Sometimes I have tunnel vision around the task at hand, it's the only way to keep focus especially when it's so easy to be distracted by so much of the dysfunction and pain and suffering around us. However, it's important to take a moment, take a step back and shift the focus to get some perspective. I have as of late mostly focused on what I know, Critical Care and especially the use of bedside ultrasound in patient management. The more I see the more I realize that there really is SO much more to do--and these aren't distractions from my task at hand but opportunities to help others. I find that the more I use social media and blog and connect with people the more opportunities I get to connect those with experiences that give them a chance to give back as well. Sometimes just being the go-between is an important role to play and I happily take on that role for any of you who want to participate in any of the activities I post about.
That is a long segue into my recent trip to the orphanage that was opened by the organization Distressed Children and Infants, International (DCI). Their mission is quite simple but impactful--protect the rights of children, advance their opportunities via access to education and safe housing. They are primarily run by individual donors and it's incredible to see what they have achieved. Click Here to see their website. I dragged along my colleague Alex who has been working alongside me throughout this trip, he happily tagged along and it was really a remarkable trip for us, but also really tugged at our heart strings learning about how some of the orphaned girls came to live here at the Sunchild Home. Some of the girls here were abandoned at birth because they were conceived in the setting of a rape, some were given up after their mothers may have re-married and their new husband may have declined looking after the child from a previous marriage, heartbreaking stories to hear. The orphanage has the capacity for up to 50 girls and they can stay there up until the age of 25. They all have access to education, and are driven to school every day via a minibus. Computer classes and job counseling are available to provide skills that can be used for gainful employment after finishing secondary school and college. First inaugurated in 1996 DCI now is starting to see the older children from their sponsorship program and orphanage reach the age where they are going on to university and beyond. One of the women has been admitted to Nursing School even!
These sweet faces greeted us as we entered the orphanage. So happy to see visitors! They talked to us about school and the various playground sports they excel at. There was a cultural program at their school and they all have been practicing singing and dancing classical Bengali Folk songs that even I remember from my own childhood--they performed several of these acts for us, proud to show off the product of their hard work.
After getting to meet all the kids we sat down to lunch with them. The food that we ate was the same food available to them on a daily basis--it was absolutely DELICIOUS. Extra helpings of rice and chicken and vegetables were available for everyone, there was absolutely no shortage.
After about a week of seeing sick adult patients in several different ICUs around Dhaka and going through exhausting training sessions it was incredible to be reminded of why we do this kind of work, because the youth of this world deserve a better tomorrow.
I urge you all to check out their website, learn about what they are doing, and if you feel like it is something you want to be a part of--donate, donate once, or donate a recurrent amount in the form of sponsoring a child (for $15/month). I myself am sponsoring a child who lives in a village with her mother but without the support of this organization wouldn't have otherwise been able to go to school. I get a report card and pictures and I love hearing about how she is doing and I'm hopeful that maybe this will be an opportunity for her to have a life that she could have never imagined before.
After a great day with the kids at DCI--teaching us probably the biggest life lesson, that happiness is not reliant on the material, we moved on to our last two training sessions at BSMMU. This was a great end to our time here in Dhaka as we really got a chance to use several different ultrasound machines--we taught all of our exams on the home institution's ultrasound machine as well as showed the quality of two other devices, the Sonosite ultrasound that we brought with us and we again introduced to the butterfly ultrasound to a whole new group. The picture quality on that handheld device is unparalleled when compared to the alternative machines here. Hopeful we can get this tech out to those interested very soon!!
The program in Dhaka has been wonderful, Alex and I were welcomed with open arms. It was incredible to see how easy it was for him, an English speaker primarily, to deliver all of the lectures and training sessions, all of which were received very well. All of our courses are in English making it very easy for us to bring more US trainers in the future--something I very much hope to do by next year!!
That is a long segue into my recent trip to the orphanage that was opened by the organization Distressed Children and Infants, International (DCI). Their mission is quite simple but impactful--protect the rights of children, advance their opportunities via access to education and safe housing. They are primarily run by individual donors and it's incredible to see what they have achieved. Click Here to see their website. I dragged along my colleague Alex who has been working alongside me throughout this trip, he happily tagged along and it was really a remarkable trip for us, but also really tugged at our heart strings learning about how some of the orphaned girls came to live here at the Sunchild Home. Some of the girls here were abandoned at birth because they were conceived in the setting of a rape, some were given up after their mothers may have re-married and their new husband may have declined looking after the child from a previous marriage, heartbreaking stories to hear. The orphanage has the capacity for up to 50 girls and they can stay there up until the age of 25. They all have access to education, and are driven to school every day via a minibus. Computer classes and job counseling are available to provide skills that can be used for gainful employment after finishing secondary school and college. First inaugurated in 1996 DCI now is starting to see the older children from their sponsorship program and orphanage reach the age where they are going on to university and beyond. One of the women has been admitted to Nursing School even!
After getting to meet all the kids we sat down to lunch with them. The food that we ate was the same food available to them on a daily basis--it was absolutely DELICIOUS. Extra helpings of rice and chicken and vegetables were available for everyone, there was absolutely no shortage.
After about a week of seeing sick adult patients in several different ICUs around Dhaka and going through exhausting training sessions it was incredible to be reminded of why we do this kind of work, because the youth of this world deserve a better tomorrow.
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| A very beautifully choreographed dance performed by the kids to the tune of a classical Bengali Folk Song. |
I urge you all to check out their website, learn about what they are doing, and if you feel like it is something you want to be a part of--donate, donate once, or donate a recurrent amount in the form of sponsoring a child (for $15/month). I myself am sponsoring a child who lives in a village with her mother but without the support of this organization wouldn't have otherwise been able to go to school. I get a report card and pictures and I love hearing about how she is doing and I'm hopeful that maybe this will be an opportunity for her to have a life that she could have never imagined before.
After a great day with the kids at DCI--teaching us probably the biggest life lesson, that happiness is not reliant on the material, we moved on to our last two training sessions at BSMMU. This was a great end to our time here in Dhaka as we really got a chance to use several different ultrasound machines--we taught all of our exams on the home institution's ultrasound machine as well as showed the quality of two other devices, the Sonosite ultrasound that we brought with us and we again introduced to the butterfly ultrasound to a whole new group. The picture quality on that handheld device is unparalleled when compared to the alternative machines here. Hopeful we can get this tech out to those interested very soon!!
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| I am using the butterfly device and my trainee is using their ultrasound machine to compare the quality. The butterfly has a better price point and plugs into the iphone making all imaging capabilities available at your fingertips! |
Next up:
Leaving Dhaka for Cox's Bazaar to return to the Rohingya Camps via Medglobal, while I can only give a week of my time, I'm going to be rolling out a teaching session with the Rohingya Community Health Volunteers to help recognize asthma exacerbations as well as how to recognize different levels of dehydration and what can be treated in the home or what needs to be seen by a physician.
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