Chengalpattu's 'Hospital'

Well, it's been a pretty thrilling day here in India. We were visiting a small coastal 'resort' town when our driver suddenly received an emergency call from his 22-year old 9 months pregnant wife. So we jumped in the car and raced back to the 'hospital' with him. On the way, we had a flat tire. Please note the lack of tread on the tire, signifying the high value and esteem we volunteers enjoy. We're lucky the tire didn't blow. Either we would have killed someone on a scooter or in a rickshaw, or a gigantic cement truck or bus full of oh, probably 100 people would have killed us.

But the tire and nearly being killed isn't the real story.

The other photos are of the 'hospital'. I would have taken some pictures of the inside which, incredibly, is actually worse than the outside. I always hesitate out of respect for the dignity and privacy of the people caught in such nightmares as this hospital in "Chengalpattu" - the closest town to our rural area. What I 'saw' were scenes out of a horror movie; long, filthy rooms filled with the sick, some in beds, some not, surrounded by relatives trying to care for them as best they can. No medical services such as IVs or monitors of any kind were visible. Just very sick people everywhere.

 Our driver's young wife is scheduled for a C-section tonight at 10PM. She'll be lucky if she lives and does not die of infection. But here's some beauty in this story. Already, she's surrounded by half a dozen people who obviously love her and are concerned. I felt like an interloper, yet the family was, as usual, unfailingly gracious. Just being around them makes me want to be a better person. I want to tell them that when I go. But how? How do I tell them that I will remember their courage and resilience forever? I won't be able to do it without crying and then they would try to give me their houses to make me feel better. That just won't do.

So-o-o-o-o-o-o. I'm trying with considerable difficulty not to turn this into a soapbox on healthcare reform. So I'll shut up and just let the pictures tell you a sad story from a sad country about the sad options available to the sad, unfortunate poor. This experience is still fresh on my mind. I want to hit somebody. One of these stupid, dumb cows would do just fine. That would make me feel so much better. Just go out into the field and deck a poor, unfortunate, unsuspecting cow.