion and Alan talked about Disaster Risk Reduction and how both should be part of a Christian response to people in need. On a couple of occasions we were also asked to share our own story and about the work in Nepal. We also got some 'tourist' time in, including a visit to the War Cemetery in Kohima, the state capital of Nagaland, commemorating the Battle of Kohima, a significant battle of WW2. It was an interesting and moving experience.

We returned to Kolkata and again stayed in the BMS Guest House for a few days, taking some time to be tourists there as well as catching up with Ben and Gillian Francis, BMS workers in Kolkata. It has beautiful grounds and is quite an oasis in the midst of busy Kolkata, so gave us great space to relax a bit.

Over this whole time, Alan has been suffering from 'Chikungunya'. Something we had never heard of until we went to Bangladesh, where some of our friends there had also been affected by it. It's a mosquito-borne viral infection that attacks the joints. A couple of days after our return to Kathmandu from Bangladesh, Alan started to seize up. For three days he couldn't move without Megan's help and even now still has painful joints – hands, knees and shoulders especially. It's been, and still is, a very unpleasant experience!

As we look ahead to the next few weeks, Megan will be travelling to Rukum once again to support the rehabilitation work in the hospital there and Alan will be helping to run some workshops on strategy within HDCS, the BMS partner we are seconded to here in Kathmandu.

The political turmoil that we reported on in the last newsletter has calmed down for the time being, although we feel that the situation could boil over at any time, especially as the time gets nearer to the planned elections in March next year. There is an interim government in place until then but what happens next is uncertain.

Please join us in giving thanks for: encouraging and inspiring visits to Bangladesh and India.

And in asking that: Alan fully recovers soon; safe travel for Megan to Rukum and a useful time there.

With thanks as always for your interest and support,

Alan and Megan xx