So, here's an update on the last two days. Whitney and I got up early on Thursday am to have chai with Tanu and her boyfriend Manoj before they left to visit their family. It was such a blessing to be with them and hear their story. Their relationship is so beautiful to me. Manoj has been a chef in Paris for the last 3 years. This is the first time that Tanu has seen him in that three years. So many people try to discourage their relationship by telling Tanu that she shouldn't trust Manoj being so far away for so long with all the french girls, but lo and behold, she trusts him. And boy does he love her. When she talks, his eyes are fixed on her. He treats her with gentleness and respect. He listens to her and respects her feelings. Such a strong relationship. I have learned a lot just through the short amount of time I have observed them. Here is a picture of our time:
Anyway, that was a bit of a bunny trail. All that to say, great tea/coffee date with the two of them. After that, we headed back to Hope House and I spent the morning working with Orijeet and Philip to develop a general schedule of volunteering for future nurses and nursing teams coming to Mercy Hospital. That task now has a lovely line drawn through it on my "to-do" list. :-) Blessed completion.In the afternoon, another volunteer, Erica, and I had the wonderful privilege of giving a nursing education seminar to the nursing supervisors and a school of nursing instructor at the hospital. As I have posted in previous entries, the infection control procedures that are practiced here are occasionally... well.... not quite up to par according to western standards. Not only is the choice of surgical footware a problem, but syringes are used to poke patients multiple times before they are thrown away. Pressure is placed on spurting arteries without gloves. I have seen ABGs taken without disinfecting the skin. Handwashing is practiced when coming on the shift only and no disinfection is available throughout the wards. Uncapped, used syringes are carried around the wards. Where do we start in infection control teaching, one might ask? Well, Erica and I devised a powerpoint of information on infection control, but as I suspected, the nurses were well aware of the theory. It is the implementation that is the problem, and that problem has many facets. The supervisors informed us that administration has asked them to reduce the use of syringes and catheters (foleys stay in for 15 to 21 days here... you don't even want to know the rate of UTIs) due to patient complaint. It seems that patients are not educated regarding infection transmission and are complaining about too many syringes or pairs of gloves being charged to their bill. This is truly what we consider a "catch 22". The hospital cannot really afford to pay for gloves and syringes (as with other charities, their funding is also down this year) and just to give you an example of the financial state of some of their patients, I heard a story yesterday of a father who makes his very ill son with thalassemia walk 5 miles back and forth to get his blood transfusions because their family cannot afford the 10 rupees to take the bus (10 rupees is 20 cents). The challenge now: How do we raise the standard of infection control without raising the cost of healthcare for the poorest of the poor? Please pray for wisdom for those that will be left to sort all of this out.
After giving our presentation, I spent a half hour with Sushma and Richard before Sush went home to rest. We were supposed to go shopping on Thursday and again today, but yesterday, Whit and I had too much going on and today Sush wasn't feeling well. We're aiming for tomorrow now. Either way, after hanging out with her, I went with 5 of the other volunteers to take pictures on the roof of the hospital. Here are a couple for your viewing pleasure:
Midhuna (US), Rachel (Canada), Whitney (US), Janna (US), and me (Erica from Germany is taking the picture)
Whitney and me
After getting in trouble from Orijeet because of the potential danger of us falling off the ledge and into the street below, we headed out to dinner at an Indian restaurant named "Tamarind" to celebrate Whitney's last night in Kolkata. I loved the spicyness level of this place! My lips were aflame by the end. (and I got to try fish eye... can it get any better than this?? :-)) Janna and Midhuna were struggling a little more. :-)
Following our amazing dinner and being able to sing "Happy Birthday" to an elderly Indian woman in the middle of the restaurant, we headed out for chai and paan. Paan is this weird concoction of nuts, dried cherries, oil, spices galore, mint, and fig rolled into a beetle leaf. You stick the whole thing into your mouth and chew. You're supposed to spit most of it out and swallow a small amount that apparently helps maintain a healthy digestive system. I can honestly say that I would be perfectly fine to go the rest of my life never having this again. Rachel and Whit agreed.
After that horrible taste residing in our mouth, we made a rapid stop for chai and then headed off to our house. Since then, I've been productivity central. You know, I hate to admit it, but I think in some ways, my dad knows me better than I think he does. There is a part of me that is an administrator at heart. When I came to this hospital, I greatly enjoyed working with patients and just being a blessing to the nurses. I still do. That's a part of who I am. I want to be next to the patient holding his/her hand as he/she gets poked for an IV (all 8 times... *grins*) But another part of me looks at the whole picture, evaluates what is working and what is not, and wants to work toward what can be improved. It's who I've been created to be. But sometimes, these two sides of me conflict. I like to critically think through issues and work toward lasting change. That's the administrative part of me. But I love people and knowing them and being with them. And that's the part of me that just wants to be a nurse caring at the bedside of patients forever. These last few days, I've struggled with my administrative role here because I don't get to see patients firsthand. I feel disconnected from some of their suffering. It's hard to explain, but this week has been a different world from my experiences at Kalighat. There's little emotional connection with administration, but if I'm gifted at it, maybe it's part of why I'm here and it can be a blessing after I leave for the glory of God.
I cannot believe that I only have 4 full days left in Kolkata. This time has flown by and yet I have so much yet to accomplish in these last several days that it makes my head spin!! :-) I must say that I love it here. I love that people smile. I love their hospitality and generousity. I love the children. Sometimes I walk down the street or work in the hospital and think "I could live here for the rest of my earthly life." But other times, like tonight, I'm thankful to be going back. Erica and I took this sweet little girl who is visiting here from Manipur, India (long story) out to hot chocolate. While we were sitting there, a little boy was sitting outside and kept looking in the window making motions that he was hungry. As someone who wants to live exemplifying Jesus, what am I to do with this? Just ignore it? Pray for him? Give him something? Well, I had to go up and pay our bill at the counter, so I just bought two packages of cookies, opened them, and gave them to the boy when we walked outside. (There are a huge number of exploited children around here who are "hired" by adults and given a commission on what they make from begging. Opening the packages prevents resale.) As I suspected, we ended up with three of his friends emerging from the shadows and following us to beg for money for food within 2 seconds of the handover. This type of situation just makes me angry. Maybe it shouldn't, but the art of begging here has made it such that you cannot help the multitudes that are really in trouble. Thousands of children live on the streets here. And all of these children we came across tonight (the oldest no more than 11) may be among them. But you have no way to know. And you're left feeling helpless and confused about how to be generous and yet wise and discerning at the same time.
Oh India. You are beautiful, but you need Jesus to soak into every corner and crevice of you. And so do I. Lord, grant us your generousity and discernment to do your will rightly. Fill us anew with your Spirit this day to do whatever task you put our hands to in a way that is worthy of you.
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