We are Leonie and Iris, two newly qualified doctors.
At the beginning of October, we made our way to Dhaka – the capital of Bangladesh. The first impressions overwhelmed our senses: Stench, noise, piles of garbage and destroyed streets.
After a day of acclimatization, we rushed into the slum together with the local medical team from Austrian Doctors to provide medical care. Despite the constant fear of dengue mosquitoes, we were able to treat the classic illnesses such as children with scabies, women with fungus and occasionally blood pressure, sugar and whole-body pain from day 2 onwards. Occasionally we also had patients with hernias, tuberculosis, dengue, lung diseases and victims of domestic violence. We also had cases of bacterial superinfection due to poor hygiene. After a short time, we learned how to deal with the few resources available, such as medication, diagnostic methods, laboratory values and restrictions on physical examinations due to cultural circumstances. Many patients were already known due to chronic illnesses and long-term complaints. As many locals cannot afford to travel, we drove our minibus to different districts/slums every day.
Before the start of the school vacations, we used two full days to carry out routine examinations of the children in Austrian Doctors’ partner schools. In addition to numerous cases of lice, we soon noticed that a large group suffered from poor eyesight. Despite referral to the eye clinic for further clarification, we fear that many of them will not be able to afford glasses. We see this as an opportunity for a future project.
One family on 10 square meters, seven families with one toilet and kitchen, 30 chickens on 1 square meter, hundreds of rickshaws on an intersection, kilos of garbage on the roadside and thousands of liters of rainwater in the alleys. Many frightening impressions in the capital, but acres of green rice fields with blooming lotus outside. An excursion into the jungle with a crossing of the brown Ganges made us feel like pop stars for once as the first white tourists. Following our own fan club, we were also allowed to attend a small wedding ceremony.
All in all, we were able to learn a lot in this short time, both in the medical field and culturally. We are very grateful for these experiences and hope that one day we will find the time to do another mission alongside our stressful everyday working lives.
