A beautiful day in the Himalayan foothills!
Today I went to one of the hospital's "mobile clinics" located in a village several miles away. A small group of us piled into a Jeep and drove for about 45 minutes along narrow, tight switchbacks up into the hills through beautiful forests filled with monkeys. The clinic site is located in a small town on a dusty road, and the clinic itself is set up in a small courtyard behind one the shops. There is a table and plastic chairs for consultation, and a bed made of wood and grasses for exams. Common medications are stored in a locked shed and dispensed for free.
One patient was an 8 year old girl with a swollen lymph node the size of a golf ball on the side of her neck. Mumps. I had never seen mumps before. Not something we really have in the States, thanks to vaccines. The girl required no medications, as mumps is usually self-limiting. She'll be fine in about a week.
There were several other patients that just couldn't be treated with the extremely limited facilities there. One man came in complaining of chronic productive cough. Here, chronic productive cough usually means TB, but we can't be sure without a sputum culture. We gave him a referral card and urged him to come to the hospital, but it's doubtful that he will. Herbertpur is so far away for him, and he just doesn't understand why it's so important.
On the way back to the hospital, we stopped by a home where a girl sells hand-made blankets. She looked like she was in her late teens, early twenties, and she lives in small house with a thatched roof with her extended family. Outside their home is a huge loom, which she demonstrated for us how to use. She even makes her own thread and yarn out of old discarded fabrics. As we were leaving she asked if I would stay. What can I say, it must be the blonde hair. Next time we go I'd like to buy something from her.
Tonight Katie and I walked to Vikas Nagar, a small town consisting basically of one long road lined with shops just a little up the road from the hospital. One our way we ran into a wedding celebration. We heard it before we could see it. Drums beating, cheering, shouting, dancing in the streets. The bride and groom were dressed in all kinds of beautiful adornments, and the getaway car was decorated with flowers. The crowd saw Katie and me with our cameras in hand and begged us to take pictures. We were happy to oblige.
I've noticed many of the people here are delighted by having their picture taken. One little girl, maybe 10 years old, came up to me and said in beautiful English, "Hello. How are you?...Fine," then looked at my camera, grinning. I snapped a photo of her and then showed her her picture on the camera, and she giggled and giggled.
So it looks like I'll be staying on the Ob/Gyn service throughout the rest of this week. We'll see when I'll be able to rotate somewhere else. Maybe next week.
Today I went to one of the hospital's "mobile clinics" located in a village several miles away. A small group of us piled into a Jeep and drove for about 45 minutes along narrow, tight switchbacks up into the hills through beautiful forests filled with monkeys. The clinic site is located in a small town on a dusty road, and the clinic itself is set up in a small courtyard behind one the shops. There is a table and plastic chairs for consultation, and a bed made of wood and grasses for exams. Common medications are stored in a locked shed and dispensed for free.
One patient was an 8 year old girl with a swollen lymph node the size of a golf ball on the side of her neck. Mumps. I had never seen mumps before. Not something we really have in the States, thanks to vaccines. The girl required no medications, as mumps is usually self-limiting. She'll be fine in about a week.
There were several other patients that just couldn't be treated with the extremely limited facilities there. One man came in complaining of chronic productive cough. Here, chronic productive cough usually means TB, but we can't be sure without a sputum culture. We gave him a referral card and urged him to come to the hospital, but it's doubtful that he will. Herbertpur is so far away for him, and he just doesn't understand why it's so important.
On the way back to the hospital, we stopped by a home where a girl sells hand-made blankets. She looked like she was in her late teens, early twenties, and she lives in small house with a thatched roof with her extended family. Outside their home is a huge loom, which she demonstrated for us how to use. She even makes her own thread and yarn out of old discarded fabrics. As we were leaving she asked if I would stay. What can I say, it must be the blonde hair. Next time we go I'd like to buy something from her.
Tonight Katie and I walked to Vikas Nagar, a small town consisting basically of one long road lined with shops just a little up the road from the hospital. One our way we ran into a wedding celebration. We heard it before we could see it. Drums beating, cheering, shouting, dancing in the streets. The bride and groom were dressed in all kinds of beautiful adornments, and the getaway car was decorated with flowers. The crowd saw Katie and me with our cameras in hand and begged us to take pictures. We were happy to oblige.
I've noticed many of the people here are delighted by having their picture taken. One little girl, maybe 10 years old, came up to me and said in beautiful English, "Hello. How are you?...Fine," then looked at my camera, grinning. I snapped a photo of her and then showed her her picture on the camera, and she giggled and giggled.
So it looks like I'll be staying on the Ob/Gyn service throughout the rest of this week. We'll see when I'll be able to rotate somewhere else. Maybe next week.
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