Some pictures- the internet is slow, so consider these a preview. One of my personal favorites:
It's raining. That's putting it very lightly. It's barely stopped raining for more than a few hours since I got here on July 1. We're in the middle of Monsoon season, and Patna has poor drainage. That means a ton of flooding. When we walk, the water is above our knees usually, and when we drive it feels like we're in a boat- we have a wake and everything. I should have brought my wakeboard or waterskis.
It also means the power goes out constantly. It's pretty amazing to be in surgery (sometimes with a needle stuck in the eye) when the power goes out. An assistant holds a flashlight and they perform surgery by flashlight until the generator kicks in.
Patna is a lot different than Chennai. I am the only white face here (that we have seen), and everyone stares at me everywhere. The patients often ask me about myself in broken english, but mostly people here don't know any english.
I'm living with the Sinhas, a family with 3 ophthalmologists and a gynecologist. Really inspiring, smart people who are teaching me everything from diseases of the eye to indian food and life to other ways of the world.
Our daily schedule is rigorous. We wake up early and have tea at 8, followed by breakfast (usually a mix of both indian foods and eggs and toast). Then we head to the AB Eye Institute, where we see private paying patients. At the clinic, Asim (the other Unite for Sight volunteer here) and I take patient histories (in Hindi-I'm learning, but I am butchering the pronunciations) and make preliminary diagnoses for the patients. It's interesting- in the US or Canada, you wouldn't normally see many cases during these private clinic hours besides check ups and such, but since preventative care is not as wide spread in India, we often see cases of mature cataracts, pterygium, glaucoma, and other severe eye diseases in addition to normal check ups and glasses prescriptions. This is also when we get to see surgeries- we've already gotten to see several cataract surgeries and many injections of anti angiogenesis drugs into the eye for various reasons.
Then we have lunch at home at around 4pm. Lunch is usually indian food with a dessert of fresh mangoes. After lunch we head to a charity clinic, which takes place at a different location each day of the week. These are very busy clinics where we see up to 50 patients in a few hours, and these patients are so poor they have probably never seen a doctor before. Often we ask the patients to come into the clinic for further testing or treatment, which they do the next Saturday, when we see all charity patients at the AB Eye Institute.
After the charity clinic, we return to the AB Eye Institute to see more private patients until dinner at around 830 or 9 pm- again, Indian food with fresh mangoes. Then we get some much needed sleep.
Up until 48 hours ago I was lucky-the only effects of being in India were a lot of sweating and many mosquito bites, but then I got a fever, severe diarrhea, and a bad headache until this morning. The Ciprofloxin I took helped a bunch, but I'm worried to go back to eating everything, so I'm taking it easy on the food (yes, even the mangoes, although it hurts to say no when they offer).
The Sinhas are very inspiring- they keep this same schedule with or without Unite for Sight volunteers, and on top of it are active in the community- starting a full charity eye hospital next door to the AB Eye Institute, and with some funding from UfS they've started a charity School for Blind girls- we went there the other day...pretty amazing. More then 60 students, with graduates going on to prestigious Indian Universities- otherwise these young girls would be forced to beg on the street or worse.
Anyway, I have 9 more days here in Patna before I head off to Delhi and then to Europe. I'm still planning for Europe, so if you're there, let me know via facebook or email and maybe I can work my trip to be able to see you.
I'm starting to miss everyone in the states! If you haven't talked to me online since I left, shoot me an email to let me know what you're up to. The internet here is kind of spotty, but I'll do my best to respond!
It also means the power goes out constantly. It's pretty amazing to be in surgery (sometimes with a needle stuck in the eye) when the power goes out. An assistant holds a flashlight and they perform surgery by flashlight until the generator kicks in.
Patna is a lot different than Chennai. I am the only white face here (that we have seen), and everyone stares at me everywhere. The patients often ask me about myself in broken english, but mostly people here don't know any english.
I'm living with the Sinhas, a family with 3 ophthalmologists and a gynecologist. Really inspiring, smart people who are teaching me everything from diseases of the eye to indian food and life to other ways of the world.
Our daily schedule is rigorous. We wake up early and have tea at 8, followed by breakfast (usually a mix of both indian foods and eggs and toast). Then we head to the AB Eye Institute, where we see private paying patients. At the clinic, Asim (the other Unite for Sight volunteer here) and I take patient histories (in Hindi-I'm learning, but I am butchering the pronunciations) and make preliminary diagnoses for the patients. It's interesting- in the US or Canada, you wouldn't normally see many cases during these private clinic hours besides check ups and such, but since preventative care is not as wide spread in India, we often see cases of mature cataracts, pterygium, glaucoma, and other severe eye diseases in addition to normal check ups and glasses prescriptions. This is also when we get to see surgeries- we've already gotten to see several cataract surgeries and many injections of anti angiogenesis drugs into the eye for various reasons.
Then we have lunch at home at around 4pm. Lunch is usually indian food with a dessert of fresh mangoes. After lunch we head to a charity clinic, which takes place at a different location each day of the week. These are very busy clinics where we see up to 50 patients in a few hours, and these patients are so poor they have probably never seen a doctor before. Often we ask the patients to come into the clinic for further testing or treatment, which they do the next Saturday, when we see all charity patients at the AB Eye Institute.
After the charity clinic, we return to the AB Eye Institute to see more private patients until dinner at around 830 or 9 pm- again, Indian food with fresh mangoes. Then we get some much needed sleep.
Up until 48 hours ago I was lucky-the only effects of being in India were a lot of sweating and many mosquito bites, but then I got a fever, severe diarrhea, and a bad headache until this morning. The Ciprofloxin I took helped a bunch, but I'm worried to go back to eating everything, so I'm taking it easy on the food (yes, even the mangoes, although it hurts to say no when they offer).
The Sinhas are very inspiring- they keep this same schedule with or without Unite for Sight volunteers, and on top of it are active in the community- starting a full charity eye hospital next door to the AB Eye Institute, and with some funding from UfS they've started a charity School for Blind girls- we went there the other day...pretty amazing. More then 60 students, with graduates going on to prestigious Indian Universities- otherwise these young girls would be forced to beg on the street or worse.
Anyway, I have 9 more days here in Patna before I head off to Delhi and then to Europe. I'm still planning for Europe, so if you're there, let me know via facebook or email and maybe I can work my trip to be able to see you.
I'm starting to miss everyone in the states! If you haven't talked to me online since I left, shoot me an email to let me know what you're up to. The internet here is kind of spotty, but I'll do my best to respond!
2 comments:
relish every moment. it must be amazing to help someone see properly for the first time in their life!
As for the sickness- it's to be expected. When I was in India I got strep! No fun- believe me!
Hang in there! I miss you and I love the pictures!
Jesse
Fantastic blog, fantastic pictures
-D
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