COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak - Kathmandu
PROJECT: Community Healthcare projects
WRITTEN BY: Julie Stocks
This last week has yet again been exciting and memorable! Coming into our second week most of us have settled in a little bit more with both our families and workplace, feeling more confident to get involved and also get some hands on experience, especially at BAS and SERC physio and rehabilitation schools.
This week at Stupa hospital could quite possibly have been the highlight so far. It was a busy week on the general ward, all beds full and even overflowing in to the backup chemo ward. We spent quite some time with Dr Swasti, the director of the hospital and also a gastroenterologist. He is an expertise in his field, and fortunately he has been able to pass on his high level of knowledge to us, which has tested our memories somewhat!
Whilst spending this time with him, it also became clearer how their system works when working with other multidisciplinary teams such the physiotherapist, orthopedic specialists and women's health specialists. Some aspects were very similar but in particular i noticed some differences especially with the physio and the types of treatment they provide in the hospital such as sports injury and general injury maintenance.Whereas physios back home are more focused on mobility and breathing exercises.
The ultimate highlight for the week has to be scrubbing in on an elective caesarean. Having our lunch in the hospital cafeteria, I happened to ask the gynecologist if there would be any deliveries she knows of in the next week before we leave, which we were informed there was the c section in approximately 2 hours. Before we knew it we were in our scrubs and in the operating theatre watching a very nervous first time mother about to give birth.
It was an amazing experience to be part of and also quite emotional (mostly from us!). The baby was born a petite 2.7 kgs but also had cleft lip and palate to which the family were shocked as they did not know prior, so emotions were running high. It was brought to our attention that this condition is quite common in Nepal and India but the operations are free of charge and paid for by the government. There are also charities to help fund these costly operations. The good news is, this gorgeous bundle will be able to have the operation at 10 months old when she is strong enough to go through the procedure.
After two weeks of work and adjusting in the craziness of Kathmandu, last weekend we all took the trip down to Chitwan National Park for some jungle and safari adventures, and some fresh air! A 5 hour bus trip turned out to be 8 hours due to horrendous traffic on the very windy cliffside road, but we got there eventually! The weekend was packed full of walks, visiting the elephant birthing centre, jeep safaris, elephant rides and canoeing down the Rapti river which everyone enjoyed. A weekend of quiet, no constant honking cars and dust was just what we needed, but as the saying goes, the grass is always greener and we were feeling quite happy to be back in Kathmandu this morning and looking forward to our amaa’s dinner tonight!!
That's all for this week!
Julie
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