Laos baby named after Griffith midwifery student!

COUNTRY: Laos
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing & Midwifery
WRITTEN BY: Rosie Haynes, Griffith University

As we headed to the final villages this week, the terrain became more challenging and the first day of the week saw one of the trucks get a flat tire. However this was the least of our worries as on the second day of the week the road was impassable and the group was forced to walk 3km to get to the town. Chipseng was horrified that we had to walk, even after we reassured him that it would be fine and that we wouldn't mind a bit of a walk (the people in Laos find it difficult to understand the western view of doing exercise for fun).

The walk was quite spectacular and finally allowed us time to stop and take pictures of the scenery. As we first got off the truck and started walking several people in the group started singing si-quay, si-quay (right-left, right-left) and our equipment was transported via boat to the village. This also highlighted the real issues presented to the villagers in regards to health care because they live in such an isolated and rural area.The last few days of the clinics also saw some interesting cases with a lady coming in complaining of a sore ear and upon further inspection we saw what looked like a spider web inside her ear, leading to some odd questions.

As it was Bec's birthday during the week, the group had bought her a chocolate cake to share after one of the dinners. After seeing this, our amazingly talented local cooks decided that for the next night they would bake a traditional mut fuc cake. What originally looked to be a strange combination of pumpkin and coconut custard turned out to be an even better cake than we had the night before. The cooks on this trip have been amazing, turning up with a delicious warm meal three times a day, and during our last few days at the village they pulled out some of their best dishes, including their version of KFC! On the first night at the village this week they cooked us a traditional meal including whole roasted fish (freshly caught), lots of sticky rice and fresh salad.

On our last night in Pak Xeng, after a tour of the hospital, the midwives were informed that there was a lady who was in labor at the hospital. After speaking with the attending midwife at the hospital, it was found that the students help was greatly appreciated. Our dedicated midwifery students stayed up for the majority of the night with the lady at the hospital until she gave birth at 4 in the morning. During the labor there was a bit of negotiation between our midwives and the staff working at the local hospital, who wanted her to deliver in a set of what looked like medieval stirrups.

Over breakfast the next morning we heard stories of the night before and the three midwifery students huddled up on one of the wooden beds at the hospital and also of how attentive and dedicated the father was. At the end of the night, the mother decided to name her new girl Laura, although their pronunciation is closer to Lorla.
The morning of our last day at Pak Xeng the village threw us another basi ceremony and we gave out gifts to our translators, cooks and drivers who have put in so much work for us these past few weeks. Now that group A is back in Luang Prabang the only thing we have left to do is meet up with group B, visit the hospital and give them a bit of a hand over of the things we have done.

I know for me this has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I have learnt so much from my time in the villages and not just about rural and community nursing which was our primary aim of this placement. We have learnt of the importance of community and looking after the people around us. We have learn the art of non verbal communication, and the universal language of laughter as we have blown bubbles for the children in the villages and given out balloons and stickers though most of all we have gained an appreciation for what we have.