You would be hard pressed to find a team that works more tirelessly than the COSAN field workers during one of their rural health camps. I was lucky enough to see the team in action and spent a week with them during their camp to the southern Tarai region of Nepal in September last year. Over the six days that we were stationed there, we attended to 1920 women, identifying 396 cases of pelvic organ prolapse, inserted 72 ring pessaries, and referred 40 women for life-changing surgery to correct their prolapses.
So how did all this get achieved over the course of 6 days? Well, it requires a tight schedule that looks like this:
0600: The day starts relatively early to ensure we have enough time to service the women of this area. The team loads up on breakfast and gets ready for the busy day ahead!
0700: We leave our hotels and pack up the Jeep to make our way to the rural health outpost.
0730: Once we arrive at the outpost, we unload the car that was filled to the brim with equipment- gloves, medication, speculums, and a mobile sterilisation container. We try to make use of the resources that the health outpost is equipped with, but sometimes we have to improvise if certain things aren’t available. Tables become makeshift examination beds, and a storage room becomes a temporary dispensary.
0800: The women begin arriving to be checked in with COSAN. For some of these women, it’s their first time being seen by a doctor, and there’s a sense of excited anticipation. Some local health volunteers take vitals while the women wait to be seen. The women first see a gynaecologist who ascertains if they have any reproductive or gynaecological issues. Next, they move into the examination room for a speculum inspection of the cervix. If any abnormalities are found, they’re treated immediately with a thermocoagulator. We take this time to also assess the women for any pelvic organ prolapse.
1300: The team breaks for a well-deserved lunch! Usually, the health outpost serves us a delicious meal of dhal bat to power us through the afternoon.
1400: We go back to our stations and resume our work. The camps generally run until 5pm, but we don’t turn away any women if they come to us after we’ve closed for the day.
1700: We pack up the rooms and move equipment back into the Jeep, ready to move on to the next town the following day!
Written by: Sonya Yegorova-Lee