My Return To Bangladesh: The Rohingya Refugee Crisis and beyond

The Rohingya Crisis

What you need to know

-The Rohingya are a mostly Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar, they have been called the "world's most persecuted minority"
-Myanmar's government does not recognize the Rohingya as lawful citizens though they have been in the region for over a century, they were denied land, property rights and access to education and employment
-attacks on the Rohingya have been widespread, and has been called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
-more than half a million Rohingya have fled for neighboring Bangladesh since just August 2017

-many organizations(BRAC, Doctors without Borders, UNICEF, MedGlobal, HOPE Foundation) have been involved in the widespread response but there is still so much to be done
-slowly infrastructure is being built, hospitals, clinics and the large task of providing sustainable solutions are underway including local sourcing of translators, educators, health care professionals

How Can We Help?
I will be leaving for Bangladesh in a week and will have an opportunity to spend some time in the Refugee camps with the team from MedGlobal (www.medglobal.org), helping in any way possible.

So many of you have sent me supplies to take with me and the suitcases are full! I know many more are looking to contribute, one option is to donate on the MedGlobal site, alternatively I will be releasing a link for a GoFundMe campaign, in both instances I can ensure that the money you are sending is going towards health care supplies and health care delivery for the Rohingya people who are in desperate need. Med Global is looking to provide a lasting footprint, sustainable solutions to help improve long term outcomes for this group of people who have undergone so much strife.


Bangladesh Ultrasound Initiative: Update 
As far as the ongoing ultrasound project in Dhaka--those of you who were following along last year and those of you who donated, you will be happy to know that one year later and our efforts in Dhaka have been sustained mostly due to the incredible persistence of the physicians we spent extra time with allowing them to become trainers themselves. I will be returning in just a week and will have a chance to share all the successes with you all as your contributions made this possible!


Thanks for coming along on this journey and stay tuned!