Dear Bamboo Schoolers,
the previous week has been, as usual, a busy one.
In another attempt to get my NGO Visa for Laos, I had to leave the country by plane (in this case I choose Singapore, since it was was the cheapest flight to get) and get back in on a specific date in order to obtain my visa upon arrival at the airport of Luang Prabang.
Even though I was very excited to finally obtain this very important document, I was confronted with the fact that the immigration office granted me the NGO Visa- for a period of a month only.
Supposedly I was to obtain it for 4 months, but no one was able to explain me why I got it for a month only.
Just another day in good old Laos. It's starting to honestly get a bit frustrating.
Having arrived in Luang Prabang I bought my third airplane ticket (Singapore- Kuala Lumpur- Luang Prabang) of the day to Vientiane, where I was invited to a dinner organized by the Lao- German- Friendship Association, to meet and welcome the new German ambassador of Laos.
Since it was the first time that I had taken a flight from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, I was astonished of how fast the flight was(20min.), whilst it usually takes 12 hours by bus (on horrible roads).
The ambassador's welcoming dinner was a huge success and I was able to introduce our foundation to his excellency Lütkenherm. He seemed very interested and immediately introduced me to his wife, who's a pediatrician.
She kindly offered to assist us to find further doctors to come and volunteer with us and is interested in getting to know our organization in person (what an honor!!).
Furthermore I was also able to meet Martina Lawler, a member of the senior german expert service. She also offered to assist us with finding doctors and expressed her interest to work with us in the future. Great news!
Overall my trip to the capital was a big success and I am more than thankful to have met great people that showed such interest in our foundation!
However, let's not forget about our volunteer, Brianna from New York, who bravely stayed in Nong Khiaw while I was gone. Here's an insight on her time there:
"I have successfully finished my first week (and a couple days) at the local hospital in Nong Khiaw and needless to say it is not the big, bustling NYC hospital I am accustomed to. I approached the hospital with my translator, Sytha, removed my shoes and felt the cool tiled floor beneath my feet as we began our first shift together.
We are introduced to many staff members with friendly smiles as I take the grand tour of the hospital grounds. I will spend most of my future time in the outpatient examination room, the emergency room and the inpatient ward where patients can stay the night if needed. During my first full day, I witnessed a man writhing in pain from a centipede bite, and a young teen with appendicitis that must travel to a village one hour further away for surgery. Both experiencing their pain to the highest degree, as no pain medication stronger than paracetamol is permitted.
I spent my second day in the outpatient exam room with a young female doctor and two nurses awaiting the next patient queued outside. We saw multiple patients, all varying in age, size and complaints. One patient had a generalized full body rash, the next two with a sore throat and fever, and the next with pain in her kidneys. One common denominator between the group is that they all were prescribed antibiotics for their ailments. This seems to be a common trend amongst the staff, as most patients will have an antibiotic written on their prescription list. Maybe after I ensure that everyone is washing their hands after touching patients and sterilizing the medical equipment, I will tackle the topic of antibiotic resistance. Or maybe I will save that for the next volunteer…
Later in the week, I was sitting in the examination room as a young woman enters looking quite ill. The head doctor follows behind her and hands her a sterile face mask to don. She places it lightly over her nostrils which essentially means it is not being used correctly by any means. She sits down across the table from me, and I ask Sytha what is happening. He tells me calmly that she has Tuberculosis- a disease that is transmitted from breathing in the same air as an infected person. She will stay for treatment in the hospital, but she will stay in the old building that is mainly used for storage. Not the most ideal place to recover, but at least she will be away from the other ill patients. Naturally, I hand the alcohol wipes and sanitizer to everyone in the room and instruct that the room be wiped down and explain my reasoning. I received some laughs, but at least it was done.
I found my most recent shift at the hospital to be of particular interest to me as it related to my experience with oncology. The patient, an older, frail looking gentleman smelling of cigarette smoke, entered the examination room, coughing between sentences. He complained of shortness of breath, chest pain with inhalation and a worsening cough. I was only a few feet away and I could hear audible wheezing as he breathed. The doctor diagnosed the patient with pharyngitis and prescribed an antibiotic and paracetamol for pain relief. It is evident to me, that the patient either had emphysema or perhaps, lung cancer (impossible to be sure without proper testing). I was told by Sytha that the doctors do not inform the patient or family if they believe the patient has a terminal illness, such as cancer, and will try to make the family feel better by prescribing a medication. To me, this is hard to believe, but to the Laotians it is part of their culture.
It has been an informative week and I am learning so much about the Lao culture and the healthcare system. Saturday is market day in Muang Ngoi, and I imagine I will have much to report on that".
As per this upcoming week Satheet, Brianna and myself (accompanied by nursing staff from the district hospital in Nong Khiaw), will be going to our project villages and hold a training on the importance of hand washing. We kindly thank Peter Ranger (former volunteer from New Zealand) for preparing, researching and proposing this project.
Villagers rarely wash them or use soap and then eat all of the food with their hands. This leads to a lot of diarrhea diseases and even death.
We look forward to telling you how the projects went...
We wish you all a good start into a happy new week!
Isabel Montano
General Manager ... MehrWeniger
11.09.17 ·
We have established an interactive library/playing corner in our house in Nong Khiaw, where kids can come and read books (in Lao and English). Our first two guests are fascinated by it!
In case you wish to donate books or toys(preferably wooden ones) contact me for further information🤹🏽♀️🤹🏽♀️🤹🏽♀️ ... MehrWeniger
23.08.17 ·
Dear Bamboo Schoolers,
the last 2 weeks have been by far the most challenging and physically painful for me so far.
Since it is quite a progress to obtain an official "NGO Visa" in Laos (have been waiting for 8 months), I got the information that mine would finally be ready to be picked up at the Lao-Thai border. So, once again, I embarked myself into the never ending journey from Nong Khiaw to the capital, Vientienne (about 15 hours ride in total).
Once there, I crossed the friendship bridge to Thailand and came back into Laos. My excitement was noticeable to anyone since having a NGO Visa means that I wouldn't have to extend my Visa every single month at the police station in Luang Prabang. But since nothing ever goes like we imagine it to be in Laos, this wouldn't be the exception. The paper that I presented was not the correct one. Bummer.
That's life in Laos. But the surprises don't stop there.
2 days after arriving from Vientienne back to Nong Khiaw, I started to feel as if a mild cold would come over me. Little did I know that within hours that "small cold" developed into something I've never felt before.
I thought that during my 8 months living in Laos and having endured scorpion bites, bomb findings, extreme storms on top of mountains - that I would have seen it all. But I was clearly forgetting one main missing ingredient: Dengue.
Well, that's not what the initial diagnosis was in our hospital in Nong Khiaw (they don't have the blood machine to detect it and therefore just test it "manually") and therefore I had to be taken to Luang Prabang by "ambulance". I didn't know what was worse: the ambulance or the dengue pain itself. See pictures attached.
Once there, since my dengue came in combination with vomiting and diarrhea, I had to spend 4 days connected to IV fluids and pain killers. I always heard terrifying stories about this infection and couldn't even imagine how painful and excruciatingly uncomfortable it is. Especially when all alone in a hospital in Laos.
Luckily, our former volunteers Silke and Klaus planned to visit me in Nong Khiaw during the same period that I was in the hospital and therefore were able to pick me up from it on my last day.
I am luckily starting to feel a little bit better, the fever is finally down and I am able to keep my food down, which is good because we have a lot of work ahead of us!
Please welcome Brianna(from America) and her boyfriend Peter (from New Zealand) to the team! Brianna is a nurse and will be supporting the district hospital in Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoy clinic for 5 weeks.
Peter will be assisting me to develop a sanitation training for the villages (mainly focused on washing your hands with soap).
On behalf of all of us we wish them a good start and are happy to have them on the team!
Happy weekend to everyone! ... MehrWeniger
20.08.17 ·
