Griffith Nursing students have arrived in Laos!

COUNTRY: Laos
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Gabby Smith, Photography by Josh Bakkum, Griffith University

First blog for the 2014 trip exciting!!! First of all I'd like to say there are no words or information that will prepare you for what your walking into. As much as I myself researched, looked up and googled I was still taken by surprise. I'm hoping this blog however, will give you just the slightest of idea's of what to expect; help you with your decision to go or help you decide where you would like to volunteer.

But lets start at the beginning, as we all rock up to the Brissy airport the excitement could be felt in the air. We all still had no idea who each other was or if we would even get along, which of course made us all a little nervous. We waved our families and loved ones goodbye and made it through customs without a hiccup. Most of us decided to treat ourselves to a little luxury before we took off. After exchanging names and getting to know each other a little we boarded the plane to Bangkok with coffee in our bellies.
After making it safely through Bangkok airport with our stiff legs we got on our bus to our hotel. Now luggage is an issue considering all of us had a donations bag as well as our own check in luggage and a carry on. We did look like pack mules walking through the airport. Arriving in the hotel we separated into pairs for the rooms and made our way up to our rooms. Our stay in Bangkok was short lived, as we dragged our weary bodies out of bed the next morning; all of us did end up going for a little walk around town that night; for our breakfast then back onto the bus. We battled our way through the airport again with our big bulky bags. With some time to kill we decided to devour into some more luxuries like a massive burger from burger king (whopper girl) or a Starbucks coffee. We were all thankful the next flight to Luang Prabang was short lived. This was our first glance at what to expect in the villages. It is very different to Australia. Luang Prabang was a lot bigger than I had originally thought. It is actually quite a lively place. The hotel is luxury since we were all expecting something a little third world; we were all surprised to see a western toilet in the rooms. We all fell in love with the place after our city tour, there is so much culture and rich history around you can't help but immerse yourself in it.


After our lovely weekend in Luang Prabang we packed the open backed trucks and headed north for Pak Xeong. What a trip. It lasts around 2.5 - 3 hours. The road is rocky, dusty and narrow. We had motor bikes and other truck to contend with. There was more than a few close calls as a bikes and trucks pass us, we also felt like we were living on the edge with how close we got to the edge of the cliff.; very hair raising. Now a handy HINT for the trucks: pack a scarf as it does get very dusty, sunnies (obviously) and a small pillow, a little neck pillow is probably the best. This is just because of the jarring factor. the roads get worse and worse as you get further north, going out to the villages everyday can become very trying on your back.
We arrived safely in Pak Xeong all a little worse for wear but rearing to go. The kids greeted us with flowers and the traditional Sa Bai Dee = hello. After organising ourselves that afternoon we spent a night with the children. What an amazing night we all played games (crossed swords), sung songs, and laughed the night away.

The next few days were clinics for us out at the villages further north. Walking into the villages the poverty hits you like a ton of bricks but, everyone is so happy - all the kids have the biggest smiles on their faces, as they giggle and play with you. Even the adults are constantly smiling. It's full on. Back to the basic nursing and midwifery care. A few of us do health promotion while the others set up the clinic, which is usually held in a school, and we rotate. We split up the jobs as well when the clinic is running, two on reception, one on height and weight, three on bp,temp and pulse, six on assessment, two in treatment/antenatal and one on pharmacy. We work along side the health care workers and of course our amazing translators Cheng, Sung, Lee, Chip Seung and Bee; who put up with our shenanigans and our bad pronunciation. And again we rotate through the jobs. The clinics are always packed. We see around 40-50 families which is around 100 -150 people everyday!! We are all thoroughly enjoying everything we are doing and can't wait to get back out into the villages for another week.

Working on assessment we assess the clients wellbeing, asking what they may have problems with. A man came in and said he had problems with his eyesight, after further examination we established he did not have cataracts he just could not see short distances. So we got out some glasses for him to try on, when he found the right set that was for him the biggest smile, that will warm your heart, broke out on his face. He said he could see clearly again.
In the treatment room a woman was undergoing a prenatal assessment, since she was a fair way into her pregnancy we could use the doppler to hear her baby's heart beat. When we found it again words cant really do just to the joy that was written on her face, this was the first time she had heard her baby's heart beat.
With the happy stories there are also some sad ones. Also in assessment while assessing a family we found out that they could only afford to feed their family one meal a day, which was hard to hear, however the family were still very healthy and happy. There was also a woman who said she could get free health care at hospital but could not afford the bus trip there.
Its stories like this that can be distressing so its good to prepare yourself for the good and the bad. For you to realise that even though you are there to help you cant always provide the miracle cure. However, we have noticed some change to the villagers, after a health promotion workshop a father wiped his child's nose with a tissue and put the tissue back in his pocket, which is an amazing improvement from sucking it back. Again this made us all realise we can't change a village but we can make a holistic impact upon their lives.

One of us lost a set of undies the the wash at the hotel as it was taken in with the towels from our rooms. After frantically running down they found the staff and through pure hand signals and body language were able to explain the situation. The staff ran off giggle (of course) to return with her set of undies all clean in a bag. If you're worried about the language barrier the use of hang signals and body language work are universal.
On a bus trip out to one of the villages, one of us tried taking their tablets through their scarf..... Just to show you how tired you may get working up in the villages.

With one week under our belts we have all become a closer group, and are able to get along extremely well; from girlie nights, to mending each others pants (mama bear) this week has left us all comfortable with each other. We discuss our bowel movements over dinner (obviously) and cheer when can do one but most importantly this week has left each and everyone of us as a master of the infamous squat toilet.

Be prepared to laugh at yourself as you will make a mistake which was obviously a mistake (just from sheer exhaustion), you will pronounce words wrong and have the locals in hysterics but, most of all you will have an amazing time and we all can guarantee that.

Until Next week happy nursing/midwiferying.

Written by Gabby
Photos by Chief photographer Josh