Women's International Group visit

Post date: Mar 23, 2012 4:51:49 AM

Patients from here who go to the hospital in Vientiane face many unknowns. After leaving their village, traveling to the district capital, taking a bus to the provincial capital, then traveling on a 24-hour-long bus ride to Vientiane, they arrive disoriented. Most of them do not speak Lao so they cannot communicate, ask how to get from the bus station to the hospital. Fortunately, members from the Women's International Group (WIG) in Vientiane http://wiglaos.org are there to help. They meet patients at the bus station, take them to the right hospital, and make sure they are comfortably admitted. They visit patients every day bringing them food and some money for expenses. They pay medical bills if necessary then send the patients home again. It's the poorest patients who need the most help. With a network of dedicated people including the WIG members, patients are able to travel and receive the health care they need.

This week three WIG members traveled from Vientiane to Muang Sing to help at the Butterfly Children's Development Center. We went to two villages to visit patients; a boy who lost a leg from a tractor accident, and a noma patient. The boy was not at home, and his mother wanted us to stay and wait for him to return. When we told her we could not stay, she sent us on our way with a bag of bananas. The noma patient was at home with her two daughters. The WIG members gave the daughters and neighbor children new fleece jackets and pullovers they had brought with them. We left the bananas and some games and books with the children.

They also visited the parents of a deaf child attending deaf school. The WIG members went to the deaf school to see the children from Muang Sing. They brought news and pictures to share with the children’s parents. The parents had not seen their children since September, and were very pleased for the update. These children will travel home to their villages in June for the school holiday.

Visiting patients and their families after we were able to help them is very fulfilling and provides us with the motivation and dedication to continue helping more patients. We are very happy the WIG members were able to share in this experience.