UNESCO celebrations

UNESCO are celebrating 20 years of Luang Prabang as a world heritage site. They've done a good job preserving the charm of this beautiful town as tourism can have a negative impact on local culture and the environment.

There has been heaps of excitement about the elephant caravan which travelled for 40 days across northern Laos to Luang Prabang as part of the unesco celebrations. Laos was once known as the kingdom of a million elephants, today there are only about 800 left, half in the wild and half working in logging. The elephant conservation project in Xayabouli pay mahouts to allow elephants to have a break from logging and instead have babies (2 years pregnancy and 3 years nursing) aiming to preserve the elephant population.

Come to Luang Prabang quickly, the Chinese are building a train line through here linking China, Bangkok and Singapore. It's going to be more difficult to maintain the magic of Luang Prabang, the western influence is already apparent.

The Mekong ....

.... where I find my Friday night cocktail bar

And see the unusual, these elephants are on the Chomphet-Luang Prabang ferry!

Laos National Day

the Lao PDR is 40 years old today.

Big celebrations down in Vientiane

Which looked very impressive.

And lots of celebrations all over the country

Which meant holiday and time with friends and family. 

Plenty of yummy Laos food and free flowing beer Lao.

Loved joining in the fun and making new lao-English words

Guess what horny means in Laos ....

Bye bye Dr Siobhan

A wonderful lady and medical director.

I'm going to miss your warmth and generosity.

The patients and Laotian team are missing you heaps too.

misty mornings

We are heading towards winter so the mornings are misty and ethereal with beautiful views over the mountains surrounding Luang Prabang. The sun burns through the clouds mid morning for gorgeous blue sky days, perfect time to visit guys!

Souk San Wan Gurd Somxai

28th November is Novice Somxai's birthday
Pali was very keen to help make the birthday cake
And we were all keen to eat it, the cake lasted minutes, seb lai lai!
Souk san wan gurd Somxai

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving coincided with Dr Siobhan's last days at LFHC.

Siobhan generously hosted a thanksgiving dinner which was a wonderful party, yummy food and some tearful speeches.

We've learned heaps from Siobhan, she wears her heart on her sleeve and genuinely cares about the people and world around her, we are going to miss your warmth and kindness. 

German Plastic Surgeons

A team of plastic surgeons from Germany spent 2 weeks operating at the neighbouring government hospital. The German team asked LFHC to identify children that could be helped with surgery so we invited children with cleft lips, cleft palates, burns and deformities and many of them were treated. LFHC did the post operative care, great these children were helped by surgery and wonderful there are people with unique, useful skills and willing to give their time.

The Governmet also made announcements on the radio advising people to present themselves at the hospital. I was astonished at the number of people who arrived hoping to receive help and was struck by the severity of some of the injuries and deformities people had been living with for years. I was curious so asked the Laos team to help translate, I especially wanted to know about the impact injuries were having on daily lives as they were so severe. I was amazed that people could still work with their deformities and injuries. 

One man was severely burnt 10 years ago, the scars to his shin had still not healed and the heat had caused a contracture so his foot was contracted next to his shin, he walked on his heal. Shoes obviously did not fit, he worked every day as a farmer and was uncomplaining when the German team said they were unable to help him. I simply wanted to cry.

People waited patiently all day to see the specialist and not everyone could be helped because of the complexity of surgery (requiring multiple operations) and because of the sheer number of people who turned up, hopefully next time. 

Also there were a number of adults with club feet which had not been corrected during infancy. These people were also not able to wear shoes and walked awkwardly and I imagine in pain. All they needed was physiotherapy as a baby, so frustrating that these deformities could have been prevented.

Again, I was reminded how lucky we are in developed countries to have access to high quality health care, and especially in the UK where the NHS is repeatedly regarded as the best healthcare system in the world, we are so incredibly lucky.

We need to continue to help develop the healthcare system in Laos, the need is huge, health professionals want to develop their skills and the results would be life changing.

it's the end of the rainy season ....

.... which means the bamboo bridges are being rebuilt over the Nam Kham.

Looking forward to the beach reappearing so we can play ultimate frisbe on the river bank again.

jeopardy

The American teachers love this game and now so do the Laos team and I!

Learning by playing games is heaps of fun

phoumy

Phoumy has such a tough life story but this boy never stops smiling, he's a huge star at LFHC at the moment, we are all inspired by his courage and loving spirit.

It's such a joy to see him throughout the day, his smile makes me beam with happiness.

CPAP is a wonderful thing

Dr Setthy has been training us all how to use the new CPAP machine which came just in time for this infant who was in respiratory failure. With great care by the Laotian team and with the help of CPAP he survived, without it, it may have been a different story.

So many wonderful people at LFHC from different backgrounds raising money for essential equipment and giving their time to teach, thanks Setthy, you're a star.

LFHC is now a 24/7 hospital

The opening of the Emergency Department was the culmination of a lot of hard work by the entire team, heaps of planning, purchasing and training. Lots of the teaching was done at the weekends as the clinic and ward are very busy, we've had heaps of fun learning life support drills and trauma drills.

It's a huge milestone for the LFHC project opening A&E and great that more medical services are now available for the children in Northern Laos.

There was a lovely moment at the beginning of the day when Dr Cheri, the executive director, chocked thanking everyone for their dedication, She was very proud of what had been achieved with great teamwork.

LFHC is busier with a new department and now there is only room for 1 parent per child at night so the waiting room has become an open air guest houses, loving the colourful mosquito nets.

rice harvest

the rice is ready to harvest in luang prabang, loving the vivid green fields but time for some hard work