MCCHS (Memorial Christian College of Health Sciences)

Since coming to Malumghat it’s been busy trying to quickly adjust to this whole new world! But it’s great, I love it. There’s so much to learn, I’m not bored :) .

Memorial Christian Hospital (MCH) felt the need to train their own staff to meet the staffing needs at the hospital. The college began with programs including medics (like nurse practitioners at home), nurse aides, ortho techs, and lab techs. This is the first nursing program that has been run out of the college. How exciting to be a part of that! The students first took some English and Math classes prior to me arriving and have just started in the nursing portion of it.

I’m working as a clinical instructor – in hospital training, and practical skill training. The practical skills I’ve been able to teach them include vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiration, oxygen saturation, & blood pressure), isolation precautions, principles of sterile technique, sterile gloving, and burns. This next week we’ll be starting on dressing changes.

Here are some pictures of these past couple weeks with them in practical skills class. We had a pediatric/childrens clinic (went to the school and rounded up many more kids then we initially thought) for them to practice taking pediatric pulses, respirations, and blood pressures. We also had a vital signs clinic for staff members at the hospital with around 160 people showing up for the students to practice on. It was lots of fun. The students are great and I love watching them learn. What an honor to be a small part of this!

Pediatric vital signs practice at the college

The adult/staff blood pressure clinic. We ran it out of the outpatient waiting area at the hospital. As this is next to a high traffic area we recruited many people walking by. With Malumghat being a smaller community everyone knows everyone and everyone is related to everyone...kinda like back home when people play the mennonite relationship game. No secrets kept here, word travels speedily. So almost every person that passed by one of the students knew and recruited them to our clinic.

Two mornings a week I’m with them in the hospital. Their beginning scope at this point includes – bedmaking, bathing, & vital signs. As they’ve studied the musculoskeletal system (muscles and bones) and are presently learning the integumentary system (skin), there’s a lot of patients with these conditions so it’s great for them to be able to see what they’re learning come to life. Some examples include: traumas (a lot of orthopedics – broken bones, compound fractures, compartment syndrome, traction, integumentary - degloving injuries, burn injuries, skin grafts, necrotic fingers needing amputation, pressure ulcers – bed sores, debridements), and medical patients needing isolation precautions – tuberculosis, and Hepatitis B.

There’s also been quite a few attempted suicides by organophosphate poisoning (chemical used to spray the rice fields), never seen this before – neurotoxicity, brings on a whole new meaning of using the medication atropine. Patients go through multiple vials!! These patients are often intubated (breathing tube inserted) and can be intubated up to a few days. As there are no ventilators here (besides the OR), the family members need to bag them (squeeze the bagger for their every breath). The hospital requires 4 songi’s (companions) for these types of patients to rotate them bagging their family member. Last week we had a girl who needed a tracheostomy as she had been intubated for many days, sad story but good learning experience for the students.

The students rotate through the different areas of the hospital including ortho clinic, physiotherapy, registration, outpatient department, and the male and female wards. As there's plans underway for a new hospital (the present one being > 50years old, and needing more bed capacity), it's exciting that these students will be able to work in the new facility!

Beautiful Bangali wedding

Hospitality is a large part of this lovely culture! Such an example to follow. Susan and Ruthie (the ladies who's home I eat in) invited a newly wed couple over a few days ago, along with his brother and mother. Even though I was unable to understand all the conversation I was so blessed by the beautiful example of a new family who's foundation is in Christ.

As arranged marriages are the norm here, this was one of the cases. Although they had met in 2006, and were able to see each other on and off until now, they were waiting for her to finish her education. She was living in Dhaka (the capital city), and he here in Malumghat. His father passed away a few years ago so his Uncle helped arrange for everything to take place. The decisions made here are very family oriented! This includes marriages. The bride had never been to this area of Bangladesh, so I'm sure this will be a huge adjustment for her - moving to the country, living with a new family (since he is the eldest son he is expected to care for his widowed mother and be the head of the home, so they all live together), new friends, new church, possibly a new job, and of course the whole marriage part.

He definitely has taken on the leadership role of the home, so encouraging to see. He was talking of how each night they have family Bible Study together before dinner. He works on the compound in administration, and is also a elder/deacon in the church.

I was able to attend their wedding shortly after I arrived here. So different, yet so beautiful! The day before the wedding a traditional turmeric ceremony is held. This is called 'gaye holud' which means yellowing of the body . This is where turmeric spice and other curry spices are mixed together and smeared on the wedding couple to make their skin beautiful for their wedding day. I was able to go to this ceremony and participate in the activities.

The grooms family household where the turmeric ceremony was held

Family and friends gathered waiting for the bride and groom.
One of the nursing students in my class with her little beautiful daughter. Even the little ones are dressed so beautifully in their sari's. As orange/yellow is the color of the turmeric applied on the couples skin most people are wearing these colors.
Close friends/relatives of the couple bringing out food for them.

The bridal party. She was so beautiful! It is respectful for the couple to look solomn as the bride is now leaving ties to her family. Speeches and prayers were made.

Grounding up of the turmeric and other spices

Each person present would put some of the spice paste on their fingers and rub some on the couples arms and/or face. After this we fed them some of the food set infront of them. Here is the grooms Mother putting the paste on her son and feeding him.

The Wedding!! So an advantage of being the new person is you get pulled into things normally most people aren't. I was able to have a sneak preview of the bride while she was getting ready before the ceremony. Absolutely beautiful - of course!

Church ceremony - message, youth choir singing, vows, signing of the certificate, instead of kissing they place a string of flowers around each others neck.

The 'feast' was held in the church yard. The food consisted of rice (of course), goat, fish, chicken, vegetables in sauce, dahl (lentil dish), egg, and a type of rice pudding for dessert.

The couple with grooms Mother.

The beautiful couple :)