Friday, October 17, 2008

Health camp

This girl really is this pretty and charming, and really does get dressed in a house that looks a lot like this in the morning.





I went with the team to my first "health camp" today. It's the kind of thing that in San Francisco might have a bit of physical presence, with maybe a tent or a van. We just roll on into the partially-roofed preschool, set up some of the ubiquitous plastic chairs that seat much of India, and start seeing patients. The patients are lovely. They're kind, pleasant, and graciously respond to all six of the mangled words in my Kannada lexicon.
Overall, the clinic is pretty challenging. The 19 year old mother of four sitting two feet away from where I'm struggling with a blood pressure cuff, is actually having her visit with Dr. Bhavana. It's hard to imagine how confidentiality can happen here. And prescribing a chronically malnourished, pale-under-the-eyelids anemic woman 20 days worth of multi-vitamins also feels woefully inadequate. Really, I'd like to prescribe a lifetime of ice cream sundaes, with iron flakes on top.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

sarah-loving the blog, awed at what you're doing, saddened you can't do more, and seriously thinking that you should wear a bright-colored sari permanently!

so many thoughts and emotions.
love, lindsay