Justin's Blog

 Archive for the ‘Bangladesh’ Category

Today is my final day in Bangladesh, Iona and I fly out tonight.  You can see what Iona thought of her time here.  You’ll also start to hear some of the results of it in some new automated training that we are working on.

It has been quite a trip for many reasons.

While there are a few little issues left in 9.1 (notably the scanning module isn’t working yet due to what looks like some external compatability problems – we’re working on it, but it may take a few days) it is basically ticking along smoothly.

There are some functionality/design issue that we are looking at to do with SComm, T-Logs, and oversight caseloads.

One thing to be aware of is that changes in privilege (caseload or super role) may now take up to 20-30 minutes to apply themselves.  This actually has been the case in some modules for a while, but is now implemented system with.  This helps a lot with performance and stability.

As always when I come to Bangladesh, but even more so this time thanks to Iona having the opportunity to live here with Masum and his family while working at the office and us getting the chance to get ouf of Dhaka, I have been impressed and humbled by the warmth and generosity of the Bangladeshi people in general and the commitment, skill, and expertise of our staff here.  I am so lucky to have such great colleagues.

:: Justin ::

I just arrived in Dhaka (three flights and a long time coming all the way from Buffalo).  It was very cool to be met at the airport by Iona and Rajiv.  Iona is all settled in and even met me in her Bangla outfit.

Now off to the office to get stuck into 9.1 and a bunch of RFPs

:: Justin ::

DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 4 /PRNewswire/ — Therap Services, a service bureau providing an integrated suite of online applications to organizations working with people with developmental disabilities, announces the promotion of Md. Mozammel Haque to Project Manager. Mozammel will have the primary responsibility of leading and facilitating different teams at Therap.

“Mozammel has made remarkable contributions to our success. Mozammel’s demonstrated success in implementing new programs and leading a team is ideal for directing the outstanding group of developers in Therap,” said Richard Robbins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Mozammel joined Therap Services in 2006 as a Senior Software Engineer. Mozammel has over seven years of software development experience in different roles such as programming, designing, architecture development, systems analysis, team leading and project management. Prior to joining Therap, Mozammel worked at Grameen Software as a Software Engineer where he developed an intelligent log parsing system that facilitated the management of soft switches of telecom companies. Mozammel also worked for Vonair Inc., USA as a Software Engineer and for United IT Global Net Ltd as their Technical Manager. Mozammel went to Canada in 2000 where he completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Windsor and returned to Bangladesh in 2004.

“I am excited to be given this opportunity at Therap. Therap has a great product and team. I am eager to play a more hands-on role in leading different teams and leveraging the latest technological advancements into Therap as per users’ requirements,” said Mozammel Haque.

Mozammel has contributed in designing some of the more recent Therap modules and is responsible for the Behavior Tracking and Individual Data Form modules. Mozammel has also developed the Live Help feature of the Therap system.

About Therap Services

Therap Services meets the specific needs of service providers, health professionals, parents and regulators to improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities. The applications follow the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) guidelines as well as being HIPAA compliant, and are specially designed for the developmental disability community. Therap’s complete suite of applications includes Health Tracking, Individual and Emergency Data Forms, Individual Service Plans, The Individualized Plan of Protective Oversight and Safeguards, Behavior Plans and Tracking, T-Logs, T-Tasks, Incident Reports, Management Summaries, Witness Reports, Supported Employment Tracking, Calendar, Secure Communications, Staff Scheduling, Training Management System, Attendance and Electronic Billing. For further information, please visit http://www.therapservices.net.

SOURCE Therap Services

Tomorrow February 21st is Mother Language Day

To celebrate, you’ll see us using the Bangla version of our logo (pretty cool eh!)

You can read much more about the day in Saquib’s post on the Customer Support Blog

I actually visited the Memorial to those who fought for the right to speak Bangla on my first trip to Dhaka.

:: Justin ::

Warren and Maureen seem to be having a great time in Bangladesh.  You can keep up with them by looking at Maureen’s Blog and her Photos.

I’ve been doing my best to keep up with them by phone and it sounds like some really exciting things are getting designed.

:: Justin ::

We are putting together our 2008 travel schedule and it’s going to be a wild one, so be sure to get in touch with us if you’d like to get involved or host a session at your agency.

Warren and Maureen are about to head off to Bangladesh for a couple of weeks.

Allison has trips planned to Maine, Oregon, and Washington.

Richard and Justin will be in Oregon and California.

Jim will be in Florida (several times).

Justin will be in West Virginia and Indiana

Maureen will be in Delaware

Justin, Richard, and Kara will be all over New York and New Jersey.

and… That only gets us into February!

After that we’ll be off to conferences all over the country as well as hosting our own conferences in South Dakota, Oregon, Delaware, and Connecticut.

You can keep track on our website by looking at Therap Conferences, Other Conferences, and User Group Meetings.

As always, if you’d like to join in anywhere, or if you would like some on-site training, then please get in touch.

:: Justin ::

Our office in Dhaka was back up and running yesterday and we seemed to have come through this difficult time unscathed.

Masum sent us the following:

This was the longest continuous power cut I have ever
seen.  Except the power cut, damage in
Dhaka was minimal.  Casualties in the
country are low compared to previous massive hurricanes, probably because the
hurricane made landfall in the south and south western part of the country on
the Sundarbans, which is a thick mangrove forest with low human habitation.

What has been particularly touching is the number of our customers who have been in touch enquiring about our welfare and passing on thoughts and prayers.

All very much appreciated.

:: Justin ::

As you are probably aware, from either Allison’s blog or general news coverage there has been some horrific destruction in Bangladesh from a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal.

Thanks to everyone who has either asked about or passed on concerns about our friends and colleagues over there.

Thankfully for the folks in Therapville (our offices are in Dhaka) the storms had decreased in severity by the time they reached there.  We are keeping in touch and everyone seems well.  We are particularly happy that Masum canceled his trip to St Martins this weekend!

There are some power and connectivity issues so you may see more of your feedback and live chat answered by Allison, Kara, and Maureen as we obviously don’t want anyone taking chances coming to work if it is not safe.

We’ll keep you up to date, but let us know if you’ve got any questions.

:: Justin ::

We are very excited to be attended, presenting at, and sponsoring the 2nd International Conference on Intellectual Disabilities/Mental Retardation in Bangkok, Thailand.

You can read the full press release here

:: Justin ::

Hello Southington (and whoever else happens to be reading this).  It’s Iona, and this keyboard is unusual.  The @ sign is down low and there’s a $ above the 4 and a £ above the 3.  Weird. 

Today we did a whole lot of work outside, cleaning the paths and the stairs outside the cathedral and generally helping Helen.  Everyone did something, either with a pitchfork, shears, shovels, a wheelbarrow (Dad: “The front wheel went round.”), or just their own two hands.  It looked a lot nicer when we were through.  (Dad: “Bryan and I did a whole nother section after tea!”) 

Then we went into town for lunch and out free day, and split into two groups for rides on a seven-person bike…a septcycle?  Maybe.  That was fun – though I’m not sure who was least trustworthy at the wheel…my dad, Jason, or Mr. Kenney!

 

Everyone has spent at least some time with Helen’s giant super-dog Bailey.  (Side note: St. Bernards do not only grow massively; they slobber massively too.)  Even though he weighs more than most of us and is the size of a small horse, he’s a huge softie and simply adores attention.  Just…try not to let him kiss you.  Smelly.

Then we got to ring the amazing set of bells up in the church tower.  After a rather steep set of winding stairs, there were maybe ten strings on the wall to pull, each ringing a different bell hidden up above, out of sight.  There was a play-by-numbers sheet pinned up behind then.  If that doesn’t amuse you, you could always pick out the notes to the Star Wars theme…I really shouldn’t be allowed near anything musical.  The cool part about the bells, though, was that our playing attracted four people to come walk up and see where the noise was coming from.  Pastor Terry was there to greet them and show them around.  (Dad: “If you play them, they will come.”)  That was just bad.

And a note to parents…if your pilgrim is a girl (or Jason), when she (or Jason) arrives home, be sure to inquire who “Steven” is.  (The word ‘toast’ may prompt the memory if necessary.)

It stays light so late here – it’s already 10:00 pm and the sky isn’t even close to black.  more of a smoky grey, but the numerous clouds must be taken into consideration.  That would be 5:00 pm Eastern, 3:00 pm Mountain, 3:00 am tomorrow in Bangladesh, (Dad: “2:45 am tomorrow in Nepal!”)

Bonus points if your last name is Writability or Zwart.  (Dad’s watching and reading the phone book…Zwart is the last name and honestly, who doesn’t want the name Writability?)

(Dad: “Are we there yet?”)  I’m being subtley kicked off through bad jokes, so I hope the weather is nice but not too hot wherever you happen to be, that your summers are going amazingly, and thanks for commenting, you guys make us feel special.

Thanks especially from me to comments from Mom and Tom…that rhymed…miss you guys.  And thanks to my prayer partner Elaine.  No more, I feel like I’m making an acceptance speech.

Much love from all the pilgrims (even the old ones),
Iona

 

PS  That was easy! Now all that is left for me to do is to say that tomorrow we are off to Edinburgh.  I hope to find somewhere to blog from on Saturday, but will for sure on Sunday when we go for lunch with my folks.

:: Justin ::