I can’t believe that I have been at the hospital for over a week and in the country for almost two weeks!!! The time is going by so quickly. I’m so glad to be here. This experience has challenged me in so many ways and taught me so much. The Lord has been so good to me and is so faithful. He’s teaching me what it really means to serve and give of yourself, even if you are doing seemingly insignificant tasks. I have been doing alot of things to just help Sharon in her office. We have been doing some things like organizing the splinting materials and so forth. I also helped with making decorations for a Valentine’s Day party that they had for all of the married couples that work at the hospital. I was actually one of the servers for the meal, along with the other two American med students who were here. But, I also have done some more OT things as well.
On Friday, I got the chance to go with one of the staff to a village to see some children for an informal initial assessment. These children had been identified by a community health worker. Our main purpose was to meet the kids and their families, identify the problem, assess whether the children needed further treatment and if so, if they live close enough to recieve treatment at one of the centers. We also made a few simple recommendations to the parents.
During this visit, I felt so inadequate. I made a few suggestions such as some stretching exercises or weight bearing, but I mostly didn’t know what to tell the family. We mostly recommended that they see a doctor. I’m not used to taking the role of “the expert” without having someone else there to bounce ideas off of or at least talk these through. I’m also not used to seeing patients that are undiagnosed and have medical issues that have not been addressed. Healthcare is not readily available here like it is in the U.S. When we were leaving the village, several people came up to us and wanted us to address their medical issues. We listened to their problems, but were unable to do more than recommend that they see a doctor.
I’m learning that in a country where there is so much disability and lack of healthcare, you have to just do what you can. You may not feel like you have enough training to effectively meet people’s needs, but you use what you know because you can provide more to people then they would have otherwise.
On Saturday, the other med students and I rented a taxi and went to a town nearby which is up in the Himalayas. We rode for about one hour up a very steep, winding road. It was a fairly clear day and the mountains were beautiful. We ate lunch at a little outside restaurant and ate grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries! It was nice to have some “American” food. We also ate at Pizza Hut for supper. 
Sunday, we fellowshipped with local believers in the morning and then helped with the Valentine’s Day party all afternoon and evening.
Today has been alot slower day and I’m really glad! I helped with the early intervention group again today and treated the same child that I had last week. But, the rest of today I have spent checking email, talking to Sharon and helping her clean up from last night. Tomorrow I’m going to the nearest large town to attend a disability awareness seminar. About 30 different community health organizations will be attending. The purpose is to teach community health workers about disability and how to integrate a program to reach the disabled into the work that they are already doing. One of the staff from here is going to present about the work that they are doing in this community. We will be there until Saturday. It should be fairly interesting. I’m hoping that alot of it will be in English and not Hindi