Stock Market - a risky dream

Over the last two years, Bangladesh stock market has been a dream avenue to make fortunes for the millions of small investors. So many people is now involved in the share market directly or indirectly. This is particularly visible in the long lines in front of the banks for depositing IPO (Initial Public Offering) share money on scheduled dates. Some companies are being oversubscribed by even 40-50 times. Also many people, not quite aware about the market nitty-gritty, have been involved in the secondary market. As a consequence, with the recent burst (actually market corrections?), almost everybody already lost a sizeable portion of their capital.

After my return from USA two months back, I came to know that one of my good friend, who serves in a utility department and had no clear idea or even interest before about the share market, invested a good amount of his savings in the stocks last year. Being advised by someone he knew, my friend purchased stocks of mainly banking sector at the high rates of 2007. I became surprised to know that most stocks bought by him are of low quality banks. Result-the current market value of his shares are almost half of his costs. He confessed his ignorance about the financial health of the companies he bought. What a dangerous step to lose the hard earned savings! It's like an attempt to swim in river before learing how to swim.

Time to go - thanks to the Humphrey Program

Having spent almost a year in USA for the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program, it's time now to go back home. Tomorrow (27 June) I'm to fly for DC from Amarillo, Texas and then next day (28 June) for Bangladesh (DC- Newark- HongKong - Dhaka route).
During the last one year I had the opportunity to study what I liked, attend seminars/ workshops in connection with my interests and professional skill requirements, visit many places in USA, participate in the global leadership forum in DC and year-end-retreat, present my country and profession in different occassions and also able to engage in many other activities. More importantly, we all developed friendship with so many people from USA and other parts of the globe. The program has given me a lot.
So prior to my departure I convey my gratitude and thanks to the program policymakers, IIE people, campus coordinator and staff and of course fellow colleagues from different countries. As a global citizen we should work together in the coming days for peace, prosperity and development of all nations.

Goodbye!

Texas, so different a state

We've been to my sister-in-law's house at Amarillo, Texas. We had the opportunity to hover around the city. Also to canyon state park nearby. What we noticed is the landscape and culture a little different. Mostly white people live here- not many African-Americans or immigrants. Also roads and houses are bigger - no land shortages! Weather very hot and windy, but not much humidity and thus no sweating. Not much rain and the area looks drought-like all the time.

Canyon park is so gorgeous, looks like the little sister of Garnd Canyon of Arizona which is about 12 hours drive from Amarillo.

Amarillo is my last point of exploring American countryside. My wife had already left for BD. From here I'll fly for DC on 27 June and hopefully for BD from there on June 28. I feel previledged to see many great cities across America.

To further West (Texas)

Having spent some good days with Pabitra, we headed for Amarillo, Texas - again by Greyhound bus. It's about 30 hour bus journey. Starting was good, we're crossing so many cities (Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis in Tennesse state, Little Rock in Arkansas state, Russelville, many others and Oklohama city in OKlohama state). Landscapes were being changed gradually as we proceeded further towards west. In Arkansas we saw a lot of farmland, and farmers using private planes in spraying their crops in the fields.

Upto Okohama city the journey was good. Then problem started. As the scheduled bus' airconditioning was not working, the driver didn't reload. All passenegers were stuck up for long 9 hours. But surprisingly, all passengers kept very calm & quiet. If that incident happened in our country, passengers might be very agitated towards the bus people.

By 11.30 pm, an aletrnate bus came from Dallas & our journey restarted towards Los Angels. But by then we're very exhausted. When we reached Amarillo at 5 am in the next morning, we're on buses for 2 nights & 2 days altogether.

Despite long distances and all hassles on the way, the bus journey provided us a good opportunity to see various mid-American cities and states (also observe peoples' behaviours and culture to some extent). In Oklohama city the normal day wind was so strong that I feared to be blown away while walking a small distance from the bus station.

I'll never forget those experiences.

Kinsport/Gatlinburg so cool places!

We stayed about 5 days to my school friend Pabitra's (a cardiologist) house at Kingsport. His house so big! Also the neghbourhood and city very green, because Kingsport is just on the valley of great American Appalachian. So weather very mild and moderate. On sunday, 1 June Pabitra took us to Gatlinburg, about 100 miles from Kingsport. Gatlinburg, situated on a very high altitude of the Appalachian is a good tourist spot in Tennessee. There we noticed a lot of fun and enjoyement facilities (specially for kids). You have to buy tickets for entry- expensive though. We just rode on a skyway travel. Very scenic indeed!

We're taken to a new house Pabitra going to buy. It's like a palace, 4 storied building including basement, so many rooms, beatiful backyard and very rural setting. Mostly medical doctors live in that neighbourhood. Medical profession in USA is so rewarding!

One good thing we could achieve at Kingsport was that my wife was able to have biopsy test done. In Boston, doctors found calcification in her left breast and suspected malignancy (breast cancer). To be sure, they suggested to do her biopsy asap. We couldn't do it from Boston due to time constraint. But we're lucky that Pabitra did help to get an appointment even on a very short notice. Hospital was awesome, and fortunately report was good- no malignancy. We're relieved at last.

On the wheels

Once we left Boston on 19 May, we're on travel. Our first stoppage was in Buffalo where we stayed at Ripon's house. Ripon is my friend K A Sattar's youngest brother-in-law. He took us to the Niagra falls. There we enjoyed Maid in the Mist (having the light spray of falling water, hearing the rumble of water and huge forces therein). My wife was so excited, her dream to see Niagra became realized.
Staying just two days in Bufffalo we came to DC and I started the rest of my professional affiliation with the World Bank. First two nights we spent at L'enfant Plaza Hotel by utilizing the free gift voucher which the hotel authorities gave to all fellows during the global leadership forum last year. The rest of the period we spent in Alexandria. The nearest metro was Van Dorn station, one before the last towards Springfield Franconia (blue line).
Our next destination was to go Kingsport, Tennesse. We started by greyhound at 2.30 am. After about 12 hours bus journey, we had to change bus at Richmond Virginia. Then by another bus reached Kingsport in east Tennessee at around 2.15 pm. On the way we saw many small towns in 3 states (Virginia, North Carolina & Tennessee).

Time to leave Boston

In early May I left my house at Magazine street & was staying at Monzur's house at Lynn. Mr. Monzur family did cooperate with us to visit different places like the Nahant Beach, house of Lipu in Gardner city and houses of Munir's house in Andover city. Before leaving Boston we spent 2 nights (16-18 May) to Enayetullah uncle's at Sharon.

On 18 May we joined a seminar on investment potentialities in BD at Marriot Hotel near Lexington, which was organized by the expatriate Bangladeshis mostly living in USA. They presented a very positive image of BD with all possibilities to be the Asian Tiger in some future days. The seminar was so inspiring and encouraging!

On 19 May morning we went to the radiology center (for repeat Mamography scanning of my wife) and then came back at Lynn. At around 11.30 am Mr. Monzur took us to the Greyhound bus station in Boston. We headed for Buffalo(Niagra Falls) by bus, with all memories of Boston in the heart.

Retreat at Rocky Gap Lodge

Our Humphrey year-end retreat was held during 11-14 May at famous Rocky Gap Resort in Cumberland,Maryland - about 2.5 hours bus journey from Washington DC. The resort was so exclusive & beautiful, surrounded by scenic apalachian valleys, lakes along with all modern amenities therein. Unlike the leadership forum during Oct-Nov last year where most of the lecturers were from outside experts, the retreat events were mostly concentrated on activities by the fellows themselves. Of course IIE people organized and guided the events. In total 15 fellows were selected to present their humphrey year experience. I was fortunate to be one of them. I focused on the level of American diversity as well as the serious personal health problems I faced. My presentation succeeded in touching all who listened.

In the retreat days Ashutosh from Nepal was my roomate. We both went to the pool together, took photgraphs and enjoyed each other's company.

In the retreat, dancing, singing and some other activities were organized, in addition to the usual alumni related events which was the importance of being in touch with each other in future.

As a whole the retreat was touching, but very succesful. Through this, all 173 fellows of 87 countries and from 15 different campuses in USA said goodbye to the program & committed to make a change in their own countries.

I will never forget the great event of such a retreat.

My son back to Bangladesh

After a very hectic schedule of 15 days, my son Mohibul Islam went back to Bangladesh on May 3 last. He came to USA on 15 April'08, attended a 3 day long student conference to MIT on golbal poverty alleviation, travelled to NY city, Amarillio, Texas (to his maternal aunt's and cousins house), participated some dinner parties I hosted, joined one of our weekly Humphrey seminars and also my graduation ceremony on 2 May. He went to some ethnic relationship parties (to Andover, Lynn), also bought so many electronic gadgets (Xbox & others) for him as well as for his friends. To his own words, joining in MIT conference was simply "Life Changing"
His return to BD via London, Bahrain, Doha was most thrilling & also frustrating. Because his BA flight from London was so delayed that he couldn't catch the next connecting Gulf flight from Bahrain. So by alternate flights of Qatar Airways, he flew to Doha & then from Doha to Dhaka. But his luggages were not reached Dhaka till today. He also missed his flights on his travel from Amarillo to Houston on 28 April & came back to Boston by having alternate and costly alternative flights (Amarillo - Cleveland- Manchester). So he is full of experiences in airflights both in USA and also in international routes. In futute these experiences should help him in mitigating risks (to some extent, by a proper risk management plan) in flying.

Humphrey Graduation

Finally my graduation day from BU arrived & also passed by on May 2. It was a very touching & emotional day for all fellows and people associated with the BU Humphrey session 2007-08. BU President Prof. Brown conducted the graduation ceremony, held at BU Castle at 225, Bay Street. The keynote speaker was Prof. Hakkani, H.E. The Ambassador of Pakistan to USA. He highlighted the importance of taking actions from individual, cultural and local perspectives. His speech was so inspiring & enjoyable!

Amy Nemith spoke on behalf of IIE, Dr. Khinchuk spoke as the program coordinator of BU & Julio Canelo as the spokesman for the fellows.

All speakers emphasized on acting responsibly as the global citizens and making individual contributions for bringing positive changes in their own fields of works. We felt to maintain the spirit of friendship created by participation in the prestigeous Humphrey Program. Refreshment followed the ceremony.

I'm glad that my wife & son was present in the ceremony. It was indeed one of the colorful & memorable days in our lives.

Family Trip to NY city

A 2 day long hectic trip to NY city started very early morning of 21 April. Lucky Star Bus started from Boston at 6.30 AM & reached Manhattan Chinatown at around 11 AM. Then we took our lunch to McDonalds, bought subway tickets to Battery Park for availing ferry to the Statue Island. It was a long long que (both for buying tickets & checking into the ferry). Several hours were lost in ques. But it was a sunny beautiful day; so lovely journey along the Hudson river. We got off at the island, circled the statue, took pictures & came back to South Ferry area of Manhattan by the next available ferry. Then we took on a bus which gave great scopes to all skyscrapper building on NY including the Zreo Ground. By bus we went to the Central Park; walked & took rest there till the evening. Then at around 7.45 PM, my Jahangirnagar University classmate Rana picked us & showed different important buildings, statues and more importantly the glazing Times Square of nighttime. It was superb! Then we headed towards Queens & went to Matin Khan's house there. We chatted for about half an hour & started again. On the way Rana took us to the Bengalipara of NY (Jackson Heights).
Then we're taken to Rana's house at Long Island ( about 1 hour drive from downtown). Ooh! Nahid, another classmate & Rana's wife (who loved for long 6 years of university life followed by marriage) cooked many time delicious fods. We ate, talked & then went to bed at midnight.
Next morning Rana & Nahid took us to the Walmart & afterwards Nahid took us to the Sunken Meadow seabeach of Atlantic Ocean. After the lunch again to her house, Nahid carried us to the Huntington train station for travel to NY city. We got off that commuter rail at Jamaica station & took subway to go to Canal Street of Manhattan area. From there we boarded on Fung Wah Chinese bus at 6 PM to come back to Boston. At around 11.30 PM we arrived home.
Spending a couple of hours at home we at 3.00 AM headed towards the Sullivan Square to get our son boarded to Manchester Airport Shuttle as he had to avail a flight from Manchester Regional Airport on his way to the 5 day long trip to Amarillo, Texas (to her aunt's home).

Trip to NY proved a little too short, but the weather was great & we enjoyed many key attractions of the city.

MC Conference in MIT

Today finished the 3 day long Milleneum Campus Conference on global poverty alleviation. It was organized by the Global Poverty Initiative(GPI) of MIT and Milleneum Campus Network (a federation of student organizations based in different campuses across USA). The conference was superb. It seemed unbelievable that soley students can organize such a successful event. It was inaugurated on last Friday where former candidate of the US Presiential Election 2008 Jhon Edwards and USAID Administrator Henrieta Fore spoke. On the concluding day legendary Prof Jaffery Sachs of Columbia University & John Legend, winner of astounding eight Grammy Nominations attended with a unique session of music cum lecture. It was so inspiring that if I didn't make up to join, definitely it would have been a great miss during my Humphrey year.
John & Prof Sach presented the "Show Me- the poverty action tour". Also prof Amy Smith of MIT, Ira Magaziner, an expert of public policy; Paul Farmer, a physician cum anthropologist, among others delivered their keynote speeches with highlights on different aspects of poverty alleviation measures from the globe.
Me along with my son attended the conference. We both were fascinated by the works of others, particularly the students from MIT & other campuses in order to remove poverty curses from the world. We commited to make our own contributions in that cause.

My son coming to MIT today

Today is a very special day as my only child has already headed towards USA from Bangladesh. He's on plane right now at the moment.

He's coming to MIT to attend the ' Millenneum Campus Conference' on global poverty alleviation as an international scholar. The conference will be held during 17-20 April 2008. MIT is bearing his airticket as well as accomodation for the conference days. Being impressed by his writing qualities and experiences in relation to works on poverty alleviation, MIT selected him to sponsor in the conference. By the by, my son - Mohibul Islam completed his O level and A level courses from the EdExcel Examination (a British education system) and currently a 2nd year student of BBA in IBA(Institute of Business Administration) of Dhaka University. He's 19 plus.


Coming to MIT and participating in a MIT organized conference as an international scholar is really something to feel proud of. This will certainly add value to his future resume, I hope. I'm satisfied in contributing to his works and as a father feel proud of my son's success.

Spring Food Festival

Last 11 April 2008 evening was something special for the BU Humphrey Fellows of 2007-08 session. Fellows & their families cooked their country specific dishes, guests related to the program (host families, coordinators, acadenic advisers, MIT Humphrey fellows and also personal relatives/friends of the fellows) were invited to the party. Indeed a lot variety of foods were on the table. Me & my wife cooked 3 dishes -Polao, Chicken curry and Egg curry.
Everybody the enjoyed the evening - food as well as talks with each other. At around 8.30 all fellows introduced themselves to the guests formally. Then a computer slideshow was presented where individual and group photos were displayed. Afterwards, individual country musics were displayed as chosen by the fellows.
All the guests seemed very pleased with the decoration, food and overall arrangements. We feel proud to have such a succesful and wonderful party. It's a milestone in the success of our Humphrey Year.

Lawrence, a town lost by the economic realities

We spent the last weekend to Mr. Mahmud's house in Andover, a city about 20 miles north of Boston. To attend a inviting party in another city, we're crossing a small town named Lawrence. There we saw many large factory & even residential buildings deserted. I was heard that long ago it was a very thriving industrial belt with many textile industries. Workers' houses were made nearby. With the rise in wages & other costs, America lost its competitive advantages in textile production and consequently factories shifted to China, India & even Bangladesh. As a consequence, Lawrence lost its economic activities & now looks like a crime-prone ghost city. Mostly, the next generation of the Afro-American workers live nearby now. It's a living example of how economic dynamism shifts across the nations in this globalized world.

Lost into DC museums

After long 8 months my wife joined me as she arrived USA on 7 March. That was the concluding day of our workshop at WB-IMF. As she's on her flight by Emirates (Dhaka-Dubai-JFK-DCA or Reagan airport ) I was checking her flight status online in order to be at the airport just in time. Everything was fine for her journey to the US.

On 8 March morning we went to explore the DC meseums & other attractions. At first we went the Capitol Hill, then into the Orchid garden museum. It was awesome! The garden area was covered with artificial transparent roofs (to protect plants from cold, snow). Orchids in dry lands, deserts, rainforests and in other natural environments were looking so gorgeous!

Then we visited the art gallery museums, my wife was fascinated by the arts, specially of artist Pablo Picasso. Our next museum was Natural History Museum. It was so huge & superb! Of particular interest to me were the Egyptian mummies (still unpacked) and earthquake zone line illumination(Ctg & Sylhet area directly on that line!).

Our last visit for the day was Air & Space Museum. There visitors can see the first mission to the moon (Apollo 11, 1969), views to the earth from sattelites, first plane by Wright Brothers & many other attractive things including plane dummies.

In addition to the above, there're many other museums in Washington DC. But due to time constraints we couldn't got there. Also the good thing about DC meseums is that they've all free entrance. We feel previledged to have the opportunity of visiting some great museums of the world!

World Bank- IMF Workshop in Washington DC

I attended a 5 day long (3-7 March'08) workshop on Finance and Development organized jointly by the World Bank & IMF for the Humphrey Fellows in their head offices in DC. In total 43 fellows from different campuses attended. On the opening day of 3 March, it was just reception cum dinner hosted by the WB head office. Then the next 2 days were scheduled for IMF & the last days were for WB activities. The IMF sessions covered overview, world economic & financial market developments, IMF program design & conditionality, IMF survellience for the member countries, poverty reduction & debt relief, growth & poverty reduction in the sub-saharan African countries ; and IMF reform efforts. One unique arrangement was made of a speech by someone while fellows took their luncheon. In all of the sessions speakers tried to highlight different aspects of the IMF in the context of growing criticism of the organization by the world community. One speaker mentioned of a joke that if a country's economic conditions improve after the IMF program adoption, all credits go the respective country's own policies whereas if it detriorates, all blames lie on the failures of IMF. I personally enjoyed IMF sessions (and also the good food served!)
WB sessions were held on the top floor of their main building on 18th street. It covered WB organogram, functioning mechanism of IDA, governance, evaluation mechanisms of WB initiated projects, global evironment issues and so on. Most of the sessions were very interactive & fellows found ample scopes to make questions or comments.
Joining to the WB-IMF workshop was indeed a previledge. We came to know many aspects of those 2 world class institutions. Also many items (T-shirts, souvenir bags, electronic diary etc.) were gifted to the participants.
Out of 43 fellows, 11 were from Boston University. Also BU fellows (in picture) were more active in the workshop sessions. I personally stayed active in all of the sessions I could attend. Attending in such a workshop is definitely in line with the prestige & honor associated with being a Humphrey Fellow.

NY Trip Final day

For the 3rd & final day of NY trip, morning was free from the group activity. So I went to the Penn Station again. There the underground Amtrak train station cum shopping mall is huge. From the information booth I collected many info brochures, maps (so that it helps when next time I visit NY alone). From there I walked to the 42nd street (5-6 blocks from Penn Station) where all the bus cos ply from to different destinations.
After the check-out from the hotel at 11.45, we (the BU Humphrey Group) were taken to the Tavern Green Restaurant inside the Central Park of Manhattan. We're fascinated by the fabulous and artistic glass decorated designs of the whole restaruarnt and also the exclusive dining area. Also the food was awesome. Only problem it was so expensive (you need about 100 box to satisfy the tummy). Another thing to notice, most of the restaruarnt people ( those who're serving, taking order, etc.) are the immigrant Bangladeshis.
After a very satisfying lunch we wandered in the park area. All high rise buildings of NY's posh area surrounded the park. In the park, lots of fun all around. We saw some groups (mature people of different races) are dancing with skating. One white guy (around 50 years old) dancing with skatebaords attached with legs and 3 water bottles on his head (one atop of other)- still balancing himself.
At 3.45 we started back our journey and reached Boston by 8 pm. As a whole it was a memorable journey for us. Thanks to Hunphrey Program.

NY Trip Second Day

In terms of weather, it's better than the previous day, but still patchy. We started the day with a visit to the Metropolitan Meseum of Art. In consideration of museum area it's perhaps the biggest meseum in the world. Our guide tour lady was an accomplished professional. She took us a specific gallery and focused on explaining the things. She made us visit the Greek, Roman, African and Asian artefacts, paintings and statues. We learnt many things about those ancient civilizations. Our next item on that day was visit to Statue of Liberty. Our bus took us to the Battery Park, the south-end of Manhattan financial district where from ferries ply to New Jersy & different islands. After security check-ups, the passengers boarded on the ferry(like a steamer) & it started journey through the scenic Hudson river & in about 20 minutes we reached the liberty island where the famous iconic symbol of America's pride standing atall. We walked the circled pathway of the statue, took photograps of the surrounding views and approached for climbing base. After a tight security checks of all your belongings, we visited the meseum type area where all necassry info of the statue of liberty posted. Then climbed atop by escalator to a room upto where you're allowed to go(about 7-8 floor high). From that level you can view spectacular sites of NY city, New Jersy area, Ellis island and ports nearby. At around 5 pm. we came back following the same way we went there.
n the evening there was no group activity. So after a little rest at the hotel room, I walked along the 8th Avenue, withdrew money from the Bank of America ATM, bought painkiller medicine Tynelol PM from CVS Pharmacy, bought my dinner & next day morning breakfast items from 'Subway', a food chain in USA, went the Pensylvania Station on the Manhattan area & went back to room.

New York Trip

A 3 day (22-24 Feb'08) visit to New York was organized for the BU Humphrey Fellows. Our reserved bus started from 14 Buswell St for NY at 6.00 pm(extreme chilly early morning & weather forecast for the day was horrific - snow, blizzard, icy rain in NY). When we arrived the UN building at around 11, you see white snows all around. However, we walked along those & reached the security check points of the UN. After security checking we entered the main UN bldng & a professional guide tour took us to different meeting rooms, explained things of so manysculpture, painting, photographs hanged on the walls of corridor and in rooms. And of course the history of UN & its different divisions along with their core activities were explained by the guide. We're fascinated by the gorgeous paintings of the security council room, unique architectural design of the Trustee Hall room & huge spaces of the General Aseembly meeting room (to accomodate all the nations, you indeed need a big room) .
At around 2 pm we're taken to NY Stock Exchange. After too much security checks we're taken to the 7th floor where an expert explained the unique auctioning of NYSE (with specialists to provide constant market liquidity). Thereafter, we're taken to the corridor where from you see all the screens, computer terminals for the specialist, broker agents & different TV channels offices to brodcast live the stock trading.
Then we checked in to the New Yorker hotel in Manhattan area's prime location and at night some of us went to the famous Carnegie Hall to enjoy a classic symphony.We enjoyed the show where so many young artists took part. At night we went to nearby Russian resaturant where with fun, talking, eating, drinking & dancing (by some) time passed quickly and after 1.30 pm we came back to our hotel.

Missing the family - but technology helps

I've been to the USA for about 7 months. This is my longest stay in a foreign soil without accompanying the near and dear ones. Mine has a very small immediate family - wife & only child son. Naturally I miss them everyday. Without their sacrifice it won't be possible for me to come & stay here as a Humphrey Fellow. So very special thanks to them for their sacrifices. However, thanks to techonolgy also - as it compensates to some extent of everyday missing the nearest ones. Internet technology allows us to talk almost everyday mostly at free. As an example, today I chatted and talked by using the audio clips. My son, from the other end, sent some recent pics of them (one as above, he with his mum).

My wife is expected to join me by the first week of March'08. But my son isn't coming as he's busy with his own study. I'm glad that inshallah he's doing excellent in his study at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University.

Settling in US late- a big trade-off

Today (12 Jan'08) I spent an enjoyable day with good Bangladeshi style food. Because I's invited to my classmate Kamona Saha's house. By taking a ride in Washington DC metro train, I first went to Metro Center, then changed train to go Silver Spring by the red line. From there Kamona & her husband took me to their house by car (about 10-15 minute drive from the station). Famous TV channel 'Discovery' is headquartered at Silver Spring city. Through the Discovery building glasses in the ground floor, I noticed a huge Dynosore skull standing tall.

Almost the whole day in her house we talked, tasted so many foods and left in the evening. Kamona's husband, a polite and lovely man, loves eating foods. Good day I passed indeed.

Kamona Saha & me - both got our education in Economics Dept of Jahangirnagar University and both joined the civil service the same year (though she in Administration & me in Trade service). But after serving quite a long time she left her govt job and for the last 9 years leaving in USA. Her husband was also a high official of Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) who left everything behind to get settled here. Now both of them work in a pharmaceutical chain store & in order to survive both of them work at least 8-10 hours a day. They know better than others how hard it is here to earn money (unlike the perceptions of many in Bangladesh who think dollars fly in America). They're, however, not in a very bad position (have bought a townhouse, though by bank loan) and their daughter and son studying in university & high school respectively.

But, in consideration of their official postions back in Bangladesh (very shortly Kamona could be at Joint Secretary level official) & their everyday hardwork, their sacrifice or opportunity cost(tradeoff) for getting settled here is a bit high, I think. This is because they're late starter. Point is, if you plan to settle abroad; plan & do it as early as you can . Anyway, all the good wishes for them.