House calls & Hammocks

Yesterday morning Ream and I took a moto {{local term for motorbike}} to do a "house call". After a fun & bouncy 10 minute ride with a lot of laughs, we arrived. Ream's dad is a pastor so a few of the families were from his church and a few were other locals that he knew had medical needs.
{{Lengthy side note: Ream's family has been in this area for most of her life and her father is well-known and well-respected in the community. Between his church and the Carson's orphanage and school, the village people have seen the love of Jesus displayed in a consistent and powerful way for a number of years now. They have made an incredible and lasting impact here, and I think I have probably only heard 1% of the stories so far!}}

The first patient I saw had a pretty bad gash in his leg from a medal-sharpening tool he was using. Thankfully he had already received some medical attention a few days prior, and had gotten several sutures and dressing supplies. The wound looked like it will heal well if he keeps it clean, so I just gave him some basic education on how to do that, cleaned the wound area and did a simple dressing change. The other patients I saw had complaints of respiratory issues, rashes, back pain, parasites, and a few other mysterious symptoms which Ream and I recommended them to follow up with the hospital in the capital, because those situations sounded like they may require x-rays or scans of some kind.

There are many "clinics" accessible to the people here in the village, and it's inexpensive but the health care they receive is very unreliable. In an effort to save money they will make multiple visits to these clinics and "fake doctors", often receiving artificial medications as well. So Ream was able to share with them the benefit of spending a little bit more for one visit to the reliable hospital is better than all these cheaper visits that keep adding up without solving the problem. An attitude you will see here is that cheaper is always better.

I am going to create a work page that will help me better triage the people I see here. I think it will be very insightful to see what the most common health problems are and where the biggest gaps in education exist. When I went on a medical trip to Malawi last fall we gathered a lot of data on the patients we saw there. It felt tedious at the time but now I'm here without a team and without a system. I'm actually wanting to gather this information myself so that I can focus in on the most pertinent concerns and hopefully serve the people here with excellence. Western medicine isn't as well received as natural remedies so I have ALOT to learn, but Kit and Ream are a wealth of knowledge on all of that stuff. It's going to be a challenging but really interesting few months here, that's for sure.

After yesterdays adventure, I started thinking about the possibility of pursuing my MSN {{Masters of Science in Nursing}} and focusing on Public Health.

WILD.

If you had asked me if I would ever pursue that degree when I was just a young pup in nursing school, I probably would have laughed real hard and looked at you like I was ready for the next joke. Very few of my classmates were interested in public health; STD testing and pre-natal screening for pregnant moms in the correctional facility just somehow wasn't as glamorous as saving lives in the ER and ICU appeared. I remember thinking it would be a really frustrating to work in the government-run heath departments that we are familiar with.

But this kind of public health is a totally different animal. And who knows, maybe I never will end up getting that degree, but it surprised me that it even crossed my mind and suddenly seemed like it might be a good fit.

In other news, after lunch yesterday, I got to go on a overnight trip to the capital of Phnom Penh with Kit, Ream and my sweet little giggle buddy Adah. We had a lot of fun exploring the HUGE mall there, eating dinner and shopping for food and supplies for the team {{who arrived this morning}}. We spent the night with some of their good friends who they know from a church in California, who recently retired and moved here. They were really warm and welcoming, the kind of people who make you feel like family right away. Looking forward to becoming better friends with them while I'm here!

We left their apartment early this morning and headed to the airport to pick up the team of 22 bible college students and leaders from Kauai, HI. They will be spending 3 weeks here at AGHO, teaching the kids how to study the bible. Really awesome group of young adults between the ages of 18-20, I think it's gonna be super fun to have them here! Some of them are returning from last year, so it was sweet to watch their reunion with the kids. There's nothing like the familiar face of someone you love and haven't seen in a long time.

Driving through the city was crazy. Anyone who has ever been to a third-world country can relate. If there are traffic lights, they're suggestions at best. Motos run the show, pedestrians have to try like 27 times to cross the street, lanes don't exist, and neither does road rage. You just honk and pass and honk again. I'm a pretty good passenger, it doesn't stress me out because I'm just happy to not be the driver. But there were a few moments today where I just wanted to close my eyes and hope for the best. Its like a nonstop game of chicken, who's gonna veer to the left or right first. And let me tell you, everyone waits till the last possible second before a collision occurs. It's actually really fun, keeps things exciting. {{Makes the traffic in New York seem so tame. Except that everyone is angry there all the tim, so that part makes it actually pretty out of control}}. Kit and the other drivers did  great though and we made it back safely.

I could write more but I'll save it for now. I'm writing this from a hammock and everyone is napping back in the house. The whole village shuts down from about 12-2 this time of year, it's just too hot to be productive in the afternoon. So I better wrap this up before my laptop overheats. Doubtful that there are any Apple repair stores around here ;-)

[above] essentials for house calls.

[below] Ream & I, medicine women on a moto.

[above] the house we met the patients at. also, thats Ream's dad on the moto. such a cool guy.

[below] Adah & I. totally adore this girl!

[below] the kids enjoying some awesome legos that my friends/coffee shop employers on Long Island donated :) Thanks Michael & Vanessa!