COUNTRY: Thailand
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Murdoch Nursing & Midwifery
WRITTEN BY: Murdoch University
Sawatdee! After a fun filled weekend with lots of adventure, shopping and pampering we headed out to Tong Loi village where we would be based for the week. This week provided lots of time for us to get involved with the kids and do lots of health promotion. We’ve all lost count of how many times we washed our hands and brushed our teeth! We got to have some fun too teaching the Thai children the hokey pokey, heads-shoulders-knees and toes, and this is the way we brush our teeth! The kids definitely had much more energy than we did!
Our clinics were a little quieter this week, but it only enabled us to work harder and spend time with our Om Goi health care workers. Our lunch breaks included jamming sessions as getting to know our team! We all got to discover what it was like to live together 24/7!
After the end of week two our weekend provided a much needed break with showers and shopping and more wonderful Thai food. Before we knew it the weekend was over and we headed back out to Tong Loi for our final week. We travelled a bit further on Monday and Tuesday and arrived to our clinics with patients already waiting for us! Our last week has definitely been bittersweet, we are all so excited to come back home to family and friends but were all sad our time in Thailand has come to an end.
While in Tong Loi we were privileged enough to have the head man's house to live in and on Monday night we had a ceremony. In Thai culture they practice one ceremony which is a welcoming, good luck and goodbye all in one! The focus is on all things new, included is chickens (not from a farm), fresh cooked rice and last but certainly not least rice whiskey that has not been tasted before. The Thai people believe that when you travel your spirit may wander so by having this ceremony it calls back your spirit to you. We all have our own white wrist bands that are symbolic of our ceremony.
Tuesday we said our goodbyes to Tong Loi and all the people who made our time here so special. The head man gave us all a traditional Karen bag, these bags usually take about 2 weeks to make. We are all so grateful of the hospitality of the people and of their gifts to us. We then headed out to our very last clinic that proved to be as hectic as our first day!
We then headed to the hospital for a last goodbye and got to see our co-workers from the hospital. Wednesday and we are heading back to Chiang Mai and heading out for dinner together before doing last minute shopping to make sure our suitcases are full as can be!
We can't wait to be home and share all our stories. Speak soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment