medicine
@work
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Journey To the West: The "A" Issue
Journey To the West: The "A" Issue: Anytime I think about abortion, a number of things run through my mind. A couple of years ago it was easy for me to comment on either p...
The "A" Issue
Anytime I think about abortion, a number of things run through my mind. A couple of years ago it was easy for me to comment on either pro choice or anti abortion with no qualms. As a Christian I believe whole heartedly that killing of life in whatever form or at whatever stage be it a day old foetus to a fully fledged human being is unacceptable. Now do not jump into conclusion that I belong to the anti abortion faction. I have not thought about abortion (call it termination of a pregnancy or in short <TOP> in the medical field we call that politically correct term) in a while as my field of specialty does not usually come across clients with such problems unless by some error she comes into my ward. Such a client is shuffled off to the gynaecologist as quickly as possible before disputes come as to who should manage the client especially when there is a medical diagnosis attached.
Anyway, I have not thought about this in a while until about 3 weeks ago when a discussion came up amongst some medical colleagues of mine. For starters, these 3 doctors are professed Christians and were debating what to do if a woman comes to you and request for termination of pregnancy. In Ghana TOP is legal when performed in an authorized hospital by authorized personnel (with some slight legalities which we can discuss later). The law of being a medical professional requires that if you can not provide a service you must refer or direct the person to a place where such a service can be provided. Some of my colleagues said they felt guilty when they referred clients to places where TOPs could be performed as it felt as though they had assisted in terminating a life. I used to feel the same way when I had to do the same but then I visited the family planning services which carried out these abortions and found out that in these certified places, before you undergo the procedure, you are counseled further and when the personnel are satisfied and or convinced about your desire for the termination, then the procedure is carried out. So at the end of the day the woman is the one who makes that choice for herself. It is almost like saying you can force a horse to the river bank, but you cannot force it to drink water.
One of my colleagues told of a story whereby a young lady visited a clinic and in consulting with the medical doctor, told him that she was 2 months pregnant and wanted to terminate her pregnancy. Now the doctor who did not believe or condone abortion counseled her and tried to convince her not to terminate the pregnancy. After about 1 hour of counseling the woman was still insistent but my colleague refused to carry it out. Later that evening whilst on call, my colleague was called to see an emergency involving a young lady who had be brought in bleeding copiously. He rushed to the ER only to find the young lady lying on the ER bed in a pool of blood and dying. The lady passed away, despite all efforts to resuscitate. The doctor was dumbfounded, and could not believe his eyes. Now he wondered if he had done the right thing by not helping the young lady out. She had tried to terminate the pregnancy on her own and had succeeded in doing so, but at the cost of her own life.
Thinking about this young lady makes me also remember my days as a house officer in OBGYN when in the middle of the night a teenager was brought to the ER cold and pale with evidence of severe blood loss, the people who brought her all denied knowledge of her and her condition, it took one brave young man who spoke to me after other relatives had left to tell me that the young woman had been brought to the house a few days back to terminate a pregnancy by taking some pills and herbs resulting in her bleeding to death. No one wanted to claim responsibility for this so when the bleeding got worse it took a long time to make that decision to come to the hospital by which time it was too late.
Across the street where from the hospital I worked at in Accra, the young women know what to do, they know what drugs to take, so they would take the drugs to induce an abortion and when the bleeding starts they would head to the hospital and in order to manage the situation the medical personnel would have to terminate the pregnancy. In effect, they knew that if they started the process, it would be completed by the hospital.
This is just one of thousands of stories which happen on a daily basis, many young women are dying through these illegal abortions. In Ghana, many people do not know that most hospitals offer these services as part of their family planning methods, but these are not publicized for reasons which I do not know. Perhaps we want our family planning services to focus more on preventing pregnancies rather than terminating them.
It is not an easy thing for a young person to approach a family planning unit and seek the counseling services especially when they are unmarried. They are looked upon us immoral, however we fail to educate the young ones properly in good morals and we are not ready to support them when things go wrong and pregnancies occur.
So at the end of the day are you Pro choice or Anti Abortion? Don’t be too quick to come to conclusions and also to judge people. The question one must answer is “Whose life am I saving?”
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Catchup
Do I start with an apology? it has been 4 months sinc my last posting. To me i have been writing everytday but in my head, so that amounts to naught! Let me formally apologise and then thank Awuranaa & B. Kordai for alerting me that I have a blog which I must continue writing. I just hope that I have not lost anyone in this process of procrastination.
Enough said, I think the best thing to do is to catch up on what has been happening over this period of time. What must have taken a greater chunk of my time was the planning and organization of the World Diabetes Day Celebrations here in Sekondi-Takoradi. I would like to first of all thank all the planning committee members who absorbed all my tantrums and helped us organise a fantastic celebration.
Seeking sponsorship is not an easy thing, more especially when you are unknown to them. I had to fall back on contacts in Accra to get the much needed sponsorship and thank God it came through. Many thanks to the CEO who after sending an email and waiting his reply immediately gets his personal assistant to send me a reply via phone, seconds after reading the email. Thats what i call immediate response and many thanks to the other companies who initially were reluctant to provide funds and gave chunks to those in the capital city who later had nothing to show for the money they they were given. We however with the little money given to us were able to show/account via pictures and videos so guess what, the companies now are promising to sponsor us next year, now i hope to hold them on their words.
I was saddened by the response of some "bodies" who had been invited to our functions to educate them on diabetes and to give them free medical check up as we had to foot their transport bills. I was so disappointed as they sent people to our office to collect money after the program to cover their transport bills. Now I would have gladly given the money if they were students, however these were well-abled adults working who insisted on us providing them money for transport, giving them snacks and afterwards giving them free medical screening for the year. As one of our Matrons said "Well, Nana Ama, I guess we have learnt our lesson, next time we know who to invite for our ceremonies when we have limited money". I complained bitterly to by father who told me that this is an initiation into the culture developed here in Ghana were people expect you to pay for things for them even after you have given them something more valuable for free.
Learning to keep my temper in check was one thing that i learnt from this experience of organizing programs. The morning of the program, we found out that the person responsible for setting up chairs and canopies at the ceremony was no where to be found. She was traced to her home after being unable to reach her on the phone. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said she had decided not to partake in the program. I could not believe my ears. We had a contract with her and she just could not be bothered to even call early so we could have made alternative plans. I was raving mad and angry and at such a stage its tears which come to my eyes, all the dignitaries were present at the empty lot for the program and i was stuck in traffic (yes we in Takoradi now experience this...no thanks to the OIL~) with nothing else but a word of prayer i slowed headed to the program. Thanks to the fact that Takoradi is a small place, the matron managed to get another venue in minutes and we transported all those present to the new location. Any many more thanks to the radio stations in the metropolis who had be calling me all morning for interviews, we managed to get the news to the general public about the change in location. Thank God the program came out successfully, but not without a stern word from the Honorable dep. minister for the region. My first instinct was to find out the whereabouts of the person who disappointed us and tell her my peace of mind. Matron however told me to forget it as it was not worth making any "unfriends" at this stage in our lives. But then again, i often wonder if such work ethics should not be made mention of. Time in time out, a lot of GH entrepreneurs may promise and fail and do not bear the consequences of such demeanour and as always we GHs say "oh just let it go" and guess what we are faced with such scenarios over and over and over again.
I call it gross indicipline and bad work ethics...I just returned from a month's training in Health Adm & Management and so we shall dwell a bit more on that in my next blog.
Thanks for reading and thanks to all who contributed to diabetes via education in their own ways or sponsorship of the program.
Enough said, I think the best thing to do is to catch up on what has been happening over this period of time. What must have taken a greater chunk of my time was the planning and organization of the World Diabetes Day Celebrations here in Sekondi-Takoradi. I would like to first of all thank all the planning committee members who absorbed all my tantrums and helped us organise a fantastic celebration.
Seeking sponsorship is not an easy thing, more especially when you are unknown to them. I had to fall back on contacts in Accra to get the much needed sponsorship and thank God it came through. Many thanks to the CEO who after sending an email and waiting his reply immediately gets his personal assistant to send me a reply via phone, seconds after reading the email. Thats what i call immediate response and many thanks to the other companies who initially were reluctant to provide funds and gave chunks to those in the capital city who later had nothing to show for the money they they were given. We however with the little money given to us were able to show/account via pictures and videos so guess what, the companies now are promising to sponsor us next year, now i hope to hold them on their words.
I was saddened by the response of some "bodies" who had been invited to our functions to educate them on diabetes and to give them free medical check up as we had to foot their transport bills. I was so disappointed as they sent people to our office to collect money after the program to cover their transport bills. Now I would have gladly given the money if they were students, however these were well-abled adults working who insisted on us providing them money for transport, giving them snacks and afterwards giving them free medical screening for the year. As one of our Matrons said "Well, Nana Ama, I guess we have learnt our lesson, next time we know who to invite for our ceremonies when we have limited money". I complained bitterly to by father who told me that this is an initiation into the culture developed here in Ghana were people expect you to pay for things for them even after you have given them something more valuable for free.
Learning to keep my temper in check was one thing that i learnt from this experience of organizing programs. The morning of the program, we found out that the person responsible for setting up chairs and canopies at the ceremony was no where to be found. She was traced to her home after being unable to reach her on the phone. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said she had decided not to partake in the program. I could not believe my ears. We had a contract with her and she just could not be bothered to even call early so we could have made alternative plans. I was raving mad and angry and at such a stage its tears which come to my eyes, all the dignitaries were present at the empty lot for the program and i was stuck in traffic (yes we in Takoradi now experience this...no thanks to the OIL~) with nothing else but a word of prayer i slowed headed to the program. Thanks to the fact that Takoradi is a small place, the matron managed to get another venue in minutes and we transported all those present to the new location. Any many more thanks to the radio stations in the metropolis who had be calling me all morning for interviews, we managed to get the news to the general public about the change in location. Thank God the program came out successfully, but not without a stern word from the Honorable dep. minister for the region. My first instinct was to find out the whereabouts of the person who disappointed us and tell her my peace of mind. Matron however told me to forget it as it was not worth making any "unfriends" at this stage in our lives. But then again, i often wonder if such work ethics should not be made mention of. Time in time out, a lot of GH entrepreneurs may promise and fail and do not bear the consequences of such demeanour and as always we GHs say "oh just let it go" and guess what we are faced with such scenarios over and over and over again.
I call it gross indicipline and bad work ethics...I just returned from a month's training in Health Adm & Management and so we shall dwell a bit more on that in my next blog.
Thanks for reading and thanks to all who contributed to diabetes via education in their own ways or sponsorship of the program.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Is my country worth dying for?
40 years and counting working for the government selflessly my mother tells me out of the blue that it is not worth dying for this nation. I was shocked initially to hear this coming from a woman who has raised and still is raising both her biological and non biological children to love and respect their country. In all my years never had I heard her say such a thing about the country. I immediately disagreed with her mentally not saying a word to her in reply but silently disagreed with her. She continued by saying, someone pockets millions of dollars/cedis meant for a project which never takes off and subsequently does not to account for it and the project never starts or is completed. The person continues life as nothing happens and is given another appointment when there is a change in government whereas the ordinary person seeking for the right thing remains exactly where they are if not worse off.
I have worked for the public sector for less than 10 years most of which were “semi sheltered” in a sense that I really could not tell what was going on outside my consulting room but in recent times I have been exposed to a few realities.
The first episode of such shocking revelations was when I was a new medical officer in a public hospital coming on a shift to find out that the doctor who had come in the shift prior to me had a draw in the office where each patient had to place a specific amount of money before being taken care of. This was shocking to me and when I mentioned it to another colleague; they just brushed it off saying “everyone knew about that…it was old news”. I was shocked and asked if management knew about this and I was told yes but nothing was being done about it. Obviously, this continued until he was moved elsewhere to continue.
In other instances, an individual misappropriates funds of a department and is not sacked but moved to another department and as expected the same thing would happen again, old habits die hard right? But a loss is occurring here.
What about the medical personnel who comes to work at 10am and is out of the hospital at 1pm to go to his or her private hospital, but is being paid by the government for an 8-5pm job. No one reprimands him or her and at times patients who want to seek their medical attention would have to go to their private clinics. The hospital administration tolerates this perhaps because they do not have enough medical personnel and so would have to tolerate such acts. Is this right? Well, one may argue that…no I can not get a reason to counter this.
A pharmacist working in a government facility directs patients to their private pharmacy to purchase medications instead of buying them at the government hospital. Or drugs which are sold at the government hospital are the personal property of the pharmacist. A pharmacist in a government hospital would only purchase medications from a company after a percentage has been paid to them.
Nurses would not come to work early to take up from their colleagues, however if they were working in other countries or in the private sector, they would arrive on time or prior to their scheduled time of work.
These are just a few or a tip of the iceberg of inappropriate incidents which occur in the public sector making life difficult for the few who want to make things worthwhile at their workplaces.
For me my take is this:
The country is worth dying for, but only if the right thing is done and people are made to account for the work they are employed to do. There should be supervisory roles in place with checks and balances ensuring that everyone employed would follow the rules and regulations and would be held responsible for everything under their watch.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Journey To the West: The Ghanaian Patient
Journey To the West: The Ghanaian Patient: I heard a few stories about my grandfather (from my mother) who was a pharmacist in the city I now reside in. They were few but facinating ...
Friday, 19 August 2011
The Ghanaian Patient
I heard a few stories about my grandfather (from my mother) who was a pharmacist in the city I now reside in. They were few but facinating stories, ones which constantly resound were the ones which in which my mother would tell me about people who were ill and came to his drug store to get drugs but however could not afford them. My grandfather would pay for the drugs which they came to buy and then top it up by giving them money for transport and at times additionally some money for food.
To me hearing this at a young age, I thought it was the most outrageous story I had ever heard about anybody in any line of business. This is what i thought. If you come to my shop and you can not purchase any thing i have in stock, you go back empty handed or go back and top up whatever money you brought and come back and purchase the drug.
Thats how things work right? That is how we make our profits and expand our businesses.
I was never priviledged to meet him as he died a decade before i was born. He was a very successful person and was survived by 17 children (that is another story).
Now working in the same health field as he did, I completely understand him and I am proud to know this about him.
Moving to this new region to work made me realise that poverty is rife in the country we live in and thousands of people go to bed daily without food or knowing when the next meal is coming up. For me I think those worse off are those who have illness in which they have to eat before they take thier medications.
Just to place emphasis on this let me side track by introducing you to one such illness, diabetes mellitus.
This is a condition in which a person has abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood due to the body's inability to either produce a hormone insulin which is under normal circumstances takes the sugar in the blood into the cells in order to produce energy. Also the sugar levels in the body could also be as a result of the insulin being produced by the body but ineffective to take the sugar into the cells for energy to be made.
The penultimate result is that the presence of abnormally high levels of sugar in blood is deadly. It leads to destuction of the eyes, nerves, heart and blood vessels.
Drugs one takes when they have diabetes would either increase levels of the hormone insulin in the body or stimulate the insulin in the body to work properly. So taking the drugs would resulting in lowering your abnormally high blood sugar. The twist to this is that if the blood sugar comes down drastically it results in more sudden death. So a patient with diabetes is expected to eat and take their medications or else they would die if they take their medications and do not eat.
Madam Adoma is 65years old and lives in a village in the outskirts of the city in which i work. she missed her last appointment to the clinic 2 weeks ago and came to the hospital with an abnormally high blood glucose and had run out of medications. When questioned, she told me her story; she lives alone in her hut with no electricity or pipe water. With no children or grandchildren living close by or even sending remitances to her, she relies on the benevolence of her neighbours. She does not always have a meal to each daily and when she gets a little bit of money she saves it for either food or some for transport back to the hospital for review. She is very cautious about taking her medications because when she takes some of them and she does not eat she is found collapsed by her neighbours and this has resulted in some hospital emergency visits. Because of this she does not take her medications when she does not know when her next meal would be available.
So now sitting infront of me crying about her situation what do i do? She needs medications for her diabetes, but she has no source of income to buy food, let alone get transportation to and from the clinic for her 2-monthly reviews at the diabetic clinic. Taking her medications without food would kill her immediately whereas not taking the medications and living with the abnormally high levels of diabetes would also kill her, but a little bit more slowly.
So what would one do when faced with this situation, well my grandfather did what he could do? I ask myself daily what do. This is because, this is not an isolated situation. Not numerous, but enough to make you think twice when you take things for granted, things like food, shelter and clothing.
My concluding lines were initially going to send a few harsh tones to the colour coded nationals of the country who every 4 years come and make questionable promises to the people of this country whilst the realities of life are ignored. Instead I woEdit HTMLuld dedicate this piece to my maternal Grandfather Abban who was dedicated in helping the ill and poor in whatever way he could, but died at a very early age.
To me hearing this at a young age, I thought it was the most outrageous story I had ever heard about anybody in any line of business. This is what i thought. If you come to my shop and you can not purchase any thing i have in stock, you go back empty handed or go back and top up whatever money you brought and come back and purchase the drug.
Thats how things work right? That is how we make our profits and expand our businesses.
I was never priviledged to meet him as he died a decade before i was born. He was a very successful person and was survived by 17 children (that is another story).
Now working in the same health field as he did, I completely understand him and I am proud to know this about him.
Moving to this new region to work made me realise that poverty is rife in the country we live in and thousands of people go to bed daily without food or knowing when the next meal is coming up. For me I think those worse off are those who have illness in which they have to eat before they take thier medications.
Just to place emphasis on this let me side track by introducing you to one such illness, diabetes mellitus.
This is a condition in which a person has abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood due to the body's inability to either produce a hormone insulin which is under normal circumstances takes the sugar in the blood into the cells in order to produce energy. Also the sugar levels in the body could also be as a result of the insulin being produced by the body but ineffective to take the sugar into the cells for energy to be made.
The penultimate result is that the presence of abnormally high levels of sugar in blood is deadly. It leads to destuction of the eyes, nerves, heart and blood vessels.
Drugs one takes when they have diabetes would either increase levels of the hormone insulin in the body or stimulate the insulin in the body to work properly. So taking the drugs would resulting in lowering your abnormally high blood sugar. The twist to this is that if the blood sugar comes down drastically it results in more sudden death. So a patient with diabetes is expected to eat and take their medications or else they would die if they take their medications and do not eat.
Madam Adoma is 65years old and lives in a village in the outskirts of the city in which i work. she missed her last appointment to the clinic 2 weeks ago and came to the hospital with an abnormally high blood glucose and had run out of medications. When questioned, she told me her story; she lives alone in her hut with no electricity or pipe water. With no children or grandchildren living close by or even sending remitances to her, she relies on the benevolence of her neighbours. She does not always have a meal to each daily and when she gets a little bit of money she saves it for either food or some for transport back to the hospital for review. She is very cautious about taking her medications because when she takes some of them and she does not eat she is found collapsed by her neighbours and this has resulted in some hospital emergency visits. Because of this she does not take her medications when she does not know when her next meal would be available.
So now sitting infront of me crying about her situation what do i do? She needs medications for her diabetes, but she has no source of income to buy food, let alone get transportation to and from the clinic for her 2-monthly reviews at the diabetic clinic. Taking her medications without food would kill her immediately whereas not taking the medications and living with the abnormally high levels of diabetes would also kill her, but a little bit more slowly.
So what would one do when faced with this situation, well my grandfather did what he could do? I ask myself daily what do. This is because, this is not an isolated situation. Not numerous, but enough to make you think twice when you take things for granted, things like food, shelter and clothing.
My concluding lines were initially going to send a few harsh tones to the colour coded nationals of the country who every 4 years come and make questionable promises to the people of this country whilst the realities of life are ignored. Instead I woEdit HTMLuld dedicate this piece to my maternal Grandfather Abban who was dedicated in helping the ill and poor in whatever way he could, but died at a very early age.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Dont Wish this on your worst Enemy
Working in the medical sector has opened doors for me, some which i wish had occurred earlier in life. Others which i wish did not exist.
A couple of months i was called to the emergency room to help out a little girl who had been knocked down by a motor cycle and had a fracture of her leg. I found out the she was a refugee living on a camp with here mother. she was crossing a main road when the cycle knocked her down. A 6 year old girl (Marie) but one brave one. she was in so much pain but not crying. The nurses in the emergency room had managed to stop the bleeding and we transferred her to her ward. Her mother(Amy) was with her, but spoke no word of English, so i struggled to communicate with her but managed to get some assurance for her about her daughter's condition. A medical doctor was with them from the camp, he also was a refugee fleeing the war zone accompanying them to as he was fluent in English. After the Marie settled down the good Samaritans who were with her went back to their homes and left the mother to take care of her child. she had to sleep next to her and wait for the orthopaedic surgeon to come and manage. After 2 weeks in the hospital, Marie was discharged back to the camp with a plaster of paris (POP). less than a week later i received a call that Marie was back in the hospital with another fracture (doctors did not know if it was an old one or a new one had happened). This time it required surgery to prevent shortening of her leg. The hospital did not charge any money for treatment during the last visit due to the refugee status, however in this instance money was required as implants were required to be inserted. The money was obtained from the international refugee agency after about 1 month in hospital and then surgery was done. In total Marie spent about 9 weeks in the hospital bed not mobile sometimes with a heavy load on her leg to keep it in place. All this time her mother Amy was with her. She had no income of her own and had to rely on the benevolence of other patients and their relatives for food. She cried so many times watching her daughter and being helpless in a strange country with no means of support. Her husband was in their country, he did not leave their home country. He came to visit a couple of times, but was not having enough money to help out. Back in their home country, he said their house and belonging had been destroyed and he was now lodging with friends near a sea port and trying best to make ends meet. If Marie was discharged, there was no way she could return to her home country as they had nothing to go home to. To make things more difficult, Marie had a little sister who was still in being taken care of by their dad back home.
Finally Marie was discharged back to the camp but she needs to come for review by the doctor in 2 months. she can not go back to her home country for now with her mother Amy because she has no home to go to. If she returns to her home country, she would need to come back to our hospital for review by her doctor in 2 months. This would be impossible. Amy has no work and going back to the camp where food is in not adequate and life is hard there due to the lack of proper amenities would be difficult for the next 2 months. She wishes she had some money to start a trade. Back in her home country she traded in clothes which her husband brought from his business trips. She still has not being able to pick up either the local language or English which makes things more difficult for her. How is she going to survive for the next couple of months?
Have you ever being to a refugee camp? Can you imagine life in a country with strange languages, people and food. Sharing basic or unavailable amenities with strangers though your own country people and not knowing when you are going to get back to you normal life again?
This is just one story of many, it is not an easy thing to be a refugee. Think about it, if you had to leave your home and your country at this point in time, what would you take with you? (mind you you're going to be walking till you reach some where safe) Look around your room right now.
Living in a refugee camp is also another thing to deal with. I met 2 medical doctors who were now refugees at the camp and it was just a sad story listening to them and their encounters during the war. One of them initially refused to leave when the war started and was still in the hospital taking care of patients until one day he was told that the hospital was going to be attacked so he had to run away after he had sent his family away. So he joined a group of people who were walking to the border after gathering a few of is possessions and registered on the camp. At the camp as for everyone else he was given a tent to share with 4 other strangers. He was given some cereal, oil, blanket, soap and toilet paper and asked to get on with life. For him there was hope as in the formal sector and him having plans to get back to work he was daily visiting the internet cafe to communicate with friends and family. I lost touch with him after 2 months of him being in the camp but I thank God that a week ago i got a call from him that he had returned to his home country and was well. The phone line was terrible and i was busy at work so i was not able to talk for long. But I am glad he has successfully returned to his home country safe (and sound).
War is no respecter of persons like death or refugee status. Its a tough life to deal with and I can not tell if the parents suffer more than the children when this happens.
There are so many stories to share, and I will do so to enlighten us and anyone who decides to pick up a gun and fight against authority leaving others to suffer.
My final thoughts at this point in time is that let us not spend money jailing or placing persons who commit war offense into exile wasting the country's monies on their care. Send them to refugee camps to live that life for the rest of their lives and believe me they could never think about committing such a crime again. Before you go supporting any politician by picking up a gun remember that when push comes to shove, he would send his family out of his country enjoying luxuries whilst you and many other people who have supported His cause are faced with a life as a stranger in a foreign land.
A couple of months i was called to the emergency room to help out a little girl who had been knocked down by a motor cycle and had a fracture of her leg. I found out the she was a refugee living on a camp with here mother. she was crossing a main road when the cycle knocked her down. A 6 year old girl (Marie) but one brave one. she was in so much pain but not crying. The nurses in the emergency room had managed to stop the bleeding and we transferred her to her ward. Her mother(Amy) was with her, but spoke no word of English, so i struggled to communicate with her but managed to get some assurance for her about her daughter's condition. A medical doctor was with them from the camp, he also was a refugee fleeing the war zone accompanying them to as he was fluent in English. After the Marie settled down the good Samaritans who were with her went back to their homes and left the mother to take care of her child. she had to sleep next to her and wait for the orthopaedic surgeon to come and manage. After 2 weeks in the hospital, Marie was discharged back to the camp with a plaster of paris (POP). less than a week later i received a call that Marie was back in the hospital with another fracture (doctors did not know if it was an old one or a new one had happened). This time it required surgery to prevent shortening of her leg. The hospital did not charge any money for treatment during the last visit due to the refugee status, however in this instance money was required as implants were required to be inserted. The money was obtained from the international refugee agency after about 1 month in hospital and then surgery was done. In total Marie spent about 9 weeks in the hospital bed not mobile sometimes with a heavy load on her leg to keep it in place. All this time her mother Amy was with her. She had no income of her own and had to rely on the benevolence of other patients and their relatives for food. She cried so many times watching her daughter and being helpless in a strange country with no means of support. Her husband was in their country, he did not leave their home country. He came to visit a couple of times, but was not having enough money to help out. Back in their home country, he said their house and belonging had been destroyed and he was now lodging with friends near a sea port and trying best to make ends meet. If Marie was discharged, there was no way she could return to her home country as they had nothing to go home to. To make things more difficult, Marie had a little sister who was still in being taken care of by their dad back home.
Finally Marie was discharged back to the camp but she needs to come for review by the doctor in 2 months. she can not go back to her home country for now with her mother Amy because she has no home to go to. If she returns to her home country, she would need to come back to our hospital for review by her doctor in 2 months. This would be impossible. Amy has no work and going back to the camp where food is in not adequate and life is hard there due to the lack of proper amenities would be difficult for the next 2 months. She wishes she had some money to start a trade. Back in her home country she traded in clothes which her husband brought from his business trips. She still has not being able to pick up either the local language or English which makes things more difficult for her. How is she going to survive for the next couple of months?
Have you ever being to a refugee camp? Can you imagine life in a country with strange languages, people and food. Sharing basic or unavailable amenities with strangers though your own country people and not knowing when you are going to get back to you normal life again?
This is just one story of many, it is not an easy thing to be a refugee. Think about it, if you had to leave your home and your country at this point in time, what would you take with you? (mind you you're going to be walking till you reach some where safe) Look around your room right now.
Living in a refugee camp is also another thing to deal with. I met 2 medical doctors who were now refugees at the camp and it was just a sad story listening to them and their encounters during the war. One of them initially refused to leave when the war started and was still in the hospital taking care of patients until one day he was told that the hospital was going to be attacked so he had to run away after he had sent his family away. So he joined a group of people who were walking to the border after gathering a few of is possessions and registered on the camp. At the camp as for everyone else he was given a tent to share with 4 other strangers. He was given some cereal, oil, blanket, soap and toilet paper and asked to get on with life. For him there was hope as in the formal sector and him having plans to get back to work he was daily visiting the internet cafe to communicate with friends and family. I lost touch with him after 2 months of him being in the camp but I thank God that a week ago i got a call from him that he had returned to his home country and was well. The phone line was terrible and i was busy at work so i was not able to talk for long. But I am glad he has successfully returned to his home country safe (and sound).
War is no respecter of persons like death or refugee status. Its a tough life to deal with and I can not tell if the parents suffer more than the children when this happens.
There are so many stories to share, and I will do so to enlighten us and anyone who decides to pick up a gun and fight against authority leaving others to suffer.
My final thoughts at this point in time is that let us not spend money jailing or placing persons who commit war offense into exile wasting the country's monies on their care. Send them to refugee camps to live that life for the rest of their lives and believe me they could never think about committing such a crime again. Before you go supporting any politician by picking up a gun remember that when push comes to shove, he would send his family out of his country enjoying luxuries whilst you and many other people who have supported His cause are faced with a life as a stranger in a foreign land.
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