Well hello there everybody!
As the heat and humidity just seems to increase, my activity rapidly decreases! I have now spent the last two weekends just sitting at home, reading/watching films, or at the beach either first thing in the morning or late in the early evening, when the sun doesn't bake me! In fact this morning i had arranged to meet my lovely neighbours, from 'Laugh Cafe' at 0530.... I managed to get up, and joined many local people for their morning exercise at the beach, though my neighbours were still sleeping... this is quite funny as they regularly make fun of me for sleeping in! The beach itself was just beautiful and the water was so warm, after some nice chat with the locals in the water, I took a stroll down the beach to dry off, where more locals where keen to practice their English, including a 65 year old guy who told me that he gets up every morning at 0430, heads to the beach and does yoga!
There will hopefully be some disco adventures next weekend in Da Nang. So given that the only major social event of the week has been my (now weekly) tennis game with my colleague John, at 8pm each Thursday, I think it's more appropriate to talk about some of my work related activities this week. A little boy came into the clinic at CHIA this week with his mother, he was about 8/9 years old. After speaking with the mother through an interpreter, we found out that the little boy had been for some tests in Saigon, and the doctors believed he might have the Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. This is a degenerative muscle disease, that reduces a person's life expectancy. The family had just been given a piece of paper with the results of some medical tests, which simply had the word 'Duchenne' on it. No doctor had told the family what this disease is, and how it is going to affect the boy's life, he probably will be unable to walk in a couple of years, and eventually the muscles that help him breathe will start to waste. The family were unaware of w
hat a major impact this was going to have on the boy. This leaves us at CHIA with a very difficult choice to make, about if and how we should discuss this with the family, and how will they cope with hearing such news that the little boy will become more disabled with time, and live a shortened life. This is not an uncommon situation here, as Doctor's do not talk with the families of children like this, and the family go on for years sometimes thinking that maybe one day the child will get better. There are other issues to consider here about the social and cultural beliefs held by some people in this country. Here in Hoi An, which is a small countryside town, the people who live in the areas around the town are not necessarily exposed to issues about health and disability. This isn't taught at school, and certainly many poorer families who have worked all their lives would have had no or little understanding of what disability is. I have been told that there remains some beliefs that having a disabled child is a result of some kind of karma or punishment on the family for a past bad act. I have also recently been told that some people in this area worry that exposure to disabled children can even lead to them having a disabled child themselves. It's such a different world here, and I still find myself getting constantly surprised by these kind of thoughts and feelings, that I have never been exposed to before.
On a more social and friendly note, I must share with all, a nice story of neighbourly kindness. My lovely neighbours (again from the cafe next door) noticed my bag that I take my computer to work in was starting to break. They insisted on trying to fix it for me, and when they couldn't they went and bought me a new bag. This act in itself may seem nothing other than a little kindness, but when you consider the fact that the cook, (Hung) next door, is working 7 days a week, to support herself, and three of her younger sisters, (one of which is currently at University), getting me a new bag, really shouldn't be something that they should do.
Anyone wanting to leave comments on this blog, please do.. and not just so I know you are actually reading it!!!
Hope all is well where ever you are!
Regards from Vietnam
Dan
As the heat and humidity just seems to increase, my activity rapidly decreases! I have now spent the last two weekends just sitting at home, reading/watching films, or at the beach either first thing in the morning or late in the early evening, when the sun doesn't bake me! In fact this morning i had arranged to meet my lovely neighbours, from 'Laugh Cafe' at 0530.... I managed to get up, and joined many local people for their morning exercise at the beach, though my neighbours were still sleeping... this is quite funny as they regularly make fun of me for sleeping in! The beach itself was just beautiful and the water was so warm, after some nice chat with the locals in the water, I took a stroll down the beach to dry off, where more locals where keen to practice their English, including a 65 year old guy who told me that he gets up every morning at 0430, heads to the beach and does yoga!
There will hopefully be some disco adventures next weekend in Da Nang. So given that the only major social event of the week has been my (now weekly) tennis game with my colleague John, at 8pm each Thursday, I think it's more appropriate to talk about some of my work related activities this week. A little boy came into the clinic at CHIA this week with his mother, he was about 8/9 years old. After speaking with the mother through an interpreter, we found out that the little boy had been for some tests in Saigon, and the doctors believed he might have the Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. This is a degenerative muscle disease, that reduces a person's life expectancy. The family had just been given a piece of paper with the results of some medical tests, which simply had the word 'Duchenne' on it. No doctor had told the family what this disease is, and how it is going to affect the boy's life, he probably will be unable to walk in a couple of years, and eventually the muscles that help him breathe will start to waste. The family were unaware of w
hat a major impact this was going to have on the boy. This leaves us at CHIA with a very difficult choice to make, about if and how we should discuss this with the family, and how will they cope with hearing such news that the little boy will become more disabled with time, and live a shortened life. This is not an uncommon situation here, as Doctor's do not talk with the families of children like this, and the family go on for years sometimes thinking that maybe one day the child will get better. There are other issues to consider here about the social and cultural beliefs held by some people in this country. Here in Hoi An, which is a small countryside town, the people who live in the areas around the town are not necessarily exposed to issues about health and disability. This isn't taught at school, and certainly many poorer families who have worked all their lives would have had no or little understanding of what disability is. I have been told that there remains some beliefs that having a disabled child is a result of some kind of karma or punishment on the family for a past bad act. I have also recently been told that some people in this area worry that exposure to disabled children can even lead to them having a disabled child themselves. It's such a different world here, and I still find myself getting constantly surprised by these kind of thoughts and feelings, that I have never been exposed to before.On a more social and friendly note, I must share with all, a nice story of neighbourly kindness. My lovely neighbours (again from the cafe next door) noticed my bag that I take my computer to work in was starting to break. They insisted on trying to fix it for me, and when they couldn't they went and bought me a new bag. This act in itself may seem nothing other than a little kindness, but when you consider the fact that the cook, (Hung) next door, is working 7 days a week, to support herself, and three of her younger sisters, (one of which is currently at University), getting me a new bag, really shouldn't be something that they should do.
Anyone wanting to leave comments on this blog, please do.. and not just so I know you are actually reading it!!!
Hope all is well where ever you are!
Regards from Vietnam
Dan
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