Following is an excerpt from the diary of BLACKCAPS team manager, Lindsay Crocker, about a truly great New Zealander, Edric Baker, who has been working in Bangladesh for 29 years. He runs a small hospital in one of the more impoverished areas of the country and any publicity that you might be able to give this man and his work would be appreciated, especially by the team who were all in awe of the great sacrifice and work that he has carried out in Bangladesh for all these years. He handed out the test caps before the second test.
Lindsay Crocker diary:-
For some time I have been communicating with friends of a New Zealand man, who lives and works in Bangladesh. I arranged for this man to perform our capping ceremony we do before each test match. None of the group knew beforehand that we had a guest for this match. Here is the introduction I delivered to the touring group.
Gentlemen.
This room is full of extraordinary people who have achieved extraordinary things. No-one else here however has done anything quite as extraordinary as our special guest tonight, Dr Edric Baker.
While we prepare for a test match tomorrow, Edric has sat and passed far more exacting tests than we will ever know.
Edric is from Wellington. He qualified as a doctor and worked in Vietnam with the New Zealand non-military surgical team, working with civilian patients. What he did there led him to devote his life to serving and assisting the poor. He initially tried to return to Vietnam when the war was over, but couldn’t gain the necessary visa, so headed for Papua New Guinea then Zambia and finally Bangladesh.
He does not live in the relative comfort of Dhaka or any of the major towns. He lives in the settlement of Kailakuri; in the district of Tangail. It is a 6 hour journey, mostly by bus, from Dhaka, but the roads do not extend to the settlement where he lives. He makes the last three or four kilometres by bicycle.
He is the region’s only doctor. There is no welfare system in this country and medical care for the poor is very difficult. He has to raise money to provide supplies, and draws a salary of $NZ 50 a month. He serves a large population in the numerous settlements in the region.
He has trained villagers to support him, who collectively provide a range of medical services. The biggest issues are malnutrition, diabetes, tuberculosis, and mother/child care. He has established a small hospital there – like the dwellings, the hospital is made of small huts made of tin or mud. Again, as in the huts, there are no beds. Patients rest on the floor.
They charge only what the patient can afford. Often, they can afford nothing, but the service is provided anyway.
There is no running water in the settlement and electricity arrived only five years ago, but this cuts regularly throughout the day. He lives more or less as the locals do, in a small hut. He has a roll-up mattress, rolled out each night on the floor for him to sleep on. He has an outside toilet.
He has been in Bangladesh for 29 years and has lived and served in this manner for 25 of those years. He and his small team treat approximately 30,000 patients a year. He and his team have, quite literally, saved thousands of lives. There surely is no-one who will ever match his utter devotion to his cause nor his length of service to the people in this region.
He has made the journey from the settlement today to be with us, and returns again tomorrow. If his contact with us can raise awareness of the work that needs to be done, his long journey will be rewarded.
Edric, we are delighted you have made the trip to be with us tonight, we are hugely humbled by the story of your life, the projects you have undertaken, your achievements, the lack of the daily comforts we take for granted and your deep spiritual commitment you display daily.
We are extremely proud to call you a fellow New Zealander, and honoured you can today present the caps for tomorrow’s test.
Gentlemen - Dr Edric Baker
With that, Edric gave a delightful short speech on is work, how proud he is to be a New Zealander as we tour, the interest in the game even in areas such as his, and the hope our visit can in some way raise awareness of the project there. You know he struck a chord as each player took their caps from him with warm two handed shakes.
Edric is a delightful 67 year old man. He is keen to have his Kailakuri community project promoted widely – not for his own sake, but hopefully to increase financial support and, perhaps (and he knows this is a long shot) to encourage a doctor to come to the region to sustain the work after he can no longer continue. He is small, white-haired, smiling, chatty and warm-hearted. His visit was a truly humbling experience and had a big impact on the group. I was delighted to hand over a cash donation from NZC before he left, and some clothing he will no doubt put to great use.
I would be delighted if you can share this story of the Kailakuri Health Centre Project to as many people as you are able to.
Lindsay Crocker
BLACKCAPS Team Manager
Dhaka
29 October
