Today, I contributed

Although I have really enjoyed the work here I have not felt I am making a difference or contributing to CRP. My patients like me, but on a bigger scale than that I am not impacting CRP. I am working with patients who would have other physios if I was not here, and when I leave I will leave a gap that needs to be filled. Not very sustainable.

But today I felt I made a difference. There is a boy here who was badly mistreated in a government hospital. I've been told "you just can't imagine" what the government hospitals are like. They are bleak and corrupt. Although they are supposed to be funded by the government treatment is rarely free. The doctors and nurses take bribes, providing better treatment to those who sneak them money. As a result this boy was left on a tile floor in a corner of a hallway. His parents rescued him from this situation because they were appalled at his care (or lack there of). He was later referred to CRP. He came here with 35 pressure sores. Many so deep they required surgery. One of which was so drastic the surgeons were forced to remove his greater trochanter (the hip bone that sticks out of the side of your upper leg) as it was coming through the sore.

Although he is now recovering, no one here has thought to take him outside in a rolling bed. His condition is fragile, which is certainly one reason, but with only two pressure sores remaining I thought a short trip away from his air bed was warranted. He is 16 years old. He has been in the same bed in the same corner of the same room for 22 months. He was 14 years old when he arrived.

Despite much resistance I got my way. I took him outside today. (you know I'm good at getting my way). He was amazed by the colour of the sky, by the number of trees, by the basketball court. We went and visited another ward so he could see patients he's met along the way. We saw the two resident geese, we wandered through the reception area. We stopped and watched the workers hauling bricks.

Today I made a contribution.

There is a sign outside CRP headquaters that states "Service to Sufferers is Service to God." I may not be a religious person, but it felt good to serve.

L