Stepping Back to McLeod Ganj

Medical care in India is questionable. There are chemists on the streets in most towns where one can go and get medicine suggested by the chemist himself (never a woman) when you present your symptoms. I've done this for minor meds, like the electrolyte I'm presently drinking to alleviate the GI distress.

Most hospitals are below par. The buildings look run-down, there are no screens on the windows (surprising to me in this land of a billion flying insects) and the stories I've heard include lack of empathy, knowledge and a lax staff that is likely to overmedicate at times in order to protect themselves.

The Tibetan docs (in McL) are often overbooked. You have to get a number at the office at 9:00 a.m. and return at 11:00 and wait to be called. Their meds either work or don't. I'm not that adventurous.


However, one evening, while eating dinner with some friends, we heard the "caller," a car driven through town with someone making announcements thorugh a loudspeaker. The announcement was about a free med clinic being set up for two days in the temple for anyone needing med help. This seemed interesting enough and could be helpful for those Tibetans (of whom there are many) who don't have enough money to go to the docs.

The next day, while walking through the temple, I found the clinic. It had taken over the entire middle level of the temple with tables, chairs, volunteers and about 11 docs and nurses to help anyone who might come in.



The organization was sponsored by the Peace Corps and the docs, volunteers and supplies and equipment were from Taiwan. People needing med assistance came to the desks shown, filled out paperwork and waited (as is the name of the game anywhere in India) to be called. However, the waiting area was stocked with water and cookies.


One could get any ailment checked by the docs. This man is having his ears checked at a table where interpreters, volunteers and nurses stand ready to assist.



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This young Tibetan woman is receiving help filling out paperwork so she can see the doctor.

There was a pretty elaborate dental clinic. It seems like it was one of the busiest places. Many dental chairs were filled with people having their teeth checked, pulled, etc. Notice that the temple is open to the outside. Monkeys played in the trees while the docs worked their magic.



Take a look at the primitive looking dental tools used! It was pretty scary to see, let alone think of having any of these tools near MY mouth!



There was even a pharmacy for people that needed medicine. These volunteers manned the tables for two days, filling prescriptions for Tibetans who had seen the docs at the clinic.

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The president of the clinic was a dentist himself. He was a jolly man and insisted on having our picture taken together with his daughter who was working as a volunteer. The clinic was traveling through India for a couple of weeks, visiting ten sites where Tibetans were living, in order to set up these two day clinics.



Here is one of my Tibetan students from the grammar class in the afternoon. I met him at the clinic where he was seeking help for a "bad stomach." (It's a pretty common ailment here and most people attribute it to the changing weather at this monsoon time of year).



I'm happy to report that he was feeling better the next day. And, truth be told, so am I today! A happy ending for all!