View From Nepal

Quote of the day:
“Someday I want to be rich. Some people get so rich they lose all respect for humanity. That’s how rich I want to be.”
--Rita Rudner

Today, a first-hand look at life in a hospital in Tansen, Nepal. Two of our friends--a social worker and a physician--are leading a work team there:

“Our experiences here can only be described as intense and vivid. Our white faces are becoming known around the hospital and the staff smile and offer directions.

“Today the toy rounds people gave out small beach balls with globes of the world on them. The families are often here at bedside and they were so pleased. In fact, the balls have become quite precious.

“We used the balls not only as toys but also as part of our introductions when we gave our in-services. We marked the balls with an X on San Diego and another on the area of Tansen, Nepal.

“They were so happy to have a globe of the world! Several of the Nepalese who are auxiillary staff have a friend in the U.S. They each wanted to look up the state where they know someone.

“The chief of social services explained to me that he knew about California--it is right next to Florida. This is not surprising as a lot of folks in the U.S. have only a foggy notion of how to locate Nepal.

“Yesterday was the hand-off of the carpentry and maintenance tools to the staff there. The guys couldn't wait to get their hands on the new tools; they were so excited.

“The workmen are amazingly talented and everything we have seen thus far is pretty much done by hand. They even cut steel rebar with a score mark, a rock placed under the bar, and a sledge hammer. It is a slow process.

“During the last two days we have painted 5 labor bays in the maternity ward. The sanitation is nonexistent but at least the surroundings look more clean (we used a cream color).

“Today we worked in the busy cashier area and we were the best show in town. It was amazing how many people watched. Some of the guys wanted to know how we put the rollers together and the blue tape to keep a line between colors was a great novelty.

“I gave my in-service today on stress to social service-chaplaincy-outreach workers. Their biggest concerns were suicide attempts, alcoholism (among staff), and patients being dumped off at the gate with no money, no family, and no contacts.

“Social service staffers are expected to give the emotional support and do discharge planning with no resources to work with. Sure sounds familiar!

“Today we had an afternoon foray into town and saw the main square that the Maoists destroyed a year ago Jan. The historical 'palace' was a police station and is now a huge pile of rubble. It is being cleaned up by hand and the plan is to rebuild it in the historical mode as it was before. Estimated time of construction is 3 years.

“Tomorrow we will hit the painting hard in the a.m. and take the afternoon off to have a mini-trek to the home of the Guest House Manager where his parents live. He promises to introduce us to the buffalo who is providing our milk.

“I miss hot water and functional showers.”