KARSOG COMMUNITY CENTRE THANKSGIVING & CAMP

Dr. Yvonne


The impatient crowd wanting to be seen


This article is written by Dr. Yvonne about the last medical camp i went on.

Karsog is one of the most beautiful valleys of Himachal and for almost two years we have been planning a Community Centre in this region, with the help of Asian Aid. At long last the building is finished: the land is fenced and it is time for a Thanksgiving service. Dr. Bazliel and his team advertise widely in the community that there will be a 3-day long Out-Patient-Clinic including Dental; Eye; Surgical and Medical patients.

Mr. Gareth Reese, Treasurer of Asian Aid and Mr Ravi Dass Superintendent of Asian Aid for India, were to be our special guests for the occasion. On Friday morning, our CEO had the brilliant idea that he would invite our entire Shimla Church to join in the Thanksgiving, using our big hospital bus. After this service and lunch; the Church members would return to Simla, leaving the hospital bus free to return to Karsog. The members of the Karsog Church, who have waited so long for a place of worship, would be able to use the hall on Sabbaths if the rest of the week were devoted to the community.

These were our plans, but Satan had quite different ideas! The road to the Community Centre had been blocked for many, many months. Two ladies through whose land the road passed had blocked its entrance and put a case in court, because the Government bulldozers had carelessly damaged their houses and agricultural land. This year’s monsoon was extremely heavy and the road was practically totally blocked with landslides. But we needed that road if patients were to reach the Centre; all the hospital equipment was to be brought in, and if I and my wheelchair were to see the land and the building for which we had planned and prayed for so long.

Lekh Ram (our hospital maintenance man) who has worked tirelessly to complete the project was the only person able to persuade these ladies to open the barricade of bushes with which they had blocked the road. What joy it gave us when we heard his voice on the cell phone; “Sir, the ladies have agreed, provided we open and close the road and use it only for our vehicles. I have arranged with a bulldozer and he is already on the job.” How this bulldozer crew worked: from early morning until late night, using their lights. Carefully they avoided pushing boulders over the edges. With three hair-pin bends to traverse, they carved over the mountainside, and every 5 minutes or so, they cleared a landslide. If that were not enough, they carefully smoothed the surface removing the residual rocks. Those of us who were obliged to travel these 2 km of roads twice daily for three days can never express adequately our gratitude to this crew.

On Sunday morning, two of our vehicles traveled the road searching for the first sight of the Community Centre. Would there be any patients? Remember, this was the first time that this type of Out Patient Clinic was being tried. Suddenly Dr. Bazliel caught sight of the enormous mass of people crowded around the Centre. His previous anxiety was only realised when he said quietly, “Thank you Lord!” I turned to look at his face. Misty eyes only endorsed both his sense of gratitude and relief. I couldn’t help but join in. Most patients had come walking: a few came limping: more were being led with sticks clasped firmly in hand: one or two had come by vehicle and what appeared to be three young men on a single scooter had negotiated the road. We wondered if they needed psychiatric help!!

Soon the Clinics were established in the one large hall of the Community Centre: Patients for surgical / medical treatment, occupied one corner: for dental care were given a little more space: patients for eye care had a fourth corner. Finally in a quiet room was Dr. Sheilagh with her ultra sound machine. In one little spot, with my wheelchair, I am trying to take in all the sounds and sights, while the patients take me in!! But if there was quiet mania in the room, there was TOTAL mania outside. The reasons are not difficult to understand:

1. Most Indians have never learned to stand in a queue

2. Every patient wants to be seen first and will push and pull to obtain this privilege.

3. Our village folk have developed the idea that an ultra sound is not only a diagnostic test, but also a curative treatment. This means that almost everyone wishes to have an ultrasound, and is prepared to stand in line for it.

4 Although this was advertised as a free Out Patient Clinic, each person expected free examinations; free medicines and free surgery.

5. Parents and school children now know that teeth can be filled and it is not necessary to wait until they need extraction. This kept our Dentist continuously busy, and no matter how his team tried to hand out numbers or explain that each one would be seen, these patients found waiting almost impossible.

We had promised that any patient, who was willing to come to our Simla Sanitarium & Hospital for the needed surgery, would be picked up by our hospital bus at an easily reachable spot; and taken to Shimla at no cost. We would do surgery at the lowest possible cost and would then deliver them back to the same pick up place. What more could we do? Some of the cataract patients and the general & gynae surgical cases promised to accept our offer but would anyone come?

Monday morning greeted us with the same huge crowd, as on Sunday. The patients had gathered long before we could reach the Clinic. But the mania of the previous day was very much less, because Mr. Gareth Reese had learned how to handle the crowd. I watched him in the boiling sun separating “Eyes” from “Teeth” and these from “Surgical and Medical” and somehow he convinced them that they would be seen. I was so grateful when he re-appeared in a hat stuffed with a T-shirt draped over his shoulders. How could we have had our guest suffer from heat stroke? Meanwhile Mr Ravi Dass was doing his best to learn to be a dentist!! The boys, Rana Singh and Lekh Ram made certain that each patient sat in the right row of chairs, so there was relative peace in the hall.

Eventually our cooks arrive with lunch. The doctors barely allow themselves time for eating and soon in each section of the hall and Clinic work begins again at full speed. I sit in my little corner trying to convert the sounds and sights to my laptop. Mr Hitaksha brings a fifteen year old girl for me to see. One eye is completely filled with a malignant tumour. “”Will we be able to help her?” I asked; struggling to hold back my tears. “Oh, we could remove the eye” he replied, “but she will need a biopsy before doing that and she needs to go to the P.G.I Hospital in Chandigarh.” I think of the immense distance between their village and Chandigarh and feel sure that the journey will never be made. If only I were a millionaire!!

Suddenly I am aware of a silence broken only by Dr.Ashish’s dental machine. I seek out Dr. Bazliel’s face. His reply to my unspoken question is clear. ”We have seen 572 patients and cannot handle more.” Now I understand what he has told me so many times before; how difficult it is to close a Camp, because there are always some who simply cannot be seen. Had we stayed here for another week, there would still be a crowd awaiting us each morning! We make our last trip along the two kilometer road, which by now is a sandy, dangerous “boulevard.” The hospital Scorpio fortunately has 4 wheel drive facilities, but the Tempo Traveler has to be pushed by a combination of our staff and patient volunteers who cope with the skidding and huge clouds of thick dust.

Let us fast-forward to Tuesday morning. Will any patients come? We could have saved ourselves the anxiety! Patients and their attendants are crowded around the doctor and nurse – each one determined to find a place in the bus. Believe it or not, there are too many people for our large hospital bus. Twenty six surgical cases + twenty six attendants need to be accommodated. But they have been promised a free trip to Shimla and there is no alternative except to hire an extra small vehicle. Finally every patient and each attendant is seated and on their way. The two remaining vehicles are quickly filled and the ‘Karsog Community Centre Thanksgiving’ programme and ‘Out Patient Clinic’ are things of the past. Could we have done things better? I watch my husband’s face as he drives our ancient hospital SUV, and know that he is already planning for the next attempt at this Community Centre and how it can be improved. But I think it has been a wonderful experience and thank God that I could be a part of it.

Dr Yvonne Bazliel