Tamsin and I went to Salur, a town near the east coast of India where The Leprosy Mission (TLM) has a hospital with 125 beds of which 77 are for leprosy. We were met at Calcutta airport by a TLM worker and taken to the hospital for a few hours. My first impressions were vivid: a very distinct smell, the clothing the people wore (we stood out blatantly from everyone else), it was raining but warm, the journey in the TLM jeep - there seemed to be no organisation on the road and a lot of hooting! We had our first taste of the food and noticed the small lizards on the walls.
We were put on a train, travelling first class with air conditioning but I was very scared and held onto my luggage tightly for the whole journey. This took 17 hours but we had beds, so got some sleep. We were met, taken to another TLM jeep, registered with the Superintendent of Police, and then had a two hour journey to Salur. Here we shared a basic but comfortable room.
Nursing
The first day we attended an eye camp. They selected over 30 people to have cataract operations the following week and these were completed in one day by the same surgeon. For the first week we took part in the Prevention of Disability Workshop. About 20 workers from TLM hospitals all over India came to Salur to have lectures and be examined.
The patients washed themselves or were helped by relatives. The equipment used was very basic and nothing was thrown away unnecessarily. Needles were rather blunt for giving injections! Very large pieces of gauze were cut and folded into the small squares by the staff. The patients were given rice and curry at lunch and tea times with meat or egg twice a week.
I learned about the multidrug therapy and spent a morning with the community team going to villages, assessing and treating patients and trying to contact others. I learned, about the treatment of ulcers and watched reconstructive -surgery on the hand and the foot. I visited the physiotherapy department, watched double rocker shoes being applied and window Plaster of Paris casts made, spent time in the shoe department, watched part of an artificial limb being constructed, and spent time in the pharmacy and the laboratory. The hospital staff were all very keen to explain to us their area of work.
The nurses were very dedicated and busy. At night, there was just one nurse for the whole hospital! They gave anaesthetics for eye operations. They were very much answerable to the Superintendent of Nursing, who was keen to glean from us any ways in which we felt nursing practice could be improved. She was keen for us to send her research and any other things that would be useful to guide nursing practice in the hospital.
Reliance on prayer
I found coming to terms with the difference in culture and the great poverty extremely difficult. Each day 1 had to rely on God for everything, which I hadn't been used to. I found great help from Bible reading, prayer and fellowship with Tamsin and from the English service on Sundays. We saw answers to prayer at times when we were feeling lonely and were invited to people's houses. We saw the reliance on prayer in the hospital - at the beginning of any journey in the jeep and before any operation was performed. I was moved whilst watching some of the leprosy patients sitting by their beds singing hymns. There is much Hindu opposition to Christians in India. Even while we were there, reports came of churches burned and people killed.
I am very appreciative to TLM for arranging our elective. We were able to spend our last week travelling up to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and also to Delhi.
Miriam Noble received an MMA grant towards her recent nursing elective in India
We were put on a train, travelling first class with air conditioning but I was very scared and held onto my luggage tightly for the whole journey. This took 17 hours but we had beds, so got some sleep. We were met, taken to another TLM jeep, registered with the Superintendent of Police, and then had a two hour journey to Salur. Here we shared a basic but comfortable room.
Nursing
The first day we attended an eye camp. They selected over 30 people to have cataract operations the following week and these were completed in one day by the same surgeon. For the first week we took part in the Prevention of Disability Workshop. About 20 workers from TLM hospitals all over India came to Salur to have lectures and be examined.
The patients washed themselves or were helped by relatives. The equipment used was very basic and nothing was thrown away unnecessarily. Needles were rather blunt for giving injections! Very large pieces of gauze were cut and folded into the small squares by the staff. The patients were given rice and curry at lunch and tea times with meat or egg twice a week.
I learned about the multidrug therapy and spent a morning with the community team going to villages, assessing and treating patients and trying to contact others. I learned, about the treatment of ulcers and watched reconstructive -surgery on the hand and the foot. I visited the physiotherapy department, watched double rocker shoes being applied and window Plaster of Paris casts made, spent time in the shoe department, watched part of an artificial limb being constructed, and spent time in the pharmacy and the laboratory. The hospital staff were all very keen to explain to us their area of work.
The nurses were very dedicated and busy. At night, there was just one nurse for the whole hospital! They gave anaesthetics for eye operations. They were very much answerable to the Superintendent of Nursing, who was keen to glean from us any ways in which we felt nursing practice could be improved. She was keen for us to send her research and any other things that would be useful to guide nursing practice in the hospital.
Reliance on prayer
I found coming to terms with the difference in culture and the great poverty extremely difficult. Each day 1 had to rely on God for everything, which I hadn't been used to. I found great help from Bible reading, prayer and fellowship with Tamsin and from the English service on Sundays. We saw answers to prayer at times when we were feeling lonely and were invited to people's houses. We saw the reliance on prayer in the hospital - at the beginning of any journey in the jeep and before any operation was performed. I was moved whilst watching some of the leprosy patients sitting by their beds singing hymns. There is much Hindu opposition to Christians in India. Even while we were there, reports came of churches burned and people killed.
I am very appreciative to TLM for arranging our elective. We were able to spend our last week travelling up to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and also to Delhi.
Miriam Noble received an MMA grant towards her recent nursing elective in India
