Goodbyes are always bittersweet. It’s disheartening to leave new friends with the deep-seeded knowledge that you may never see them again in your life. Yet at the same time, the fact that you are able to form those bonds that make it difficult to leave is something to be grateful for.
Today began at 5:30am after a short sleep/nap and a shower mixed with haphazard packing. Found out last night from my mom that I need to pack 2 bags – one to be left in Bangkok for a few days and another that will go to Chiang Mai since I’m flying there from Bangkok the day I land.
I realize all the little things I’ll miss from my solo walk from the Dynasty hotel to the hospital, which involves dodging motorcycles and rickshaws as well as walking past delicious smelling street food, and my personal favorite, the outdoor bathroom consisting of “toilet” spray painted on the side of a brick building (and people openly defacating). I’ve grown to be familiar with the hospital, the same way the first days of being on a college campus are unfamiliar and then gradually becomes your home. I’m glad that Minh & Kels get to continue hanging out with our translator friends. I look forward to living out their adventures through blogs and photos, will be missing them all!
At 7:30am, I assist Carolina, one of the plastic surgeons from Colombia that lives in Guwahati. Our first patient was supposed to be 6 year old girl but a parent reaches out to Carolina that morning requesting that she operate on his baby. The 8 month old little boy had a bilateral cleft lip which in laymen’s terms indicates that there are two splits in the upper lip as opposed to a single cleft. I scrubbed in with Carolina and during the 3 hour surgery, she allowed me to hold the hook, suction, hold forceps, and even cut the vicryl stitching thread after she sutured sections. The experience was so fantastic. Prior to the mission, I scrubbed into c-section surgeries in a Camden, NJ hospital and enjoyed seeing the scalpel tear through skin and the underlying organs. This time, seeing the scalpel cut through lips and gums of babies had a different effect. I always think of little kids to be so fragile sometimes but are actually quite resilient. I am also in awe of the results of surgery. The baby boy looks completely normal, no longer with 2 larger gaping holes in his face but rather a straight nose, complete upper lip, and even a cupid’s bow in the center of his lips. His mother’s reaction was priceless, she looked at his face with amazement.
After that, I wander around a bit between meetings. Kelly, Minh, Justin, and I were going to meet with Alex and Carolina about the research projects we had brainstormed a few nights ago. We are specifically interested in measuring malnutrition among children with clefts versus children without clefts. There are so many areas of need in Guwahati to be explored. Since Alex is busy, Jantu (my awesome translator and friend) and I are hanging around the police hospital screening area which is a few blocks from the hospital. About a week ago, I helped the high school students deliver some leftover lunch to a cluster of rundown houses behind the police hospital. I was really surprised that behind the seemingly nice building, there existed mountains of trash in front of a dilapidated apartment building and shacks made of corrugated metal and bamboo sheets. There were multiple families living there and it was clear that there was no running water, electricity, and other basic necessities. The children were so sweet and appreciative of the food we brought.
As public health leaders, we are taught to look at factors upstream rather than downstream. To focus on prevention and understanding the root of the problem rather than just fixing them after the fact. I personally used to (and sometimes still do) hand out money to homeless individuals in the U.S., buy food for begging children in Mexico, or give away things to kids in Tanzania. Those are all such short-term fixes that oftentimes does the opposite effect of what I hoped to achieve…that is, hand-outs have the potential to create dependency and perpetuate the underlying issues. Kelly, Minh, and I weren’t too thrilled about handing food out, but at the time, we had so much leftover food from staff and it was so much better than throwing it away. So back to the present day, as I’m standing with Jantu, I ask him if he can translate for me if we go back to visit the families and run-down living quarters. I am a bit apprehensive since I know that the families will associate an Operation Smile staff member with free food and also what the heck am I even going to say or ask. My real intention is to maybe understand why the families live in such poor conditions and what can be done about it, if anything. Of course, you can’t just ask these questions that can easily be construed as offensive. So Jantu and I head back and a swarm of kids from the last visit surround us. I think they first expected food or stuff but when they realize I’m not there to hand out anything, they still stand there silently looking at us and curious. I tell the group of 10 children that I was there earlier last week with the Domino’s pizza we gave out and that it is my last day in Guwahati so I wanted to say goodbye. I could tell Jantu felt a little awkward since the conversation wasn’t quite flowing yet and he was in the middle. So I ask all the kids for their names and ages as well as whether or not they went to school. The children ranged from 5-16 years. The oldest, at 16 years old, had to drop out of school in class 4 to take care of her slew of younger siblings but the rest of them were able to attend school. I then ask them what they do for fun, do they play cricket? How about soccer? They say that they would love to play those sports but do not have a ball, sometimes they use water bottles or whatever is laying around. This sort of improvisation of toys is all too familiar in other countries…Tanzania, Haiti, etc. I somehow then ease the conversation into who lives with the kids and find out that they live with both parents. I also ask them if something could be improved with the area they live in, what would it be? The oldest girl answers water, specifically an in-ground well where they live. She said that they have no running water and must carry water from far away each day. I told the kids that I will try to do what I can but cannot make any promises. I am also impressed that out of all the things that a sixteen year-old girl can ask for, she asks for something that should be a basic right. When I was sixteen, I wanted clothes and a car not access to water and a better life for my family. As I leave and say goodbye to the kids, they call me in for a huddle and sing a goodbye song. They also tell me that they are so happy that I stopped by, it meant a lot to them that someone cares, and they will always remember this moment. I’m unable to communicate it, but I felt the same way.
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