Oinofyta Refugee Camp - Greece

First Impressions: I arrived late last night, and was taken directly to the volunteer house. It's a normal house down in the village, with all the amenities you'd expect. Today, after breakfast, we went to the camp. I was given two jobs: go through the census and make a list of all the residents above 40 years old, to do a screening for diabetes. Then a second job was added, to make a list of the pregnant women, also to screen for gestational diabetes, blood pressure and proteinuria, to screen for preeclampsia. There are about 650 residents in the camp, and about 65 people in total, combining both lists. Now I have to find them all, and somehow communicate to them that they have to fast for 12hrs and come the next morning so I can measure their glucose levels + blood pressure, etc. Communication will be the fun part, but I've already met some kids who speak English, so I think I'll just enlist their help as translators, at least until I learn enough to pronouce things right. 

Now it's friday evening, rainy, cold. Most people have been moved into an adjacent empty factory for the winter, but some are still out in tents. Even in the factory, it's pretty cold (no heating). I had my big jacket on most of the time (except in the clinic, there's heating in there!!), but saw kids walking around with flip-flops. I don't know if they didn't have shoes, or just didn't put them on. There's a warehouse full of donated clothes, but maybe not the right sizes, I don't know. 

All in all, it's a bit overwhelming. They were smiling, the kids were playing, I got some hugs and kisses even, but I can't imagine living in such close quarters with hundreds of people. I can't imagine having to leave your home and flee to find safety so far away from everything that was ever dear to you. Nobody would choose to risk their lives on the way and come here, if they had any other option. They don't. So all I can hope to do, is make it a little bit easier on them. A little bit safer. To smile, to play, to talk. To do any little thing I can to make it better. It'll never be normal. It'll never be good. 

Good would be to wake up tomorrow in their own home, in their own city, in their own country, and realize the war was all just a nightmare--not reality. 

And the Countdown begins!

Hi friends!

I've been enjoying a few days of a well deserved vacation. The weather is beautiful (it's summer here!) and Watson (the kitty) and I have been lounging around, reading books for fun, taking care of the garden I created on my balcony and hanging out with friends. Today I got to eat the first 2 homegrown strawberries!!

However, this is all about to change very soon. In 6 days I will be on a plane, flying over the Atlantic and heading first to Paris. I have to stop there in order to request my visa for Chad, as there is no embassy here. I also get to see my friend Nadya for a couple of days, and that's a nice bonus.

Then I fly to Athens, and take a train to Oinofyta, a sea-side town in Greece, where I will be volunteering for 2 weeks at a Refugee Camp. This is with an organization called Adventist Help, and I have a few friends who have volunteered with them in the past and told me some incredible stories. Since the beginning of the refugee crisis, I wanted to do something to help, and when I heard their stories and the opportunity to help, I had to do it. I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas then helping people who really need it.

After Greece I fly to Chad. I can't wait to get there!! I have just now finished my 2nd year of medical school, so besides our rural family med clinic (where I started going once a week last year and continued this year), I don't get much patient contact. I definitely don't get any OR time, and I desperately miss the OR!! So it'll be a nice change, to be in the OR all day, every day again. :)

Stay tuned and check the blog periodically (or subscribe!) so you can keep up-to-date with my latest adventures. Also, if you're the praying kind, please pray for my trip, and for every patient I will come in contact with.

Thanks for your support! 

A weekend away...

Hey everyone,

Sorry I didn't post anything last week, but things were just a bit crazy, I wasn't sleeping well and just felt exhausted and overwhelmed. 

A few weeks ago, I had met two people, James and Casilda, who work in a refugee camp in the south of Chad, for citizens from the Central African Republic (CAR) who have been deplaced by the war. They had invited me to come visit, and last weekend, I finally did. 

You might be thinking that going to a UNHCR refugee camp is probably not the best way to decompress, but it was actually great. 

There's no electricity there, only the big NGOs and a few restaurants have generators, so there's very little light pollution. The sky at night is incredible... 

The children are not afraid of white people (they probably weren't told that we come to take them and drink their blood) so they all smile and come shake hands. 

The food at the market is pretty darn good, and the meat is from a cow/sheep/goat who roamed the fields freely, was alive that morning and was immediately put on the fire after slaughter, so it's as healthy as it gets... 

I went for long walks by the river to watch the sunset--

I met handicapped refugees who got parts so they could fix their tricycles (no wheelchairs here)- 

That's Paulin, his legs are completely atrophied, but he gets around great on his tricycle, even going about 40km to the nearest city and back!

That's a beautiful African mama, also handicapped, holding her adorable baby...

James taking a fixed tricycle for a test drive...

It was an intense weekend, but very relaxing. I met people from several NGOs, people whose job is actually improving the lives of the refugees. I got into great discussions about how to organize health campaigns and teach the people what they should do if a child gets sick (**immediately bring them to the hospital and not wait 3 days until they're almost dead**). 

I also watched a Muslim funeral, for the father of one of the refugees who is a friend of James. He probably had a massive stroke, from what I gathered about how it happened.

Then we were invited for a genuine feast by another refugee, a man who was an architect, had worked and traveled to several African countries, had 2 houses and his own business in Bangui (capital of CAR) but was persecuted and almost killed for speaking against the government. Today he's a refugee living in a camp, with almost nothing. He still honored us with a 3-course meal of salad  fried plantanes, fried potatos, lamb in a delicious sauce, and watermelon for desert. 

That's Rodrigue on the right, with his sister-in-law, another refugee and James.

That's me holding Rodrigue's adorable baby...! 

All in all, it was a great weekend. Of course, coming back to the hospital, I had a horrible pain in my stomach, wondering what awful things had happened in my absence. Luckily, everything was ok, everyone was still alive, and **all** of the patients were happy to see me, wanted to shake my hand, said they missed me and were happy to see me back. 

It's hard to be here, but it's also good to be back where I know I can make a difference. It's good to know I'm appreciated and missed. And I like the fact that everybody knows my name and smiles big when they see me... it's kinda like being home...