Just another week…(Public Hospitals, Marketing, Training, Send-off’s, Volunteers & Evictions)
Mmmm, just another week. Be warned - this entry is a bit of a diary…
Friday night was shaping up to be a few quiet beers at the yoti & dinner – however the security guard came around 5:30pm with the message that one of Peter’s (a staff member) kids had hurt himself. So I headed over to have a look. Turns out that Peter Junior (5yrs old) has done a right job on himself falling out of a coconut tree. He was one or two metres up (not far, but far enough when you’re 5) and gashed his face on the way back down on some sharp bark which points exactly the wrong direction for a falling 5 year old. Blood going everywhere, though bandage pressed, and mum (Etta) looking slightly distressed. Peter (Snr) was already away in Goroka for the weekend. The gash ran from about a centimetre below Peter Jnr’s right eye (thank god), covering a decent portion, quite deep without any skin there, of his cheek. So it’s back to the house where I quickly grab the latex gloves n bandage-y things those travel doctors foist upon you, get the keys for the Van and off we go to Angau Public Hospital (Lae’s public hospital with an Emergency department).
The hospital is… terrible. I wasn’t expecting Royal Melb or RDHM or St. V’s – sure. Sometimes it doesn’t matter about your expectations, there’s just the reaction when you’re there. But perhaps I was thinking there wouldn’t be quite as much blood on the floor here and there… or quite as many of the ‘beds’ out of make-shift stuff down the hall-ways… or the smell. I paid for the K10 entry fee, and we (half the family has come – 6 of us all up), join the line we’re pointed towards.
An hour and a half later of waiting and observing the over-demand/under-supply that exists, a security guard and nurse guide everyone in that line back we’re in to the front of the hospital where there’s a room labelled “Triage” (but still no-one there). So we’re back to square 1. Many of the people in the line (it’s 7pm or so now) are in various states of dis-repair. The 5yr old is still standing up after 1.5 hours. I wouldn’t sit on this floor either.
I give a K10 phone card to the eldest of the brothers there, and we go hunting for a public phone – so they can call me again when they’re done and I’ll come get them later. Find phone on other side of grounds, doesn’t work. So I lean heavily on a person in an admin room exacting promises that they’ll let this guy call from their phone (with phone card, still wont cost them anything) when they’re done so I can pick them up. Ok. Back to the other side of the hospital again. Check on little kid & mum again. Little 5yr old still standing up. Bleeding stopped fully a while ago, still holding the big wad of tissues to his face. No triage person has yet seen anyone.
Off home. A fellow volunteer gives me a call and says “feel like a few quiet one’s at your place?” – happy days…
Later on in the evening (somewhere around midnight) I’m doing usual coffee/biscuits for security, and one of the younger of Peter Jnr’s brothers is hanging around and says “Yumi go bai hausik” and points at the van. Well. Can’t argue with that. No call back yet to the house, but off we go to check on the family.
By midnight down there Peter Jnr has had some sort of shots (antibiotics I assume?) and has now been waiting (standing) around 6+ hours. Now they’re waiting for the sewing and the dressing. The hospital has deteriorated further into Fri night (not unlike Melb in some respects). There’s now shots being given in the hallways by a few doctor like looking people, and there’s now people lying on stretchers in the original room we were lining up in (ie – more crowded than before). In the next 35 mins or so of waiting, I hear two separate wailings (can’t think of another word) of family members – where upon the little 7yr old (I brought him with me) tugs my sleeve and translates the pisin from the nearby other room that “him bai dyim nau”.
I’m not sure- but perhaps with the only white guy at the hospital for the whole night – but after a while Peter Jnr is then taken into the waiting mini-surgery room and sewn up/dressed. 9 stitches later.
Overall – the kid did get seen, and did get treated. But still an experience.
Getting up to do your marketing for the week at 7:30am on a Sat. after a 2am sleep time was a little tricky. Managed that once out in the sun after a necessary, medicinal, double-strength coffee. K25 for more vegies than I could carry.
Went back to bed for a power-nap of about an hour till 9:30am. Then up, shower and back downstairs to the office for the inaugural ANO Saturday training session. Had these informally and in pieces over the past 3 months, however this was the first time we’d marked off a time out of hours and said “we’ll learn THAT today”. I kinda ‘waited & hinted’ for the training to be ‘asked for’ (rather than making it a mandatory all-staff session) – which seems to have paid off a bit too. Today was Excel 201 – borders, i-f statements, absolute values, graphs & pivot tables. I made up the materials on the run with exercises & examples, and 3 hours later we were still going strong, though I was starting to wilt a little. Fun, fun, fun.
Saturday afternoon was a lovely lunch with J&A & family, and then dinner with some people from ADRA (Adventist Development Relief Agency) – vegetarian and ‘dry’, of course. Adra has it’s development work game together in many respects here in PNG – as much as you can anyways. I learnt lots more about Sanitarium (sp?) - - did you know that Mr Kellog(s) was also an Adventist?? - - and had a good natter about work’in in PNG.
Sunday morning was sllllleeping in. Sunday afternoon – working n squash. Gay’s baby has scabies (again) – which has been happening on and off for months now. Sunday night was out to the Lae Inter to say “seeya!” to J&A --- off to Melbourne to be married. My wedding present at the moment is to look after the cat & security guard most nights! It was also the first time we got all the AVI’s together (in one room) since Jeremy (inspiration for me trying this blog thing out) headed out of PNG. Goodly catch-up with all the Vols. There's something about catching up with all the vols - - though the closest friends are amongst the ex-pats (the best expat friends are alllll ex-volunteers) - there's extra common ground with the vols.
Monday morning staff meeting & work as usual. Squash at night. Tuesday court case, and tonight just played my first competition squash game (Wins = 1, Losses = 0). Thursday morning off to Hagen! Catchya next week…
Friday night was shaping up to be a few quiet beers at the yoti & dinner – however the security guard came around 5:30pm with the message that one of Peter’s (a staff member) kids had hurt himself. So I headed over to have a look. Turns out that Peter Junior (5yrs old) has done a right job on himself falling out of a coconut tree. He was one or two metres up (not far, but far enough when you’re 5) and gashed his face on the way back down on some sharp bark which points exactly the wrong direction for a falling 5 year old. Blood going everywhere, though bandage pressed, and mum (Etta) looking slightly distressed. Peter (Snr) was already away in Goroka for the weekend. The gash ran from about a centimetre below Peter Jnr’s right eye (thank god), covering a decent portion, quite deep without any skin there, of his cheek. So it’s back to the house where I quickly grab the latex gloves n bandage-y things those travel doctors foist upon you, get the keys for the Van and off we go to Angau Public Hospital (Lae’s public hospital with an Emergency department).
The hospital is… terrible. I wasn’t expecting Royal Melb or RDHM or St. V’s – sure. Sometimes it doesn’t matter about your expectations, there’s just the reaction when you’re there. But perhaps I was thinking there wouldn’t be quite as much blood on the floor here and there… or quite as many of the ‘beds’ out of make-shift stuff down the hall-ways… or the smell. I paid for the K10 entry fee, and we (half the family has come – 6 of us all up), join the line we’re pointed towards.
An hour and a half later of waiting and observing the over-demand/under-supply that exists, a security guard and nurse guide everyone in that line back we’re in to the front of the hospital where there’s a room labelled “Triage” (but still no-one there). So we’re back to square 1. Many of the people in the line (it’s 7pm or so now) are in various states of dis-repair. The 5yr old is still standing up after 1.5 hours. I wouldn’t sit on this floor either.
I give a K10 phone card to the eldest of the brothers there, and we go hunting for a public phone – so they can call me again when they’re done and I’ll come get them later. Find phone on other side of grounds, doesn’t work. So I lean heavily on a person in an admin room exacting promises that they’ll let this guy call from their phone (with phone card, still wont cost them anything) when they’re done so I can pick them up. Ok. Back to the other side of the hospital again. Check on little kid & mum again. Little 5yr old still standing up. Bleeding stopped fully a while ago, still holding the big wad of tissues to his face. No triage person has yet seen anyone.
Off home. A fellow volunteer gives me a call and says “feel like a few quiet one’s at your place?” – happy days…
Later on in the evening (somewhere around midnight) I’m doing usual coffee/biscuits for security, and one of the younger of Peter Jnr’s brothers is hanging around and says “Yumi go bai hausik” and points at the van. Well. Can’t argue with that. No call back yet to the house, but off we go to check on the family.
By midnight down there Peter Jnr has had some sort of shots (antibiotics I assume?) and has now been waiting (standing) around 6+ hours. Now they’re waiting for the sewing and the dressing. The hospital has deteriorated further into Fri night (not unlike Melb in some respects). There’s now shots being given in the hallways by a few doctor like looking people, and there’s now people lying on stretchers in the original room we were lining up in (ie – more crowded than before). In the next 35 mins or so of waiting, I hear two separate wailings (can’t think of another word) of family members – where upon the little 7yr old (I brought him with me) tugs my sleeve and translates the pisin from the nearby other room that “him bai dyim nau”.
I’m not sure- but perhaps with the only white guy at the hospital for the whole night – but after a while Peter Jnr is then taken into the waiting mini-surgery room and sewn up/dressed. 9 stitches later.
Overall – the kid did get seen, and did get treated. But still an experience.
Getting up to do your marketing for the week at 7:30am on a Sat. after a 2am sleep time was a little tricky. Managed that once out in the sun after a necessary, medicinal, double-strength coffee. K25 for more vegies than I could carry.
Went back to bed for a power-nap of about an hour till 9:30am. Then up, shower and back downstairs to the office for the inaugural ANO Saturday training session. Had these informally and in pieces over the past 3 months, however this was the first time we’d marked off a time out of hours and said “we’ll learn THAT today”. I kinda ‘waited & hinted’ for the training to be ‘asked for’ (rather than making it a mandatory all-staff session) – which seems to have paid off a bit too. Today was Excel 201 – borders, i-f statements, absolute values, graphs & pivot tables. I made up the materials on the run with exercises & examples, and 3 hours later we were still going strong, though I was starting to wilt a little. Fun, fun, fun.
Saturday afternoon was a lovely lunch with J&A & family, and then dinner with some people from ADRA (Adventist Development Relief Agency) – vegetarian and ‘dry’, of course. Adra has it’s development work game together in many respects here in PNG – as much as you can anyways. I learnt lots more about Sanitarium (sp?) - - did you know that Mr Kellog(s) was also an Adventist?? - - and had a good natter about work’in in PNG.
Sunday morning was sllllleeping in. Sunday afternoon – working n squash. Gay’s baby has scabies (again) – which has been happening on and off for months now. Sunday night was out to the Lae Inter to say “seeya!” to J&A --- off to Melbourne to be married. My wedding present at the moment is to look after the cat & security guard most nights! It was also the first time we got all the AVI’s together (in one room) since Jeremy (inspiration for me trying this blog thing out) headed out of PNG. Goodly catch-up with all the Vols. There's something about catching up with all the vols - - though the closest friends are amongst the ex-pats (the best expat friends are alllll ex-volunteers) - there's extra common ground with the vols.
Monday morning staff meeting & work as usual. Squash at night. Tuesday court case, and tonight just played my first competition squash game (Wins = 1, Losses = 0). Thursday morning off to Hagen! Catchya next week…
posted by Naaaaath at 4:35 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home