Day #6 - 1st day at the Hospital

CSDS Vietnamese volunteers

Today it was my first day at the Hospital. Before I came some people were telling me to get ready for what I was going to see but I don't really think you can make yourself ready for anything. Of course I know that in some countries the health system is not good and is very poor, but one thing is knowing, the other thing is actually seeing it. And as much as any of you right now is thinking "I knew it" I can tell you: "you know nothing!!". Don't get me wrong is not that the conditions here are miserable... is not that. The thing is that is nothing similar to what we have in the west. 

I took for the first time the bus here in Hanoi, to go to the hospital - that was interesting. First, because I need to remember my way to the bus stop because I will go by myself next week; second because I have to cross a massive, busy avenue. Have I told you how the traffic works here? Well, if I did, I will repeat myself. Well you are not suppose to wait for them to stop (they won't stop), you are not supposed to run to the other side (it makes the drivers confused); you are supposed to just go for it, cross the road walking slowly until you reach the other side of the road. Well, I did that today and I thought I was going to die. Eve my volunteer colleague just kept saying: it's ok, just keep walking, you'll be fine. And I was !!! yahey \0/!! But I thought I was going to die... was cars and motorbikes behind me, ahead of me but we managed to cross the road... alive.

My attempt to cross the road

We got in the bus, which thankfully had air con and we went to the hospital. I still remember my way. Take the bus after the big bridge there is a stop I don't go out on this one, I go out in the next one. To come back it's exactly the same, pass by the big bridge, there is one stop - I don't leave on this one, I get out on the next one. I think I will be fine... at least I hope so...

The day in the hospital was very good. We got there and the first thing to do is to try to make the children come and play with us - this was the hardest bit. Not because you do try to make the kids come play with you but because you actually need to go into the rooms and see all the sick little ones. It can go from small babies, up to 6-10 years old. The conditions are minimal. They seem to have everything but the minimum of course. We are working with kids from the nephrology ward of the hospital. Some of them look very weak and they need to have their parents with them as there is no nurses spending any time with them. Family need to take food for them, nappies and anything else the kids need. You see the families carrying their houses up the stairs of the hospital, carrying their kids with them. The breeze they had was from the open windows because there was no air con... All of this just reminded me of how much we take for granted in the west all our health system, how much we complain about it and we forget completely about people that live with a lot less, and because we don't see it, we don't live with it we ignore. Because we know... everyone knows about these countries and the poor conditions they have, but no one does anything about it... including myself.

Boh, his dad and myself sneaking in

Once we managed to gather a few kids we started to play with them. I stayed with the little boy Boh (I don't think this is correct but I will keep it from now on) and the puzzles. I was just helping, not doing much, just giving him pieces. He was so shy in the beginning, we did a couple of puzzles and he kept without saying a word. The local supporter asked him if he wanted to know my name and he said very promptly "No!!" I kept playing with him and we made minions out of toilet paper cartons and I finally won him!! He wanted to know my name but as he was really shy he wanted his father to ask me!! In my very poor Vietnamese I said "Tên tôi là Juliana" he smiled, I wanted to take a picture with him but he didn't want it and ran away. As I was trying to take pictures, Ling this little girl got fascinated with the camera and started to take pictures from everyone.

Ling, the photographer

She was very demanding, waving to everyone to get closer so she could take a picture from everyone. She didn't want to give me the camera back and I just couldn't take the camera from her, so the pictures that you see from today are not mine... they are all taken by Ling. And at the end she made Boh to take a picture and I ran next to him so we could take a picture together. At the end he was so smiling and happy... everyone was playing and enjoying themselves. The local team is just amazing and they definitely d a great job here. Is great to see what they do and how much effort they put into organize activities with the little ones and make sure that there is always something more suitable for the different ages. But first of all, it depends always on what the kids want to do. They are in charge!!!  

Me and Ling - she loves a camera!!