LAMB NEWS – MARCH 21ST, 2010

February at LAMB was just like January – really busy.

At the hospital, the number of out-patients was more than 20% higher than a year earlier, already higher than the year before. The number of in-patients was 15% higher than a year ago.

These may not sound like great differences, but with the hospital staff already well loaded it has been really stretching their work. For the first time for a long time we had all beds full and even at times patients on trolleys.

Looking at it positively – it seems we are doing the work we have been called to do. The doctors and nurses report ‘we are seeing a lot of very sick patients’.

The large Community Health part of LAMB works in a different way than the hospital. Its activities are funded by different international donors whose programs match the work where LAMB is skilled, and that fit LAMB’s own focus on the poor and on health. Some programs go on for many years; some can be only for one, two or three years. Therefore submitting applications to carry out work is becoming a normal part of life for the Community program. In February we were busy preparing two preliminary applications. In the past one application per year would have been typical, so in February we were very busy.

One of the applications is for a fairly small job - an advisory consultancy only - but it could lead to much larger work. The other proposal involves working in the remote char/ riverine areas of northwest Bangladesh. Life is very difficult for the very many people in these areas – difficult to get to and from because of the river system and floods, and so very poor.

As always, we are not the only applicants to carry out the work, and so we now wait patiently to see if we get beyond the preliminary application stage.

Back on the LAMB site the Training Centre continues at full load, and adding to the challenges of managing this, we are trying to repaint the building. This requires quite a bit of organization and shuffling around. We are using better quality paint, hopefully to get long life. Repainting the hospital in this way two years ago seems to have been very successful.

I mentioned last month that we have started a campaign to remind us to work in the ways that God would have us work. This month was the first of the Values – Caring and Compassionate. As well as posters all around LAMB there have been discussions in small teams everywhere across LAMB to see how they apply in our kind of work – whether it be nursing, training or finance.

For those Christians who pray for LAMB, I would ask you in your prayers to remember some very, very busy people here, and give thanks that we do seem to be able to make a difference