As per our Ale Gaun camp, the Sirkot camps (two 3/4 days) were also quieter than usual, although the school compound always seemed to be busy and we arrived to queues at registration each morning.
Most of the cases that our health practitioners saw were pretty standard, with only a couple of cases standing out. One old gentleman was suffering from corneal ulcers and has been for the last 5 years. Despite our doctors advice and counselling that he needed to to have them seen to properly at the eye hospital, he refused, stating that he is the only one who can milk his buffalo and hence he can’t leave them. We still lived in hope that when our camp coordinators contacted him again to join them on the trip to Pokhara he would agree to come, but alas he put his buffalo and his livelihood above his own health. This sadly is a reality for many rural poor. If he cant milk his buffalo, he cant earn a living, and if he cant earn a living, he cant provide for his family. Buff are also notoriously temperamental, and if left unmilked for more than a day or two, will stop producing milk, thus compounding the problem.
The second interesting and equality tragic case was a lady who came expressly to visit our gynaecological team. The story she told us was that when changing one day, her husband saw her prolapse and believed her to be pregnant by another man and attempted to abort what he thought to be a foetus, by pulling hard on her prolapse, causing her unbearable pain and intense bleeding. She subsequently left that husband and married someone she believed to be a better man, but sadly ended up with a drunkard who refuses to work, but who otherwise treats her reasonably well. She too refused to join us in Pokhara to receive free treatment.
Alongside the eye and gynae checks, our dental team were working hard pulling and filling teeth and educating their patients on best practice for oral health care. Kumar and Katie also ran a teeth brushing and hand washing workshop with the younger school kids testing their knowledge on when, how often and how to brush their teeth and wash their hands. Each child received a new toothbrush to take home and put into action at the end of the workshop.
In total, across the two days, we serviced 401 patients of which 242 were female and 159 male. These 401 patients were made up of 99 children (16yrs & under) and 302 adults, and between them they received 582 consultations, as we allowed each person to see more than one discipline.
Eyes: 288
Our team of eye doctors found 3 cataracts, 2 cases of glaucoma and the gentleman with the corneal ulcers. 207 pairs of reading glasses were also issued.
Women’s Health: 183
Our women’s health team found 10 cases of uterine prolapse, five of which were stage 3 and thus will be referred for free surgery. For those that would accept them, ring pessaries were inserted for those with stage 1 & 2 prolapse. Thankfully none of the ladies who were tested came out VIA +ve.
Blood Sugar Tests: 230
Everyone over the age of 40 was given a blood sugar test, and those who were on the high side were given counselling on how to reduce their sugar levels and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
A Himalayan thank you again to everyone who helped organise and run this camp. Sirkot School for allowing us to use them once again as a venue. All of our health providers and volunteers and especially our donors, One World One Heart and Quail Foundation, along side Dr Del Endres, without whom we wouldn’t be able to bring such invaluable health care and education to rural Nepali communities.
