Now, I would like all of the convention committee members, please stand up

Ladies and gentlemen, please applaud them for their efforts and spending countless hours to make BMANAFL 2021 happen.

​​On behalf of the convention committee, I warmly welcome all Bangladeshi-American physicians in Florida and distinguished guests to this Gala Dinner and entertainment night in Fort Myers-Naples, also known as the paradise coast of Florida.

‘Coming Together as One’ – theme of our convention reflects our yearning to meet with each other after a long 18 months of COVID pandemic and moving forward as friends and extended family. The convention is organized as a family focused professional event, to deliver an unparalleled opportunity for educational, and networking experience to all physicians, and families.

We started organizing the convention back in 2020 when the world was normal. Since then, our world has changed dramatically. We lost 733k of fellow citizens in the USA and 28k citizens in Bangladesh. Through this loss of our friends and family, we come to recognize our vulnerability , our discord and our disunity.

There are about 2000 Bangladeshi American physicians working in the USA serving all 50 states, serving rural, suburban and urban areas. We collectively contribute through our sweat and toil to help the humanity around us and the furthest corner of the world, in Bangladesh.

During this halloween time unfortunate events happen. We lost our dearest friend Dr. Sinha Monsour recently and several of our friends and families in this country and in Bangladesh. We also watched to our disgust that we remained more divided despite these tragedies. We forget that we are all together as ONE.

Our disunity should not define us, rather should make us more courageous and more thoughtful of our fellow physicians. We are the Doctors, we heal our fellow human beings. Before we do good to others, we need to be good to ourselves and to our fellow physicians. We need to create a platform where we tell our stories. We need to create a dialogue where we listen to each other and be thoughtful about fellow physicians and friends.

In the audience, we have several of our senior physicians who paved the path for us to practice medicine in this country. We owe it to them to create a brighter future for next generations of physicians of Bangladeshi descent. We can not lose faith, rather trust our fellow physicians to inspire a better community. We should not let the loudest voice get the most attention, rather allow the quiet voices to be heard. Our mutual trust is the glue that binds us. I sincerely hope that this convention paves the path to a brighter future for all Bangladeshi-American physicians not only in Florida , but also, all over this country and for the global communities of Bangladeshi descent physicians.

Is this dream too big ? yes it is. For one, if we can’t dream big, how can we bring about these changes in our community? Simple acts of kindness matter. Kindness will make tomorrow better not just for us , also for the future generations.

In the words of Seamus Heaney,

​​So hope for a great sea- change

On the far side of revenge.

Believe that a further shore

Is reachable from here.

Believe in miracles.

We the convention committee members sincerely hope that your attendance at this convention will bring a moment of pleasure, joy and camaraderie to your life. It has been an honor and privilege to organize this event for all of you here in person and all of you who are watching this convention over live-streaming platforms remotely.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy a very entertaining program we laid out in the next hours.

Thank you

Imtiaz Ahmad, MD