The Story of BanglaCymru - by Wil Morus Jones

Here you will see a record and also some of the stories related to the work of BanglaCymru in Bangladesh from year to year. This record will also be part of the chairperson's annual report to members of the charity.

Part 1 - 2008

I spent 3 weeks on a fact finding mission in Bangladesh on the invitation of Dr Jishumoy Dev (March/April 08) seeing the daily life situation of local people in a third world country. According to the United Nations' statistics Bangladesh is the poorest county in Asia. There's no financial support from the government if you're sick and cannot work, or for child care or if you're disabled. I saw so many badly disfigured and disabled people dumped on the streets hoping to get a few pennies from passers-by. There are children as young as six out working every day, some of them with no family or home. The environment in the cities are incredibly shocking for the poor - housing, sanitation, clean water etc.

A paralysed boy, asking for somebody to take care of him, A family of young children wandering the streets, a little girl with burnt feet begging on the street.

I spent time with Dr Ayub Ali, Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at Chittagong, College and Hospital and other hospitals seeing work carried out on burns and cleft palate and lips. Burns is a huge problem mainly because most of the population is dependant on fires for cooking etc. Cleft lip / palate is more prevalent in this part of the world than any other. There's a great deal of superstition about the condition, and because the majority of the population is illiterate and uneducated many still believe that the devil has possessed them. There were so many stories about mothers leaving their babies when they are born with the condition, the husband blaming the wife and leaving the family unsupported. Even if they are brought up loved by their families they live a life of shame and desolation being isolated, unable to find friends and later on in life unable to get work and marry. I saw many of these patients and saw them after they had been treated. The difference was astounding! I was amazed and inspired.

Dr Ayub Ali (left). Electricity supply is irregular with dangerous equipment (right)

I spent most of my time with Dr Jishu Dev, a family doctor and trainee surgeon at his medical centre and in various hospitals. I discovered that most of his patients were suffering with malnutrition or diseases associated with poor hygiene. Some couldn't afford the few pennies needed to see the doctor, and invariably Dr Jishu would pay the fees himself and much of the time he would also pay for further treatment. Naturally, I tried to contribute before he had a chance to open his wallet. After all I could afford it much easier on a teacher's pension than his pathetic 20 GBP per week wages.

Dr Jishu with a patient

During my time there I became friends with members of the socialist party of Bangladesh. They were mainly students from the Chittagong University. Many evenings I was asked to visit their centre to be questioned about life in the West and to talk politics. All of them had joined because they were seeking a way of helping their fellow-countrymen. They took me on numerous trips to see their work in the community. They even asked me to entertain the children on their New Years Day celebrations on a borrowed keyboard. When I arrived at the theatre there were 2,000 people present! They were very appreciative - out of pity I suspect.

As I was leaving I thanked Dr Jishu (Jesus) for his kindness and the unforgettable experiences he had given me. I said that if I could help in any way I would do my best. He jumped on the offer, and that was the beginning of BanglaCymru.

Typical house in Chittagong

After arriving back home in Wales I invited friends to become trustees and started writing to all our friends. The response was mainly positive and money started coming in. Bank mandates were invaluable because we were guaranteed a sum every month and could plan ahead more easily. We naturally elected Dr Jishu medical co-ordinator which meant that for every BanglaCymru event in Bangladesh he would create a medical team, hire a hospital for a week and invite patients.

Part 2 - 2008

In November 08 BanglaCymru started on its work. I travelled back to Bangladesh. We had agreed on 14 operations. Dr Jishu had invited Bangladesh's most eminent surgeon on the cleft condition, Dr AJM Salek to be chief surgeon for the work and he had agreed. He invited me to a 'cleft camp' sponsored by an international bank in a remote part of Bangladesh. This was a method of reaching cleft patients who by and large would never have an opportunity to be treated. He hoped that this would be a learning experience for me for BanglaCymru to arrange such campaigns in future. I travelled down the Ganges overnight with his medical team and equipment and reached a town by the name of Borishal where an agent of the medical team had previously been round the neighbouring villages with picture posters and rickshaws with loudspeakers to inform the population of the treatment on offer. We had expected to treat about 50 patients. We saw so many horrifically disfigured children and young people and babies dying because they couldn't suck any nourishment because of their cleft condition and people who had been treated very badly by untrained local medical people and some who had even been with witch doctors! At the end of our period at Borishal a hundred and fifty patients had arrived. Six of them had travelled very, very far, and Dr Salek offered them money to travel further to Dhaka where BanglaCymru was going to do it work the following week. I agreed to fund the extra patients immediately. The medical team worked from early morning till late night every day. It was an invaluable experience for me.

Dr AJM Salek

Back in the slums of Dhaka the first day of BanglaCymru had come. I arrived at the South View hospital to find a big BanglaCymru banner at the entrance to the hospital. There awaiting us were most of the patients. I came to know so many of the patients during the week.

The first BanglaCymru patient was a little girl by the name of Kamrun. She had been previously treated for a cleft lip by Dr Salek and she was here this time to have her cleft palate treated. I noticed her father was also suffering with a serious cleft lip. I asked him if he would like to have the treatment himself. He told me that he agreed to be treatment when Kamrun had her lip repaired but god had given him a sign that he shouldn't have the treatment. When asked how he had received the sign he said that he started shaking on the way to the theatre! Thankfully, he was willing for his little girl to be treated.

Kamrun, BanglaCymru's first patient with her father.

Another patient was Taslima, a badly disfigured 18 yr old girl. When she went back to her clothing factory the following her consultation with us, she was told that if she missed more work to go for treatment she would lose her job. Despite this she arrived the following morning, had her operation, lost her job but was given a new one by Dr Salek cleaning the hospital.

The story that really touched me was the story of Manu, an 18 year old young man. He lived in a very remote part of Bangladesh, far from Dhaka. His mother had recently died, his father had remarried and the new stepmother had thrown him out because she thought that the devil had possessed Manu because of his serious cleft lip. He decided to travel all the way to Dhaka where he knew he had two families of relatives living. When he arrived at the front door of the first house and explained who he was the door was shut in his face. The same happened at the second house. He then found a job looking after the gates of a block of flats, and it was there he lived and worked. One day one of the residents of the flats saw a BanglaCymru advert in the local newspaper, told him about the offer and brought Manu to the hospital. Manu had never been to a hospital before. He was very nervous. After the operation the man from the flats came to see him and told me his story. I was really touched and gave him 15 GBP (fortnight's salary) so he could have a bed and keep himself safe and clean after his surgery. After four days Manu came back to have his stitches removed. He didn't understand this medical concept, so he was exceptionally nervous. His mouth was shaking so much that the doctor found it difficult to take the stitches out. I was called to calm him down, and he asked me, a brave young man, to hold his hand! A few days later I received a message from the resident of the flat to say that Manu had disappeared! Thankfully, there's a happy end to the story. Manu called him a few days later to say that he had called his father after the surgery, and mostly because of curiosity invited his son back. They were all amazed with his new face and his father arranged a room for him, and now he's back in his own community looking normal and looking forward to a normal life.

Manu, with a cleft lip on the left. On the right is a picture if Manu the day after his surgery

Back in Dhaka there was great haste in South View Hospital. I was in and out of the theatre witnessing all the operations and trying to comfort some of the young ones as they came into the theatre. Some of them showed incredible courage when they jumped onto the operating table and watched as the needle went into the back of their hands to start the procedures. The changes to their faces for those who had operations on their lips were astounding even a few hours after surgery. It was only four days after that they all came to have their stitches out and one could see the beginnings of genuine and grateful smiles on their faces. They all went home with a Welsh dragon flag.

There were, however a few disappointments. Having spent so much time persuading the BanglaCymru bank officials to release the 2,400 GBP I had sent electronically ( in Bangladesh when a 'large' amount of money is transferred there's a suspicion that it might be terrorists' money laundering) , when it was finally released it's worth went down to about 2,050 GBP. This was due to the depreciation of the pound. However, one day when the pound recovers the sums transferred will be much more favourable. There was another disappointment, when, during the BanglaCymru week in Dhaka a mother brought her sons to us. They were born without noses. I will never forget the disappointment on her face when Dr Salek told her that nothing could be done to help them.

After arriving home, however there was joyful news awaiting me. Bethlehem chapel, Gwaelod y Garth had decided to adopt BanglaCymru as their charity for the year, Clwb y Bont and the Globetrotters cricket teams had raised a considerable amount of money with their sponsored game, more schools had raised money and the monthly income from donor's bank mandates had reached 500 GBP and, after considerable anxiety BanglaCymru was officially registered with the Charity Commission. Things are certainly looking up!

Part 1 - 2009

It was a pleasure once again to visit the pauper's South View Hospital, Dhaka where Dr Jishu, the medical co-ordinator had arranged at least thirty five operations to take place under the banner of BanglaCymru at the end of April, 2009. I was especially pleased to learn that Dr Salek, Bangladesh's foremost surgeon on the cleft lip/palate condition and owner of the hospital would be leading the medical team once again.

This time, the majority of the patients had already been selected by Dr Salek, and the work of changing lives started immediately. Some of the patients had travelled from far flung areas of the country to be treated by this wizard, and the majority referred to him by a number of charities working in a variety of areas in every corner of the country. It had taken eight hours in the intense heat of Bangladesh in a bus that resembled zinc shed on wheels for one young man to bring his young cousin, whose mother had died to be treated. He told me that this minor inconvenience was nothing in comparison with the suffering endured by the little one since the day he was born with this condition.

One after one, these deformed faces and beautiful eyes came into the operating theatre; many of them unaware of what was happening and others very nervous about what was going to take place. The majority had never been in a hospital before and the image was a frightening one of having to lie on an operating table surrounded by masked men in green sterilised robes amongst scary machinery with one of them shortly using a knife to rearrange the part of their faces that had been their curse since birth. But the hope of having a new, normal life gave them the courage to step forward to face what providence and BanglaCymru had prepared for them.

On the left, the two cousins. On the right, the Rickshaw driver before and after

It was to avoid the shaming of his four children that a rickshaw driver, the lowest of the low in Bangladesh with a severe cleft lip, had come to be treated. He had suffered harsh, unrelenting ridicule all his life, and now didn't want his children to suffer the same because of their father's condition, so he had plucked up the courage to face treatment. The day after his operation I showed him his photo on my camera and told him he now looked very handsome. He responded by saying, "Yes, but I will not leave my wife after all this. She looked after me when I was ugly!"

Thirty-seven babies, children and adults were treated under the banner of BanglaCymru and given a new lease of life in this most needy country. I know that every one of them will be so grateful to you for the rest of their lives.

Part 2 - 2009

Gethin Harkin at the summit of Kilimanjaro and Dr Jishu at the Assembly with AMs

Here are some of the highlights of the Summer and Autumn

• - The visit of Dr Jishu to Wales and the warm hearted welcome he received everywhere.
• - The successful attempt of Gethin Harkin to climb to the summit of Kilamanjaro to raise a substantial sum to the charity.
• - The generous contributions of the following institutions; Capel Bethlehem, Gwaelod y Garth, Ysgol Gyfun y Cymer, Rhondda, Ysgol Llyn y Forwyn , Ferndale, Ysgol Llwyncelyn, Porth, Ysgol Pen y Garth, Penarth, The Inner Wheel, Crwys Chapel Sunday School, Rotary Club Cardiff Bay and all members of Merched y Wawr across Wales.
• - The untiring efforts of the mother of the late Dr Donna Khalil who suddenly died at a young age to raise money in her memory.
• - The innumerable contributions of all supporters.

Part 3

This time we operated on 40 cleft patients bringing the total to 107 in just over a year! During our medical assessment day two children with appalling burn injuries were brought to us by their parents in the hope of getting them treated. The burns had contracted which meant that one girl's head had been pulled down to one shoulder and another little boy who couldn't raise his arms as a result of the contraction. Maybe in time, with your consent BanglaCymru could finance a few of these burns operations as well. Some other patients came with appalling facial disfigurements, and although they were not of the cleft nature the chief surgeon was able to put them in contact with somebody somewhere who could help them. All of these patients had very distressing stories to tell. Maybe I will have an opportunity to convey them to you some other time. I would be more than willing to visit any institution to share them with you

Every single operation was a great success. It was a very difficult thing for the patients to smile to show their delight but their handshakes and hugs demonstrated their gratitude. These hugs are for all of you.

To date many positive developments have taken place in this beautiful country to facilitate the work of BanglaCymru including the formation of a local committee to oversee the work and the monitor the funds and we have given it firm guidelines and regulations. We have also started creating a network of important contact people to provide us with patients. Very importantly, we have at last opened a reliable local bank account which will avert the absolute nightmares I have experienced trying to exchange funds and cash travellers' cheques. Also, a BanglaCymru office has been established with not a penny used from our funds. I will always keep to my promise of not spending any money on administration.

Part 1 - 2010

The latest session of operations took place in the Sylhet area where BanglaCymru hired an operating theatre for three days at the Women's Medical College Hospital, Sylhet. Following the consultation and medical assessment it was decided that forty patients were healthy enough to undergo the operation. The majority of the patients were extremely poor making a living from fishing in ponds and riversides without any hope of ever being able to buy the smallest boat. Others scraped a living by gleaning in the fields and one or two driving rickshaws which means that they are regarded as belonging to the lowest level of society in Bangladesh.

On the left, the operating theatre. On the right, the sign outside the hospital

As usual, the session was organised by our medical co-ordinator, Dr Jishu a and Dr Salek, one of Bangladesh's foremost specialist on the cleft condition once again was the chief surgeon. This kind of session is called a 'cleft camp' in Bangladesh; nothing like the Urdd or Boy's Scouts' camps here! However, the main purpose of these camps is to go out to remote areas to inform people about the treatment and to reach patients who could not travel to the capital city let alone afford the surgery. This time the medical team consisted of three new assistant surgeons apart from Dr Jishu; Dr Rupon, Dr Polash and Dr Mannan and the anaesthesiologist was Dr Ragib. The workload was exhausting and, due to the time constraints one day they worked from 8.00am till 2.00am the following day!

This time again many burn patients came to the hospital pleading to be treated. Once these ill-fated people become aware of free treatment of the exterior body they think they are eligible themselves. It's a heartless task to turn them away. I sincerely hope that BanglaCymru in future will be able to assist these patients. Other problems that became apparent once again during the medical assessment were patients who had been previously treated for the condition by unqualified people begging for the work to be reversed and to be treated anew and others who had unfortunately been to the quack / witch doctors and exhibiting the tabij round their necks. These are small tubes of 'special potions' which are of no medical value at all.

On the left, Babu and his mother. On the right, the deformed face and hand

One sad story was that of Babu. He's a six year old little boy who looks half his age living with his mother. Babu's mother gleans in the fields and mends clothes in the evenings to earn enough to keep them alive from day to day. The mother lost a child before Babu was born from an illness that would have been easily treated here in Wales. Babu had medical problems other than his cleft lip including a congenital deformation of his hand and respiratory complications. The father had abandoned the two when Babu was a baby and blamed the mother for the children's medical conditions, and badly assaulted her many times before leaving. But that was not the end of the mother's misery. Her mother in law who lived nearby taunted and assaulted her repeatedly for bringing shame and curse on the family. This is one symptom of the belief that emanates from the superstition associated with the condition amongst the uneducated. Unfortunately, Babu was not one of the patients who had their lives changed at Sylhet, but we have invited him later in the year to Dhaka, the capital city to a hospital with better medical facilities and where all his medical problems will be addressed. BanglaCymru will not abandon him. However, forty children and young people were treated at Sylhet and will now start new lives in this beautiful, noble but extremely deprived country.

Part 2 - 2010

It wasn't the usual sunny weather that welcomed me to Bangladesh this time but unrelenting rain and threatening floods. The natives are convinced that the global warming is confounding the natural six season order of Bangladesh and evidence of that was that the monsoon season had arrived far too early. The rain might be an opportunity to clean the dirty streets and the open channels of the city that men use openly as a toilet. However, I soon changed my mind when I heard about so many people who lived by the river sides losing their lives and a bus full of students swept to their death in a local river. Following those days of heavy rain we experienced stifling, unbearably hot weather even for the Bangladeshis for this time of the year. To crown it all panic broke out in the community when anthrax spread into the city. Nothing in moderation, whatever it might be, happens in Bangladesh

It was the Hindus' turn this time to celebrate a special event in their worshipping cycle, namely the Durga Purja. The clay effigies of the Durga with her ten arms and her accompanying effigies in their attire of splendour in every corner of the Hindu neighbourhood were truly amazing. Even more amazing were the raucous processions taking the effigies of the Durga to the rivers for the elements to repossess them.

But, our time came to start on our prime mission. I travelled with Dr Jishu, our medical co-ordinator, Professor A J Salek our chief surgeon and the rest of the team on a long and tiring bus journey to the town of Rajshahi on the banks of the Ganges situated near the border with India at the north western part of Bangladesh. We crossed through unique lowlands of marshes, swamplands and lakes where we could appreciate the precarious ecological balance which is the daily threat to life in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladeshis themselves Rajshahi is a particularly poor area because the swamplands had been a barrier to the development of the area and hardly any resident would venture to the other side of the marshes.

As we approached the hospital a large crowd came to greet us. Many bowed to show their respect and others smiled widely with excitement as we alighted from the bus and unloaded our medical equipment. Here we saw scores of babies, children and adults with various degrees and forms of the cleft condition and during the next eight hours we assessed in excess of a hundred patients all with similar sad stories. We all smiled when one elderly man came to be treated with a very severe cleft lip and he was probably the oldest patient I had met on my many visits to Bangladesh.

"How old are you?" Asked the chief surgeon. "Fifty" was the answer. The surgeon smiled and asked him further, "Tell me what it was like here during the British Rule and the time of Gandhi?" He replied, "I was a young man at the time but I remember it well!" British Rule in the old India came to an end in 1947!

The next patient was a woman of approximately the same age. She had an atrocious cleft lip and a badly deformed gum but her beaming smile endeared her to everyone.

"How old are you?" asked the surgeon. "Forty", she replied with confidence and another cheerful smile. "I doubt it", said the surgeon mischievously, and she responded and said; "Well, I lost my father and mother when I was young and they never told me how old I was before they died!"

One young boy of approximately eighteen years of age was asked to leave the room to ask his father outside how old he was, but the vast majority of the patients were young children and babies. It was so difficult to try and comfort them in their nervousness because of the language problem. They were facing a panel of strange men in a room full of unfamiliar medical equipment with the doctors prodding their fragile lips and forcing their mouths wide open to examine their cleft palates. It was the smallest quota of sentimentality that was ever given to Bangladesh and even smaller to these vulnerable children that evening.

It was so sad again to see patients that had been previously treated unsatisfactorily and where the procedure could not be reversed. One tearful mother brought in her twelve year old son who had lost all his premaxila, which is the part between his mouth and nose. He looked dreadful. A surgeon with no plastic qualification had removed all tissue and muscle from this part of his face and nothing could be done within our limitations at Rajshahi to help the boy. The mother pleaded with the surgeon to do something. With great emotion myself I saw the mother leave desolately with no positive outcome to her efforts. However I saw through the side of the door that she was reluctant to leave the waiting room. I could see her staring sorrowfully at me through the crack in the door. When the door was opened for the next patient the mother dashed back to the room like a hurricane, passed the surgeons and officials and threw herself on the floor and kissed my feet in her anguish and desperation. "I beg you to help my child," she cried. The blood drained from my face! Shaken myself I pleaded with the chief surgeon to offer something. What about some kind of cosmetic treatment? What about some kind of prosthetics? Anything at all! I reasoned as if I knew exactly all the available medical options. The following day the mother returned with her son. I could see the boy wondering from one room to another, presumably seeking help, and without doubt, being directed covertly by his mother. This was one of the most poignant scenes I had ever seen! Later that day somebody told me that the chief surgeon had given him his phone number and the address of a specialist hospital in Dhaka. I was in such awe for the perseverance, the unconditional love and the sheer unwavering commitment of the mother to give the best to her child.

The mother and son , The smile of the '40' year old , The old man from Ghandi's time

Back home in Wales we have one specialist cleft centre which is in Morriston Hospital, Swansea. Here the complete, comprehensive cleft treatment is offered, not only to the child but also for the parents. In all, there are nine centres in the UK, and no surgeon in any other NHS hospital is permitted to undertake this specialised cleft procedure. I hope one day that this rule will be adopted in Bangladesh.

During my stay, despite the cholera outbreak in our hospital, an amazing 98 cleft patients received the highest quality, successful surgery - an astounding achievement for BanglaCymru! In addition, we promised to fund the treatment of our first burn victim who was a twenty-five year old girl who had burns to her face and neck, and due to the contractures she could not move her head properly. You will remember that BanglaCymru recently decided to fund the treatment of twelve burns patients annually.

I send you all my very best wishes and my most sincere gratitude for your support. I am confidence that you will keep supporting the charity so that we can treat more than the astonishingly 251 lives we have by now changed because of your kindness.

Part 1 - 2011

The beginning of the new year brought great happiness to one very poor family in Bangladesh. Sabbir, a four year old little boy who became our first burn patient received the last part of his treatment financed by BanglaCymru. When Sabbir was only one year old he crawled to where his mother had some liquid boiling in a saucepan and when he pulled himself up his hand went into the scorching liquid. His father, a 1 pound a day labourer couldn't afford proper medical treatment for him and took him to a 'quack' or witch doctor. This little boy must have suffered so much, and this injury left him disabled with all his fingers contracted and his hand permanently closed and disfigured. This in Bangladesh is a great tragedy because if a child cannot work then he becomes a financial burden for his parents. Dr Jishu himself operated on Sabbir with a series of skin graft operations and now Sabbir can open his hand normally.

This time, at the beginning of the year the BanglaCymru medical team under the leadership of Prof Dr Salek travelled to Noahkhali, situated close to the coast of the Bay of Bengal and close to the estuary of the Ganges to hold a BanglaCymru cleft camp. Noahkhali, translated 'New Canal' is a place which has suffered greatly from natural disasters and great human conflict during the struggle for independence during the last part of the last century. Once again, all the cleft patients form the surrounding area came to be assessed for this life changing operation. One typical story was that of Tahiman, a fifteen year old girl, although, similar to most of the children she wasn't too sure about her age. Her parents struggled to afford to send her to school during her younger days. Despite her happiness to be enrolled at the local school, she was a cleft child and consequently her life became unbearable because of the teasing and being shunned by all around her. She left and remained illiterate and uneducated ever since.

During that week, Tahmina and 63 other cleft patients were given a new chance in life as a result of the kindness of BanglaCymru supporters. The total now is an astounding 315 operations.

Part 2 - 2011

April brought another opportunity for the BanglaCymru medical team to change lives. This time the team went to a small region called Tangail which is part of the Dhaka Division in the middle of Bangladesh. This is an area approximately the same geographical size as Anglesey, but instead of Anglesey's population of seventy thousand Tangail has the population of the whole of Wales, which is 3.5 million! There's a natural complex river system here that brings great benefits, but during the rainy season brings much suffering and damage. Agriculture is the area's main industry with fishing and weaving very common amongst the working class. Similar to the rest of the country, only 29% of the area's population is literate.

The operating theatre of the local hospital was hired; a very poor and inadequate establishment, and consequently many medical equipment and paraphernalia had to be transported there to facilitate the work. Approximately 150 patients came desperate to be treated for a variety of medical problems, but only 56 of them were cleft patients, which is the prime mission of our medical team. However, as usual, those who were disappointed were referred to other charities that could offer help, and although 13 cleft patients were not given treatment for a variety of reasons they were given instructions on how to meet the team later in the year. So, those that were fit and strong enough to have the operation which would change their lives for ever were chosen

One of them was Fahima. She was a 15 year old girl with a cleft lip and palate. Her mother was very anxious about her daughter's future especially because there was a good chance that she could marry soon, but only if she was treated for both conditions. The prospective husband had specified this proviso. It was explained to the mother that it was highly unusual to offer a palate correction for a person of her daughter's age because of the risk of uncontrolled bleeding, and also treating both lip and palate at the same time was risky. However, the mother pleaded with the chief surgeon to carry out both procedures saying that the medical risk was less than the risk of not marrying and living an unhappy and 'unsuccessful' life. Thankfully, the unusual risky double treatment was successful and the after a few days the two went home happily to arrange the wedding!

Fahima before the operation | Fahima in the recovery room

This 'cleft camp' again was a great accomplishment, and as a consequence of the kindness of the BanglaCymru supporters 43 cleft patients were given successful operations in Tangail. Since late 2008 we have to date operated on 359 poor patients and I know that the gratefulness of the patients and the medical team to the people of Wales is truly sincere and heartfelt.

Part 3 - 2011

Over the remote marshlands of the Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh I travelled for the second time in twelve months with the BanglaCymru medical team. It was a long and frightening journey to reach Rajshahi town hospital where out 'cleft camp' had been arranged. The only qualification needed by Bangladeshi drivers is the ability at an alarming speed to break every rule in the Highway Code every couple of miles. Six persons are killed on Bangladesh roads every hour, but thankfully we didn't become part of those statistics!

Exactly a year ago we came here for the first time and treated many patients. The venture was such a success that we were invited back to see numerous new patients. There was a rumour that a large number of patients had registered. This naturally didn't mean that every patient would be treated. Some of the reasons for not selecting a prospective patient are a lack of nourishment and the need to fortify the patient's health and babies too young with withstand surgery but their details are kept for further consultation. Also, there are conditions that are not cleft and therefore referred to alternative specialists and some complicated conditions referred to the world famous cleft surgeon, Dr Sommerlad to see on his annual visit to Dhaka. A cleft face rather than a cleft lip or palate is a truly frightening condition and during our stay we saw three. We were able to operate on two and the other one will see Dr Sommerlad. Sadly, we see one or two wretched patients whose extreme and grim conditions are without any hope of any kind of remedy.

One person who came was a grandmother and her young grandson. Tearfully she told us about her son and his wife who lived with her. When the child was born with a cleft lip, the mother became so frightened thinking about the social repercussions that she ran away, abandoned her newly-born and she was never seen again: the curse of the cleft mother! The grandmother decided to raise the child with all the love she possessed.

The grandmother and her grandson | Leaving the hospital after the operation

No-one can comprehend the untiring work of the surgeons and the rest of the team during a 'camp' period. Professor Salek led the team with the support of assistant surgeons Dr Jishu (our co-ordinator), Dr Janaed, Dr Rupon and Dr Shalham the anaesthetist with four OT (Operation Theatre) boys. Most of the time three operation tables were in operation and some of the more complex operations taking more than three hours and the easier ones taking approximately one hour. But, one of the most remarkable things was the long hours they worked daily. They started promptly at 9.00am and the earliest they closed the theatre door was 1.00 am the following day. This went on ungrudgingly for six days!

One important development during my stay was the arrangements made by Dr Jishu, our medical co-ordinator with a local hospital in Chittagong to locate permanently a BanglaCymru unit there. As the BanglaCymru cleft project's name becomes more and more well known in the Chittagong area patients will be referred there for consultations and surgery. Dr Jishu performed four operations before leaving for Rajshahi and we expect cleft and burns patients to visit him regularly in future. Therefore, in future we will arrange a combination of cleft camps in various parts of Bangladesh as well as regular operations in our unit in Chittagong.

Part 1 - 2012