Let the Camp Begin!

December 27, Day 10: First Day of Camp!

We woke up around 8 today and had breakfast before we set out for our first campsite around the White Fields of Bangalore. It was a semi-rural area, lot dirtier and dustier than the central city area where our hotel is situated.We set up camp under a big shaded building so it wasn't hot and the patients weren't in the heat either! Food was provided to the people and we tended about 343 people today!!! Amazing! Services we offered at the camp were basic height weight, blood pressure, and hemoglobin check ups. They were then able to be examined by doctors to talk about their health issues and a pharmacy that provided useful medicines and pain relief. 

We had a team of doctors from MediHope, a local hospital and our own from America (Dr. Shah, Dr. Parekh), and one local Indian surgeon Dr. Padma. Kim and I were in charge of the height and weight station in which the people came to see first, Arveen and Akash did hemoglobin/blood pressure, while Curtis and Daryl went to see surgeries at MediHope. They saw a fallopian tube tying, which is done so a woman cannot get pregnant anymore.

 Kim and I had a really good time, even though we had to suffer the smells of people, coughing, people starting to suffocate us by not giving us space, and ills. However, we loved getting to hold the cute babies, smiling at everyone, and surprising random people by saying Nemastay to them! It was a sight to see those who couldn't believe how heavy they were oh dear. It was amazing how efficient we were even without communication issues, this was because we relied heavily on universal communication: hand motions, facial expressions, and body language. 

Dr. Shah also showed us how to do blood pressure, being over 140 for cystolic, over 90 for dystolic, are bad signs. After camp, we chilled out for a bit before going out to Taco bell for dinner. We visited the supermarket really quick for nail clippers then had a talk with Dr. Shah. Dr. Shah had us talk about long-term goals and short-term goals. Firstly, Lion Club wasn’t very happy that we’re here at this time because it’s in between the holidays, so we discussed future dates like the beginning of winter break and end of Aug/early Sept. Also, the problems from the first day was that the lines were disorganized, slippers were being lost at the height and weight station, and the hemoglobin station should be put at the end so that they can be easily be referred back to the doctor when the level is less than 10. However, it still ended well but we won't see surgeries tomorrow so we’re really hoping we can observe some the last day on the 29^th.