Fiji
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Greg Norman introduced Shirley Trudeau, a wonderful human being who put the fear of God into him in the old days with her needles. She nursed for 25 years at Penetang and 5 at HDH. When she retired she vowed to make 10 missions and she's off on her 8th soon.
Shirley said her latest mission was to Fiji. Before she went she asked a gr. 3 class what poverty meant to them and she got answers like 'only one car', 'no pizza', 'not enough toys'. Most adults have no better idea of how other parts of the world suffer. Poverty means a lack of power, complete exclusion, high mortality rates and poor natal care. 80% of poor children need dental care and 33% die before their first birthday.
Fiji is an exotic and beautiful but tourists don't see the reality. There is a cultural mix on the islands with 45% of the people Indian. The country depends on Tourism. They export some fish and gold but import everything else.
Shirley travels for the Medical Ministry International. On this trip the emphasis was on vision care. The hospital they worked in was built by Methodists but is now owned by the Government. It is vintage and showing its age but it's still a happy place and the employees keep it very clean.
Even though she's been retired for 8 years she was drafted, on this trip, into being an operating room nurse and worked 12 hr. days for 10 days straight. It was a long haul and at one point she fell asleep standing up.
There was an optics team with them and they brought 2,800 pairs of glasses that they tried to match as best they could with patients. She and another worker lost pairs of glasses when they put them down for a minute - they got dispensed.
Because of the old equipment available, operations that take 7 minutes here took an hour there.
She thanked the Club for inviting her and for its support for her previous missions.
Alex Jarlette thanked her for taking time to come and share her experiences and for the work she was doing.
Fiji is an exotic and beautiful but tourists don't see the reality. There is a cultural mix on the islands with 45% of the people Indian. The country depends on Tourism. They export some fish and gold but import everything else.
Shirley travels for the Medical Ministry International. On this trip the emphasis was on vision care. The hospital they worked in was built by Methodists but is now owned by the Government. It is vintage and showing its age but it's still a happy place and the employees keep it very clean.
Even though she's been retired for 8 years she was drafted, on this trip, into being an operating room nurse and worked 12 hr. days for 10 days straight. It was a long haul and at one point she fell asleep standing up.
There was an optics team with them and they brought 2,800 pairs of glasses that they tried to match as best they could with patients. She and another worker lost pairs of glasses when they put them down for a minute - they got dispensed.
Because of the old equipment available, operations that take 7 minutes here took an hour there.
She thanked the Club for inviting her and for its support for her previous missions.
Alex Jarlette thanked her for taking time to come and share her experiences and for the work she was doing.