After all of the graduates got back to Burma, Dr. Bruce Gross initiated a medical clinic in the village of one of our graduates, Simon, nearby Tachileik. Here is his report.
Hi All,
On Wednesday I had the great privilege of working with one of our recently graduated Barefoot Doctors. I have had a hand in teaching Simon in the program for the last 3 years. He was an excellent student. He lives in Tachileik, Burma, but grew up in a village about an hour away, up in the mountains.
To get to his village, we drove for about 30 minutes in a truck to a small village. There, about 6 villagers met us with small motorcycles and we went the rest of the way to the village on scooters. I met Simon’s mother, his uncle, cousins, aunts ...
The houses were very rustic, to say the least. The men in the village were out in the fields tending to the crops. The ladies were busy sewing some of the native costumes that they wear for celebrations.
First things first – sit and drink tea with the locals. Then after a while we started the clinic. It was great to watch Simon examine the patients. I felt like a proud father, whose son was taking over the family business and working just like his dad.
We broke for dinner at noon. Simon then cleaned teeth with his Barefoot Doctor scaler machine for a couple of hours. As you see in the video, there were the pig feeding troughs, the pigs, piglets, the chickens, and then Simon scaling teeth. You can’t make this stuff up! It is definitely a laid-back farming community.
The ladies continued to sew and make panels for the roof out of thatch. Pigs, piglets, rosters, chickens, and chicklets ran freely. We visited the church, which was in very poor repair. We discussed ideas to completely rebuild the church. We talked about their poor water supply. The needs were many.
I was both sad and amazed. Sad that the people were living in such poverty. I was amazed that these same people were cheerful and greeted us with superb hospitality and gave us a meal out of their limited food reserves.
I need time to process and pray after this village experience. Lord, what is the best way to help this village? The needs are so great. They don’t need or want a hand out. They need education, healthcare, and partners in projects. Water projects, building projects, farming projects, and animal husbandry.
Please join me in that prayer.
Bruce
Soon after the new Barefoot Doctors arrived in Tachileik at Timothy's house, some of them received the ultrasound scaling machines Dr. Eddy and Ramona had given them.
They were shipped to Timothy's house in order to save transporting them from Chiang Mai on their day of travel. Others were shipped to Abraham's house in Taunggyi for the graduates who passed through there on their way home.
Here are a few pictures of those who received their machines at Timothy's house.
These much needed machines will be put to use right away. Dr. Eddy says they will make the Barefoot Doctors the most popular person in their village!
In fact, Simon put his scaling machine to use right away in his village when Dr. Bruce, JP, and him went there for a medical clinic this week.
Most of us are back home now, so it's time to post some more pictures from the Barefoot Doctor's Graduation on February 28th.
Dr. Bruce Gross and JP Ferraro are still in Burma so pray for their safe return to America. They have been doing some medical camps there, along with some of our Barefoot Doctors including Timothy and Simon.
Enjoy the photos!
The Barefoot Doctors graduates left this morning a little after 7:00 a.m.
They are very excited to return to their families and villages, but everyone was sad to part company.
They had three passenger vans and a pickup filled with their suitcases and supplies.
Here is the final picture taken just before they left.
Please pray for their safe travel today to Tachileik and then on to their homes over the next few days.
God bless them all!
We will put up a few more posts in a day or two, so please keep checking back.
Thanks for your prayers.
Jon
