Posts
There were a few times when patients needed to be referred to the hospital for follow-up care. The only hospital the people (on the islands we visited) have access to is the Chuuk State Hospital. Well, as it turns out, most of the islanders don't like going there for various reasons, but the one that struck me the most is fear. More than one person told me "My aunt went there for [appendectomy] but died from infection." And so they're afraid of dying too.
Now, I don't want to make all my posts about sad stuff, but that right there is pretty tragic. If the people are afraid of their own health care system, how can they be expected to seek care when they need it? I guess the answer is, they don't.(right: unrelated cute picture to lighten the mood. He's wearing the caution tape they had put up around the pharmacy to keep people from walking in)
Our Micronesian berthing-mate tells us that Micronesia is losing a lot of its population to Guam, Papua new Guinea and Hawaii. Something like 1/3 - 1/2 of the young adults are leaving to find ways to make money elsewhere, so they can support their families back home.
His own 2 oldest sons are in the States right now, but he tells me they haven't been sending money back. I wonder how common that is. I'm sure it's difficult to be an immigrant in a new country, and to make enough money to be able to support yourself and send money back home. If you are in that situation, would it be right to spend money on booze and living a comfortable life? How much is a countryman obligated to sacrifice himself for the poverty of his homeland... his family? I don't know what I would do, so there's no way I can make any judgements about it.
Oh, and there was a cool crab walking around. There's a surprising number of animals walking around some of these villages. There's a picture of a Nic playing with a pig somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
(right: a crab. Could be a coconut crab. They eat coconuts.)
That's it.
-ryan
No comments:
Post a Comment