Second Day of Medical Mission

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Today our crew set up in a local school, and it was by far the hottest and most humid day! I was shocked at how much sweat the human body can produce. I was drenched half the day, and tried my best to stay as hydrated as possible (and eating salty snacks). And thank goodness for the krama (traditional scarf) our hotel owner gave us as gifts (we also got two from our food tour!). They have so many uses, and we primarily used them to wipe our faces and wrap our heads to stay cool! Not too mention they're just beautiful. It's amazing to see what their school conditions are like. I took a lot of pictures of the walls and the blackboard, covered in Khmer chalk words and vocabulary posters. Kids go to school every day like we do but they also leave early to help the family. School is supposed to be free but unfortunately teachers can't afford everything needed and parents must also pay the teachers a fee. It works like that all the way up the school system through college to the point where there's concern over "buying degrees."

We arranged all the desks into a similar formation as the day before so that we could move kids and adults through two assembly lines until they ended at Pharmacy. Today I also noticed Pharmacy wasn't the last stop- prayer with a local Christian pastor was, and then he'd hand out a bag of toiletries. The translators kept running up to us to ask what various bottles of soap or shampoo were because the labels weren't particularly indicative. While our organization is a primarily Christian organization, one thing we were actually a little apprehensive about, they were actually accepting of all faiths. We had a morning devotional every day after breakfast before setting out with the group. We all participated but I found out throughout the week only a few members of the group were practicing Christians. We were quite the collection of Atheist, Non-Denominational, Muslim, Jewish and Christian folk. Chris and I had ethical concerns over beating any one religion into a group of villagers in a foreign country while at the same time offering them medical services, meds and free toiletries. And it was not like that at all- not a bit! What a relief that was, and how grateful I was to have found this organization to give me an opportunity to just be a nurse in another country helping others. The other thing I really thought about that day was birth control pills. We were handing out a year supply to any woman who wanted it- along with condoms. First, I was impressed a Christian organization would allow this. It's such a hot political topic back in the States. Second, I just kept thinking what an empowerment it was to these women who are traditionally stationed less than men, who are not always (and many times never) given a choice as to what to do with their bodies. Here was some little bit of control, for a year, to not have a child unless they wanted. To not have to risk their lives and their health and their families in childbirth. Many of the men in these villages were working in other countries where they could make more money to send home- they'd be gone for long periods of time. So how vulnerable it would be to be pregnant and the only present parent in your household, looking after not only your other children, but also your grandparents and trying to keep everyone fed somehow. Forget about medical care- too expensive. Don't even get me started on rape and the sex slave trade. I ended up sharing this at the end of the week, on what struck us the most this trip, to the entire group. As a woman, this is what made me feel good about our work.

In addition, though, I continued to do lots of other med teaching on pain meds (lots of back and mouth pain- no dentists), antibiotics (SO MANY infections), abendazole (for deworming- roundworms are common), vitamins, zyrtec (for runny noses) and benadryl (for anxiety and trouble sleeping). I had one "Oh shit" moment when a man (a rarity- sheer majority of our patients were female or children) kept asking if the heart medication we prescribed him would interact with his other heart medication that he didn't know the name to. I kept worrying, what if he passed out from taking both? He couldn't even remember exactly what the medicine was for. I consulted with our Pharmacist, and then the Doctor, and we decided it was safe.

That evening the daughter of the hotel owner treated us to a catered poolside feast. And wine! Lightning flashed periodically in the background as the heat from the last week finally burned off (the next few days would be blessedly cooler). One of the youngest volunteers found a toad in the grass, and the local translators kept giggling off to the side. When I looked at them questioningly they explained that they usually eat them. Which made me laugh. What a different world. The catered food was just as delicious as the hotel's expansive breakfast buffet. I couldn't for the life of me crack open the shellfish so Peter (one of the translators I've kept in contact with since leaving) taught me "the magic" of opening them. I never did discover the trick. After dinner, one of our doctors busted out the karaoke (he'd brought his machine all the way from California!). It didn't take long before Chris and I headed upstairs to bed, very tired.

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