Tanzania 2010: A Look Back at our Bhutan Trip for HVO, 2005

Our last HVO trip, in July 2005, was back to Bhutan for a rotation at Thimphu General Hospital and a month-long stay at the lovely volunteer guest house there. School was in session, so we made arrangements for the kids to enroll and attend, which added a new dimension to our international experience and connected us more deeply to the community and people. (Don't you dig those cool lunch tiffins and bright pencil boxes to carry to school?)

Our trip started in Bangkok for a few days of sightseeing and adjusting to the time zone.

From there we flew into Bhutan (via Calcutta), staying in Thimphu, the capital city.

Clinically, what Don sees in Bhutan are delayed fractures (like, a bone broke 5 weeks ago and was poorly splinted in a village and the person has had no other care), burn contractures, wound care, and repair of congenital deformities. Thimphu General is the only national referral hospital in the entire country. Patient care in Bhutan is dealing with challenges including flies, wandering dogs, herbal medicine and astrology. Families basically move onto the hospital compound and live as squatters in the courtyards, cooking food for their family member who is in the hospital during the duration of their stay. Clinics were long days because people showed up with their own records, there are no appointments and no charts. The hospital wards are long open rooms with unscreened windows and little privacy, with no screens between beds.

The doctors and nurses do the best they can, but it's all got a long way to go, even with over 15 years of HVO presence there. Our last leg of that trip was a lengthy stop in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see the temples and sights in and around Angkor Wat.