Songsmith ROB HALLIGAN journeys from his Midlands comfort zone to learn a little of life, and mission, in Bangladesh

To look at, Faith reminded me of your typical American grandma, white hair up in a bun and a kind and wrinkled smile. To many of the children here she is the only mother they have known. It was an impressive set-up with two residential buildings, a school, workshops and a multipurpose hall. We were starting to get used to the welcome children gave us but it was still very special to see 80 children lined up along a path, singing to us as we arrived.

After coffee and cake we had a tour of the grounds. English is taught at the school and many of the children speak it enough for us to be able to talk to them. I met Mack who is 15 years old. He's been at the orphanage for as long as he can remember and is now studying engineering.

Marg and her sponsored child, Namula

Marg had sponsored a girl here called Namula, whose remaining family took her out of the orphanage for an arranged marriage. We'd hoped we could meet her but had heard that she'd moved away. Arriving at the orphanage Marg found out that the marriage didn't work out and Namula found herself on the streets and made her way back to the Home Of Joy. It was very beautiful to see them meet for the first time.

We spent the afternoon playing with the children and getting to know some of the staff. They produced an Indian made guitar called a Givson and we had a session swapping songs and feeding a tame myna bird. At six o'clock we joined in with the Bible study where Stu talked about hearing God's will for our lives and Sohal translated. It was quite a site to see 20 young men sitting on the floor in a circle in a serious Bible study.

We joined Faith for a dinner of American bolognaise and coffee. The whole thing was a strange contrast to John Bose's work in Horintana. There was nothing wrong with it but I was left with some niggling feeling that I couldn't put my finger on.

Driving back to the hotel Khulna was still open for business. The markets and street vendors were still busy and rickshaws played chicken with trucks, busses and tuk-tuks. Back in my hotel room the sound of the traffic outside was as if I was on the street. Ah well, city life in Bangladesh. This was what I was there to experience.

Sunday 21st September
It was a rough night. Then the alarm went off at 6am and I remembered we had to be at the Home Of Joy for 7:15 in time for the service. Yay! We weren't having breakfast until after the service so it was a good thing I had my Kendal mint cake to hand.

The service was taken by a German missionary and I was impressed that he spoke fluent Bengali, even if he made it obvious that he didn't know all the words to the songs. The singing was beautiful, the children singing loudly and in tune. I've been to Assemblies where that hasn't been the case and it's really not very nice. Then we joined Faith for an Italian style breakfast. For a week we'd had omelette and parota so that was a nice change.

John was a man of inspiration, unfortunately not all divine. He had the idea of a football match, England vs Bangladesh. So for the next hour we tottered around a potholed and muddy field playing football against a team half our age. At half time we were 3-1 down to the boys. It was obvious that it depended what end you were playing as to how easy to was to score. At full time it was 3-3 so we played until the next team scored. Don't ask me how we won but we did. As a treat Stu and Jared and a bunch of the lads went to the pond for a swim. I thought it would be a stunning idea for a video shot so I picked up the camera and headed for the steps down into the water, not counting on the fact that they'd be as slippery as an ice rink. I involuntarily had a dip as well but managed to keep the camera out of the water. I was touched by the look of concern on John's face, until I realised it was the camera he was worried about and not me.

Sohal was the main guy there and I was keen to find out more about him so I cornered him for an interview on camera. He'd been at the Home Of Joy since he was five years old and was now a member of the staff. He'd been abandoned by his parents and Faith had taken him in. He told me that he used to wonder why he wasn't loved but over time he'd been cared for and loved by the people at the home and those feelings of rejection had gone. "I know that I'm loved by Jesus as well. It's hard to be a Christian in this country. People abuse you for it but I know it is right and I'm proud to love God," he said. When new orphans arrive Sohal uses his own experiences to help get them through their rough times.

John's second great idea was to play cricket against the boys. Fortunately we mixed the teams up which saved us from a good thrashing. These guys can bowl a rocket-fast ball. It's pretty impressive. I did well, scoring a duck. Yet somehow our team won.

The children had rehearsed a show for us which started at 5pm so we finished the cricket and made our way to the hall. I'd been trying to put my finger on what had been bugging me the previous day and I realised that this was an incredibly westernised community. In Horintana we had been to a Sunday school but the whole thing was such a traditional gathering. It was just that they sang about Jesus and prayed to the Christian God instead of the Hindu or Muslin gods. Here in Khulna the songs, clothing, and even the English had a huge western stamp on them and this worried me. I was pleased to see in the show the children performing some of the traditional dance and music as well as the songs they'd picked up from American Christian CDs.

Then it was dinner and then the goodbyes. Marg said goodbye to Namula and they promised to stay in touch. We said our goodbyes to the lads and the smaller children who had welcomed us so amazingly. Whatever my feelings there was no doubt these children are well cared for and loved and extremely happy in this place. Faith is an amazing woman whose name describes who she is. A person of immense faith and commitment who's done something amazing in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Monday 22nd September
Yet another early start but I had a good night's sleep. I found out that the flip flops supplied in the rooms were great for whacking cockroaches.