Cavan girl striving to make a real difference in Bangladesh

Karen Heaslip from the townland of Drumheckna in the environs of Cavan Town, has the courage of her caring convictions, to do what she can, to transform the lives of people less fortunate than herself in the shanty towns of Bangladesh.
An Occupational Therapist by profession, Karen, who is the daughter of Iris and Nelson Heaslip, returned from Bangladesh in mid-December, after spending three months in the town of Savar, to the north-west of the capital Dhaka, where she used her skills to good effect.
Prior to returning to Bangladesh at the beginning of February for at least six months, Karen is organising a monster charity cake sale in Ballinagh Community Centre on Saturday January 25 at 7.30pm. All the proceeds will go towards the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar and sponsoring an Occupational Therapist for a year.
There will also be a raffle on the night with plenty of valuable prizes. The goal is to ultimately raise in the region of €2,000, to ensure that Karen’s endeavours will continue to transform many lives.
Karen told The Anglo-Celt last week that she went out to Bangladesh at the end of September last year and volunteered as an Occupational Therapist for three months, having previously worked in an independent mental hospital in York for three years.
Karen is a graduate of York St John University and has a BSc in Occupational Therapy and her background is working with people who have long term mental health issues.
York St John University has some links with CRP in Bangladesh and she had been au fait with the work that goes on there from her time at the university, and this prompted her to go there.
“It is a completely different world, everything from the people to the traffic. There are lots of shanty towns and there are also beggar’s along the roads,” said Karen.
The CRP was established back in the 1970s by Valerie Taylor from the UK, who was also a volunteer. She went out there after the war of independence and saw the huge need for the rehabilitation of those injured.
“She started off with six patients in a tin shack and courtesy of lots of fundraising and the help of many volunteers, it has evolved into a hospital. When an injured person comes into the hospital now, they will receive all the therapy they require – they have physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. They also have facilities to make their own wheelchairs and they also make specialist seating for children with Cerebral Palsy,” explained Karen.
The people in Bangladesh are all very friendly and eager to learn and they ask about new ideas and modern ways of doing things. The country has a population of between 150 and 160 million people.
CRP operates an inclusive school, which also caters for people with special needs, and also has another special needs school. Tragically, the majority of the children in the special education needs school have been abandoned. The parents don’t have the money to look after them and, as far as they are concerned, they don’t know what is wrong with their child.
Karen made great friendships with other volunteers and local people while she was there last year.
“It was a really humbling experience and led me to realise all the blessings I have had in my life,” she said.
Working with volunteers from Australia, Canada and the UK, she had the opportunity to spend some time in the mental health hospital in Dhaka, an experience she found shocking.
“My eyes were definitely opened when I went there – it is just full of wards and all the doors are locked, patients don’t get out and once you go in there, that is it until you are discharged from the hospital. I asked what they can do for exercise or a change of environment and I was told that they can walk up and down the corridor if they want to,” she said.
The plan now for the 27-year-old Cavan girl is to go back out to Bangladesh at the beginning of February.
“I’m having this cake sale in Ballinagh Community Centre on Saturday January 25, because what I would love to do is return to Bangladesh and sponsor a native occupational therapist,” she said.
Donations are more than welcome and she would also like to bring out some modern OT books.
“I would hope to stay for six months when I return in February. It would take that time to develop Occupational Therapy and mental health and to establish the facility I would like to see in place and lend support. I would like to see a person from Bangladesh working there with the help of the sponsorship. To have an OT working in the mental health sector would say a lot to other professions and other people studying OT – they would see that there is an opportunity to work there.”
The benefits will continue to increase long after patients leave the facility. After they receive treatment and rehabilitation, patients will be introduced to accessible gardens and particularly those from remote villages will see that they can recreate raised beds from local materials such as bamboo, bricks and mud.
“When they return home, they will then have an opportunity to either grow vegetables for their families or to sell,” said Karen.
A worthy cause, for sure.