More Work To Be Done

Well, the Jamshedpur mission is over, and the majority of my team members should be home by now...India, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Australia, etc. However, it was apparent our work is not yet done. I spent the final day of the mission working with the patients and their families on the post-operative ward, doing discharge planning and teaching. Although we had completed our surgeries, many patients were still arriving in anticipation of having operations. It was difficult to send them away, with only a promise of returning in the future. One of my colleagues had a similar "message from the universe." She was shopping in the market on the same day, and saw some street kids running through the market...one of them had a large cleft lip. Here is a photo of me with a new friend, Ganesh. He had arrived with his parents on our last day. He's six months old, but the size of a newborn baby. He will have to gain some weight before undergoing corrective surgery.

I wandered the hallways on our final day in Jamshedpur, and found some of our patients and their families. Here's a photo of a little guy and his mother, as well as a photo of the son of one of our patients (that's his mother behind him; she had her cleft lip repaired the day before).

We held education sessions for different disciplines on the final day of surgery. I had the pleasure of speaking to nursing students. They were in their final year of studies. They helped take care of the children on the post-operative ward. It was evident they had very good training. They were ambitious and eager to learn, and a pleasure to work with...

India is full of life, excitement, and colors. Here are some photos taken on my final day in India.

Fruit Seller

Country Ladies

A field of Green

Train Dudes (they insisted I take their picture!)

Fields of Marigolds

Turban Man (one of our porters)

Swimming

And so ends yet another terrific international volunteer experience. I am blessed and fortunate to have such supportive friends, families, co-workers, and fellow volunteers. You make this all possible, and it's a pleasure to share my experiences with all of you. Thanks for your support and encouragement.