Our intrepid writer finds herself in strangely familiar company on the other side of the planet.

A first-hand report by Bonnie Auslander

In the shade of the poolside table umbrella where four of us were gathered, Aisha Lope de Hari-Salleh ’99 looked relaxed but puzzled. I had just introduced her to Amilia Elliott ’98, M.S. ’99, and Jacob Savishinsky ’98, adding that I too had an Ithaca College connection. In fact, I told her, as part of my IC job I had once interviewed her mother, Jamari Salleh ’71. (Photo: Jacob Savishinsky plays guitar and Amilia Elliott sings to entertain Nina; friend Dullaly Chigran looks on.)

Spontaneous gatherings of IC students, alumni, and friends can of course be found from London to Los Angeles, but Aisha had reason to look perplexed: this particular poolside table was in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

It didn’t take long for her to explain to us what she was doing in Bangladesh: she had graduated with a degree in sociology and was now a Peace Corps volunteer based in Jessore, teaching English to secondary school teachers.

"But what," she asked, furrowing her brow, "are all of you doing here?"

Indeed, our situation --- Amilia’s, Jacob’s, and mine --- took a little longer to explain. I was in Bangladesh to be with my husband, Jon Padgham, who was conducting his Ph.D. research on rice diseases. Amilia, a physical therapist, was there to work with our baby, Nina, who has mild cerebral palsy. Jacob, a media studies major, had come along to be with Amilia and to see a new country.

Finding Amilia hadn’t been easy. Back in the spring of 2001, when I decided to leave my three-year position as an admissions writer in IC’s Office of College Relations so that Nina and I could be closer to my husband during the last months of his research, we had hoped to find a Bangladeshi-based PT to work with Nina. But we soon learned that the therapeutic professions barely exist in developing countries. Meanwhile, Nina’s physical therapist, Ithaca College clinical professor Kathy Schlough, warned me that babies who don’t get the therapy they need when they’re learning to walk often show signs of CP later on, through a clumsy gait, for example.

A neighbor in whom I confided our dilemma said, "Why not bring the mountain to Muhammad?" (a particularly apt quote since Bangladesh is 85 percent Muslim): in other words, find a PT who wants to go abroad, and pay her or him to take care of Nina.

Just as it had when my husband and I were first looking for an Ithaca-based therapist for Nina, the IC connection came to the rescue: the Savishinsky family (Joel is the Charles A. Dana Professor in the Social Sciences) told me about their son Jacob’s girlfriend. I telephoned Amilia and offered her a job, a round-trip plane ticket, and a place to stay in Dhaka.

As an admissions writer I had long known and written about IC’s fine PT program. As a mother I had gotten to see firsthand the compassionate and intelligent evaluation and therapy Nina had received from Kathy Schlough as well as from occupational therapy professor Carole Dennis. Now I would get to see the next generation in action: the care of my little daughter by a recent IC graduate.

When we left for Bangladesh, Nina was 18 months old. She had had six months of therapy and had made tremendous progress. Four days after Amilia arrived and began working with her, Nina took her first unassisted steps! Through the months that followed, Amilia more than fulfilled that first promise; we found her to be a gifted and creative PT. And Nina adored her (and Jacob, too!).

Amilia didn’t just take care of Nina, of course. She filled her day with a variety of volunteer positions. Bangladeshi parents were eager for her pediatric expertise, and clinics vied for her time. Eventually she began teaching pediatric physical therapy at the largest children’s hospital in Dhaka through an organization called Center for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed. (Photo: Writer Bonnie Auslander, seated with Nina, and Amilia Elliott at home in Dhaka.)

Jacob’s talents were also in demand. He tutored children at the American International School, edited technical documents, and eventually served as an educational systems designer for Solidarity Center Bangladesh, the local branch of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity. Among his many interesting projects was developing a fire safety program for garment workers, collaborating with the garment workers themselves in the process.

All of us found Dhaka to be both fascinating and overwhelming. It’s a sprawling and unbelievably crowded city with some of the worst noise pollution in the world, its grit and grimness contrasting with the peacock-bright yellows, blue, oranges, and greens of the women’s saris and shalwar kameezes (flowing pantsuits) and the men’s lungis (loincloths).

And living in a Muslim country after September 11, even a moderate and largely pro-American one like Bangladesh, carried its own special challenges. Along with dozens of other Peace Corps volunteers, Aisha was evacuated to Thailand in October because of worries about instability and anti-American sentiment in the country, which had had a Peace Corps relationship only since 1998. In January she returned to "finish things up" and planned to travel around India and then to West Africa. Nina and I returned home early, and my husband finished up his work in December; we both feel lucky that Nina was able to resume physical therapy with Kathy Schlough in Ithaca. As for Amilia and Jacob, they stayed on in Dhaka for two more months in order to keep teaching and writing. The pair then planned to spend three months traveling around southeast Asia, with stops in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Blessed with an open and friendly spirit and brimming with curiosity, they were sure to make new friends along the way --- and none of us will be surprised if some of them are IC alumni.