Every day this week I have gone with the medical team to the leprosy colonies. I have really enjoyed it, but if I am completely honest it has been an emotional roller coster too. I love that I have the opportunity to do this, to have been trained and be able to help these people in such a unique and important way. I have started forming friendships with the medical staff which I have loved as well. We have had many adventures in the last three days, including a flat tire and a visit to the flower of the Snake God tree. Those things were really cool, I will have to write in more detail about them later though. Back the the colonies.
At the first colony I was on the blood pressure and blood sugar test rotation. After we had finished we walked up the road to visit one of the members of the colony that didn't need to come see us but was having a hard time because her married and pregnant daughter committed suicide a few days before, and she wasn't able to make it to the funeral because of her health. I have learned that grief is very universal. I saw so much of myself in her, in the look on her face. My heart literally hurt some.
I felt a lot of anger at the second colony. The first colony we went to was separate from the main village, it basically was its own little development, and looked just like the main village in structure, materials, etc. So yes it was segregated but it was the same level of housing as everyone else. The second colony was within the main town, but it was clearly different then its surroundings. Don't get me wrong, the staff of the colony was great, and the patients has cement rooms to live in like a lot of other people here do, but the thing that rubbed me wrong was the chain-link fence around the colony. I know I haven't been here long, but I haven't see another chain-link fence anywhere else. Fences and walls are common, but they are made with cement or metal. But the chain-link made me angry because it reminded me of a zoo. Like the patients in the colony were just animals in a zoo-being kept away from everyone else but without much privacy either. Like they were in a cage and could be watched. I was on bandage removal at this colony, which I don't think helped much either because a lot of the bandages were dirty and moist. Most had a particular stench to them and sometimes sand and pieces of leaves were on them too. When I would get them off, the flies would immediate be there, landing wherever they could on the ulclrs-I would try to shoo them away, and the patients would as well, but seeing that didn't help my already riled up human rights part of me because it just seemed to strengthen the appearance of these people being labeled by society as animals. Generally, the patients seemed to be happy-ish though, which of course was a plus. I was just really riled up inside.
When we were unloading the van there was one man specifically who looked at me and gave me the biggest smile and waved. I removed his bandages later on, and we "talked" the best we could through different languages and hand motions. After he got his new bandages, we went to him room and got some pieces of material/socks that he wrapped over the new bandages-in what I am assuming was an attempt to keep them clean until the next time we come. I was dumping water over by him and he was so excited to show me how he was going to help keep his bandages as clean as possible. There was a low hanging roof that one of the other volunteers hit his head on when walking over to where this man and I were, and the man tried to warn him before by failing his hands in front of him. It obviously came a little to late, but then the man went off for a few mins about the roof and how he sometimes hits his head and how it hurts, etc. Of course this was all through hand motions and his native language too-but somehow we were able to communicate still. I asked him if I could take a picture of him (we always have too ask before taking pictures in the colonies) but his face lit up and he shook his head and stuck the best pose ever. Look at how cute he is! I LOVED his personality. He was the colony superstar for sure. He made me smile and laugh despite the anger I was feeling over that stupid chain link fence.
Afterwords, we drove up the road and visited a hospital along with the abandoned volunteer camp that went with it. I guess a lady from Belgium ran it for years and overall it was a very large and successful operation that helped people with leprosy as well. She died some years back, and things have mostly fallen apart since then, which is sad but exploring it was really cool! My sister Nicole loves exploring abandoned ghost towns and such--she would of loved this! The flower pictures are from the circular room where they laid her body for viewing after she had died. Maybe one day I will buy this place, make it functional again and carry on her work. :) A girl can dream right?
