The Jeep, filled with us still-further-flinging medical missionaries, ran an alternative route along rocky riverbeds, then up to great heights. Don't look at how close to the edge of that glacial bed cliff you are. Just manage to be happily surprised that you can still be surprised at the spectacular Annapurna range views that surround you and us; try to take pictures through the dust-obscured Jeep windows of yet another suspension bridge over the Kali Gandaki River, threaded with bright prayer flags—bridges that are somehow never frightening to cross on foot despite being tossed by the gale-force winds. In our short one hour ride we passed through Marpha, “The Delightful Apple Capital of Nepal” as it was dubbed on entry signs, which had an unusual monastery, white and upward winding, clinging to the cliffside. The buildings cascaded down and around them and the orchards lined the stalled-bus-clogged road.
L to R: The road to Tukuche ; Cliffside monastery in Marpha ; View from the Jeep
Tukche is small and welcoming, surrounded by views of Mt. Nilgiri and other peaks, so enormous and magical that one scarcely can believe they are not illusion. We all take hundreds of pictures of them when the uncommon cold and cloudy weather sweeping through the passes relent to reveal their presence; us in the vain attempt to capture the feeling they plant into a humble soul. Alas, it is lost in translation. What we do decipher quite clearly is that the people of Tukche are happy to have our mission here. Our group joins the smaller one that made the trip here one day before, who alone saw about 130 patients the day before our arrival.
L to R: We stayed in the "old town" of Tukuche, this sign leading the way past the boarding school ; Collection box for the newly-constructed Health Post that our team works from ; The second leg of the team walks to our inn against a surreal backdrop
We have a nice, short trip across the 'old town' row buildings, white with burnt orange, turquoise blue and deep mahogany wood and rooftops padded with juniper logs, to the newly-constructed Health Post. In the bustle of setting up the clinic in the Post, with local staff manning the insanely crowded registration window, me and Steve sit down and talk with Emanta Ghusen, a kindly and important old fellow who is Chairman of the village's citizen committee and President of the oversight committee that presided over the building of the new structure. Funded by the Nepalese government and costing near to 1 million rupees (I think this is what he said, but we were speaking without an interpreter!) the Post is clean, comfortable, and accommodating. The only problem thus far is that besides sinks and bathrooms, there is nothing inside the building as of yet. Of the 16 provinces of Mustang, only Tukche, Jomsom and one or two others have these health posts/hospitals. The Jomsom hospital, where we spent our first days, is evidently the main/largest hospital in Mustang. As mentioned before, in these more remote areas it is very difficult for people to get needed healthcare, and often illnesses are just lived with. Few can afford the time and expense to go to Pokhara to see specialists or have surgery. There are few medicines to be had in this town. We test this theory and after wandering about and asking after anything akin to a pharmacy; we are referred to the shopping epicenter of old town, which is a small, simple old room with a few ancient boxes of Amoxicillin on the shelf which comprises the pharmacy. This I believe is when our heroic Amy decided to hop on the back of a motorcycle for a thrilling 2-hour round trip ride back to Jomsom to bring back some desperately needed medicines for the clinic. Let it be shown for the record that Amy is a living saint—this was just one of the many things she did daily without complaint to help the mission along. She was only betrayed by her inability to conceal her fatigue every night at the conclusion of group dinners...
L to R: The Tukuche Health Post ; Dental clinic in full swing ; The view from the Health Post was a perk ; Saint Amy attends ; Workers compose the waiting list and keep it orderly ; A wall of patients attempting to enter the building
Emanta explains that Nepal, being a poor country, has a government that cannot alone provide doctors everywhere, but he hopes that they will be able to provide on for the new Post, as well as nurses. There will likely be some reliance on foreign aid to help fund some of this. And there is, of course, the aforementioned issue of keeping qualified medical personnel in these far-flung villages. There is a Dutch group called Dhampus Stikhting that has run 3 missions to Tukche (http://www.stichtingdhampus.nl - use Google to translate the site) with a dentist named Joost Van Viijmen. They have donated money for equipment, and we also donate about $25,000 worth of dental equipment which I believe was secured through the efforts of our traveling dentists, John and Jack. Now the Post just needs to find staff.
The honorable Emanta Ghusen
As far as our mission is concerned, the new Health Post was a fantastic accommodation. Since there are no established doctors or politics here we were even more welcome. It was evident by the enormous crowd that waited throughout the day for care, despite the chilly weather, that the people of the town and the villages around it were most appreciate of our help. While standing outside in the ad hoc 'waiting area' in front of the hospital (patients were let in as called via registration—many hovered in a nearly impenetrable crowd in front of the door, which was sentried valiantly by a man named Lakshmi. Emanta again expressed their gratefulness and told us how people had traveled an hour plus by foot from villages to be seen. Over 300 were registered the 1st and 2nd days. There were some serious cases—a family severely jaundiced that had to be sent for hepatitis tests; a small, cheerful toddler with cerebral palsy; an atrophied and crooked polio leg that the patient asked to have amputated, and others along with the standard issues. This is a population with uncommonly high blood pressure pretty much across the board. There are many GI tract problems, and dental health is a huge problem. Dr. Jack remarked at the happy and thankful spirit of the people, even those that had just had multiple teeth extracted. The last dental customer of the day was a 6 year-old girl who came not with her parents, but her friends, and who endured her appointment stoically. It's quite difficult to imagine such a thing from an American child!
I am actually unable to get inside the building by late morning through the crowd at the door, so all of my pictures are of the colorful people waiting outside.
Bob attends to the blood pressure of the masses.
More mothers, babies and sweet schoolkids waiting for their turn.
The day was successful and everyone was seen. The crew retired to an evening of Buddhist meditational theory and practice (super 101) by the venerable and down-to-earth Khenpo Khyentse of the Jyatsonling Association Kaohsiung, who had attended the clinic in Jomsom but who is from Tukche. He has started a school here, called the Shree Nalanda Buddhist School. It is a boarding institution that is free for the students and which also makes a point of giving scholarships to Dalit children who otherwise might not have a chance at education. Dinner at the Hotel Laxmi, replete with comforting chicken and buckwheat dumpling soup, as well as the local apple brandy for the brave (it is basically a moonshine/strychnine substance that keeps people warm in the winters) and a fatigued but lovely chat around the fire table, and then to our chilly beds. I was finding myself somewhat acclimating to the cold nights, or maybe I was just subconsciously adding more layers to my never-shed armor. At least the bed pads were a bit cushier than in Jomsom...
Tired crew at the fire table at the end of a long day (the table is built above a recess in the ground, where metal containers with hot coals are set.) It's difficult to bring yourself to get up from the table, and sleep overcomes little Avo.
No comments:
Post a Comment