Medical Trip

Today, I took a day off from the school to visit one of the leprosy colonies and participate in medical work. It was an interesting day. It is hard to describe the experience of washing and oiling the feet of these patients with leprosy. They live in a small area. The houses, I understand, are quite improved from what they were living in before, because renovations occurred in 2009, but they are still very small and very simple - a couple of small concrete rooms, without furniture. There is no running water, so they get their water from a well or a small pump next to the well. Contrary to common rumor, body parts do not fall off with leprosy, but they retract into the body. Some of their feet were so small because their toes had retracted into their feet. If this becomes to extreme, they do have to have limbs amputated. One many had his foot and leg amputated below the knee, and he had a prosthesis to help him walk. I imagine that the feet of the Chinese women who had their feet bound may have looked similar to some of the feet that I saw today. They have ulcers on their bodies. The dead skin needed to be trimmed in these ulcers and then they needed to be treated and bandaged. For some of them, especially one poor woman, this was a very painful process. It was hard to see them deal with this, with no anesthetic to dull the pain. Despite their circumstances, the people that we met were very happy, very hospitable, and very grateful. Most spoke no English or only very little, but they told us through gestures how grateful they were for our help. It was quite an experience. Although I will be going back to work at the school tomorrow, where they need me more and I can have more of a lasting effect, I was glad to have this experience once.