A Day in the Life
My name is Raihan and I am eleven years old. I live in a village in Bangladesh where the rice paddies stretch out so far they look like a green ocean. When the monsoon rains come, the whole world turns silver and warm, and the frogs sing so loud at night you would think there were thousands of them. There probably are.
Every morning I wake up to the sound of the azaan, the call to prayer, coming from the mosque at the center of our village. My mother is already in the kitchen making paratha, flaky, layered flatbread fried in oil until it turns golden brown. She serves it with a fried egg and sweet tea. My little sister always tries to steal the crispiest piece, and my mother pretends not to notice.
After breakfast I walk to school along the dirt path that runs between the rice paddies. Sometimes I take off my sandals and let my feet sink into the cool mud at the edges. During the wet season, the path floods and my father takes me to school on our rickshaw, the kind you pedal with your legs, painted bright red and blue with pictures of birds on the back. Have you ever ridden in something like that?
My family raises fish in a pond behind our house. This is called machh chash, which means fish farming. We grow tilapia and catfish. Every afternoon after school, I help my father scatter rice bran and mustard oil cake across the water for the fish to eat. The pond smells like earth and rain. When we harvest the fish, my mother fries them whole with turmeric and chili until the skin crackles. That is my favorite meal in the whole world.
On Fridays my father and I walk to the mosque together. He wears his white prayer cap and I wear mine. The mosque floor is cool under my bare feet. After prayers, the men sit and talk, and sometimes someone brings sweets made from date palm syrup, thick and sticky and dark as honey. My father says Friday is the best day because the whole community gathers.
In the evenings my grandmother tells us stories on the veranda while the mosquitoes hum outside the net. She tells us about the rivers. Bangladesh has more rivers than almost any country on earth. She says the rivers are the blood of our land. I believe her. The Padma River is so wide that when I stand on one bank, the other side looks like a thin gray line.
What is the biggest river near where you live? I bet it is not as wide as the Padma.
My family is proud to be Shaikh. There are more Shaikh people than almost any other group in Bangladesh, millions and millions of us. We speak Bengali, we love our land, and we take care of each other. That is what matters most.
Fun Facts
- Bangladesh has more than 700 rivers, and the Shaikh people live in villages scattered across the river delta, one of the largest deltas on Earth.
- Rickshaws in Bangladesh are works of art. Drivers decorate them with hand-painted scenes of animals, flowers, and famous landmarks, making each one unique.
- The Shaikh are the largest Muslim people group in the world by population, with over 128 million people, more than the entire population of Japan.
- Fish is so important to the Shaikh diet that there is a Bengali saying: Mache bhate Bangali, “Fish and rice make a Bengali.”
- During the monsoon season (June to October), up to one-third of Bangladesh can be underwater, and Shaikh children often travel to school by boat.
How to Pray for the Shaikh
- Pray that Shaikh families who gather at the mosque each Friday would have the chance to hear about Jesus and His love for them in their own Bengali language.
- Pray for Shaikh fathers and mothers who work hard in fish farms and rice paddies, that God would provide for their families and open doors for them to know Him.
- Pray that Shaikh children like Raihan would one day hold a Bible in Bengali and read the stories of Jesus for themselves.
How Kids Can Help
- Pray: Choose one day a week to pray for Shaikh children by name, ask God to make Himself known to them through dreams, friends, or His Word.
- Learn: Find Bangladesh on a map and learn three facts about the country to share with your family at dinner.
- Share: Tell a friend about the Shaikh people and why they need prayer, most people have never heard of them.
- Give: Ask your parents about supporting Bible translation or radio ministry that reaches Bengali-speaking people in Bangladesh.
Scripture to Remember
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9, ESV)