NEPAL MISSION TRIP article - due to appear in Grace Missions Newsletter next year...

NEPAL MEDICAL MISSIONS JULY 2010 ( an article that I wrote on return from our trip):

17th July 2010 was the day that I was waiting for with great anticipation. It was the day that the Medical Mission team from Grace AOG would be flying off to Kathmandu to minister to the medical needs of the rural people in Nepal. Needless to say, I was truly excited. I have been waiting to return to Nepal for more medical work ever since my first trip to Nepal during my medical elective in December 2004. After years of planning, I am finally on the trip back to Nepal again.

I was rather apprehensive initially as I did not know most of the people on this mission trip. However, I really thank God that we worked well together throughout the trip. I had heard so much about Dr LS, our team leader, from my cell group member who had been on these trips before. Meeting him for the first time at Grace I was indeed a privilege. It was during this time that I was introduced to the rest of the team: Dr RL, Dr HL and Ms J.

We arrived in Kathmandu on the 17th of July and were greeted by Ps SEat the airport. Here, we were introduced to 2 other local believers, Sister Kedma and Sister Mithu who would be assisting us on this trip. We had a short break for lunch before taking an internal flight to Nepalganj where we stayed for a night. The next morning, we drove out to a village called Chhinchu which was situated in the Surkhet district in the western terai of Nepal. Even though it was the monsoon season and it rained all throughout the drive, God protected the team and we were able to avoid mudslides to arrive safely at Chhinchu.

On arrival at Chhinchu, I was rather taken aback at the living conditions here. I guess it was actually here that I understood how the villagers here live in very difficult circumstances. The hotel that we stayed had the bare necessities although the electricity and water supply were inconsistent. We even went without running water and electricity for more than 24 hours.

It took a while to get past the initial shock of the living conditions here, but the team were then quickly ushered to the nearby school to start the first session of the clinics. There were many patients already in a long queue by the time we arrived there and they were waiting patiently in the rain. We quickly set up the clinic and started seeing patients. By the time we ended, it was already 6pm and we headed back for dinner.

In the remaining 2 ½ days in Chhinchu, we saw 2240 patients in total with various medical conditions. There were many gynaecological conditions and a number of congenital diseases as well due to the poor antenatal and maternal care here. Whilst we had translators with us, I found that the language difference made it more difficult to obtain a thorough history and to communicate the treatment to the patients. However, I was glad to be able to use the 2 months of language training that I had in my previous visit to Nepal here in this clinic as it made the consultation more efficient. We were all very thankful for the translators and volunteers from the local churches who came to help out at this medical camp.
For me, a highlight of this trip has to be the visit to the local church. We met Ps Solomon who brought us to the new church building that they had. It was really interesting as the church was located in the midst of corn and paddy fields. It was amazing to see how these believers who had so little in terms of material comforts to be so rich in faith and so full of the Holy Spirit. We had a short time of sharing and introduction to the various local pastors with a prayer for the work in this area.

It was later on the way back to Nepalganj at the end of the medical camp that we asked Ps Shwu Eng regarding the impact of these medical trips. I always wondered how all these short term medical camps could make any difference to the locals as we are so limited in terms of equipment, medications and follow up. Apart from the prayer session at the end of the consultation and the spiritual penetration, I personally found it hard to understand the exact purpose of trips like these. However, Ps Shwu Eng’s reply was very apt – “We are here to elevate the position of the local pastors and church planters, helping them to be more visible in the community.” In so doing, the government and local authorities are aware that the believers and the church of God is concerned about the welfare of the local people and seek to reach out to them in tangible ways.

The verse that comes to mind at the end of the trip was Matthew 25: 34 - 40 –“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was in prison and you came to visit me, .... I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

May this be the only motivation of the medical missions that we do– for the glory of God!

Now what?!?

Its been truly a long while since my last post....many things have happened.....some good, mostly bad stuff....
Had been holing myself up for the last few months trying very hard to study for my exam ( MRCP PACES), which proved really really challenging....stress levels were all time high....and even my study partner was getting on my nerves....din help that I din think I had enough practice....and all the while trying to be 'nice' to other people......and what do I get in return? Them passing and me not.....life's unfair....what can I do?
Nothing about it actually....I was in the midst of my medical mission trip at Nepal when I received my results at the end of the trip ( on the last day before we fly off from Kathmandu).......was I disappointed? of course! was it unexpected? probably not! anyway....There wasn't anything I could do about it.......
On the other hand, the medical mission trip was an eye-opener....we flew in to Kathmandu on the 18th of July...and then took an internal flight to nepalganj on Buddha air ( which was a bigger plan than the last one I took there!)....we drove a short distance and stayed at Candy's Place at the Travelling Village....



The hotel here was pretty good...each room had mosquito nettings and an attached bathroom. There was even air-conditioning!!! Which is a luxury in this part of the world!!! Dinner and breakfast was pretty good! I liked the waffles and the local food there very much!!! We learnt 3 different ways to cut a mango..... which is pretty interesting...you can either peel the skin and slice VS score the sides ( my usual way) VS cut in through the middle and twist VS squashing the mango and cut off the top and suck the juice....interesting!!!!

Ms R was a life saver with all her munchies and drinks to select from - milo, espresscino, the tarik and horlicks......plus her chocolates, biscuits, bak kwa and fish flosses!!! Plus all the munchies that we bought in Bangkok Airport!! ( The tomyam crisps were a hit!).

Anyhow, we then had to drive approx 2.5 hrs to Chhinchu ( which is in the Surhet District). I was actually rather appalled at the 'hotel' that we arrived at... I was thinking - You mean this is it?!? Its was rather small and rundown hotel owned by a couple from the Dhaulagiri region.....which only had cement floors and walls...basic beds with very thin mattresses and very basic showers and toilets.....It was pretty bad as the electricity and water got cut off on our 2nd day there...



We saw many many patients ( total of 2240 patients!) over 3 days worth of camp...mainly women's health and PID/UTI....UV prolapses topped the list.....we also saw quite varied congenital conditions due to poor antenatal care...that said, some patients were well off enough to be seen in a large hospital and brought their ultrasounds/ CT scans and MRI scans for us to review....



It was the monsoon season and it rained for 2 days and 2 nights that we were there.....thank God we din get caught in a mudslide/ landslide ( we did past by a few areas that had a mudslide on our way back)!!! So really really thank God for keeping us safe!

Finally was so happy to pack up on the last day of the camp and drove back to Candy's place where we stayed 1 night before flying back to kathmandu. Back at Kathmandu, we just chilled out and ate lots of food ( Northfield Cafe, Fire and Ice and Roadhouse Cafe) and visited the House of Dreams ( a.k.a Garden of Dreams) which was next to the palace......plus the rest bought lots of book from the Nepal Book Depot........

And yes, whilst we were tired, all of us were just thankful to be back in Singapore.....

There's another story to tell after this article....stay tuned