Dr Baker’s dedication to Bangladesh

Albert Schweitzer (14 January, 1875 – 4 September, 1965) was born in France but spent his life in Gabon in Africa. He, who he married Helene Bresslau, daughter of the Jewish, built the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambarene, Gabon. It is an internationally acclaimed leading research hospital working to end the scourge of malaria and serving as a highly regarded training institute for African physicians and scientists. Albert was a German—and later French—theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary in Africa. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.

Mother Teresa (26 August, 1910 – 5 September, 1997) was born in what is now Macedonia but lived in Kolkata in India to serve humanity. She founded the Missionaries of Charity which is now active over 100 countries. They run hospitals and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. They operate soup kitchens, dispensaries, orphanages and schools and render ‘wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor’. Mother Teresa was the recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu commonly known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta was an Albanian–born Indian Roman Catholic nun. ‘By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun’.

dr bakerDr. Edric Baker was born in New Zealand. He lived more than three decades in Tangail in Bangladesh, mostly in a remote village, serving humanity like Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa. He died there on September 1, 2015. His patients fondly used to call him ‘Daktar Bhai’, meaning ‘Brother Doctor’.

Dr. Edric Baker obtained a degree in medicine in 1965 from Otego Medical College at Dunedin in New Zealand and took a government job. He served in war-ravaged Vietnam till 1975. Later he attended courses in child health in Australia and England. With his qualification and experience, he could have a comfortable and luxurious life anywhere in the world. Instead, he chose to come to Bangladesh in 1979 and joined a Christian mission hospital in Meherpur. Two years later, he joined Kumudini Hospital in Mirzapur and later a clinic run by the Church of Bangladesh at Thanarbaid of Madhupur.

In order to provide better service to the local population he learned Bengali and soon became fluent in the language. Fluent in Bangla, his selflessness and generosity touched the hearts of many, evident from the outpouring of grief by hundreds at his funer

In 1996, he set up the Kailakuri Health Care Centre where he spent the rest of his life. The Kailakuri Health Care Project prides itself on its inclusiveness across all religions and ethnicities which included Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Hindus. All people are welcomed to come to the Kailakuri Health Care. It is amazing to see how simply he lived at Kailakuri and rendered medical care to the local population. He left his mother, four brothers and two sisters in New Zealand and lived his life as a bachelor.

He slept on the floor like his patients at the clinic and provided medical services to the patients while sitting on the floor, often wearing a lungi (a local dress of men). He started his clinic with a capital of Tk 10,000 only. Lately, he used to spend Tk 1,800,000 per month for the clinic — collecting money from foreign donors. He charged Tk 5-10 as consultation fees from the patients and provided medicines to them even if they were unable to pay for them. He personally trained all the medical assistants working at the clinic, recruited mostly from the local population. He also used to advise his patients on healthcare. It is reported that he was not in good health for some time. He had had two surgeries recently. Because of his poor health, he was looking for a successor.

His was a rare example of dedication, sacrifice and service to humanity. How many people are there on this planet, who deprive them of the comfort of their homes and the love of their kith and kin to come to a country like Bangladesh to treat the poorest of the poor? Truly, he got the love, affection and respect of the people whom he served, but did we or any international organisation give him the honour he really deserved? Was he less deserving than Albert Schweitzer or Mother Teresa for a Nobel Peace Prize? World History, please write his dedication for Bangladesh on your own pages.

We are eternally grateful to Dr. Edric Baker’s noble soul for his gift of love to our needy brothers and sisters. His work and altruism should be an inspiration to other doctors of this country to dedicate some of their time to taking care of the sick and the poor. His work at the Kailakuri Health Centre must be carried forward.

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