Touch down at Chiang Rai airport and it was off to start another adventure. We were greeted at the airport by David, the founder of the orphanage, and a few excited smiling faces. Dr. Petrik, Dr. Light, Dr. Rathore and William Light on board, we were ready to see some patients! About twenty of us jumped into a large pick-up truck and we raced to the store to pick out toys for the 100's of children.
After seeing the kids jumping all around to greet us at the orphanage, we were energized to start clinic. Impetigo, tinea versicolor, lice, cough, and the occasional heart murmur were some of the clinical pearls of the day. With no labs or imaging to guide us, the skin became important again and stethanie regained her glory. Mosquito nets in place, we slept soundly.
5 AM.
The sound of little running feet and children laughing began to amplify from all corners of the complex culminating at a central location with beautiful songs and hymns. After their morning assembly, the children went straight to their tasks-cleaning, preparing lunch, getting ready for school, and helping the younger ones.
More much needed high-school children were available to translate in clinic. As the sun set, we prepared the vaccines. 100's of children received vaccination for Japanese Encephalitis, and we came together as a group to make some tough ethical decisions regarding the allocation of limited polio vaccines.
We started to understand our limitations here as we learned more about the immigrational status of these children and the political climate in this region. Nevertheless, we managed to do what we came here to do by way of medical care. Perhaps our most important contribution this year, we are spending much of our day today compiling medical records for teams to use in the future. We haven't presented the toys yet, so much more to come!!
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