Sunday, May 2, 2010
A Summary: if possible
Back home now. What a trip! It's a difficult adjustment coming home. I'm thankful I took some time to catch up on some things-laundry among them but more than that to really appreciate my time in the DR.
I've been asked, and it's a common question for any professional, "why did you decide to go into physical therapy?" It's an easy answer really but it's an answer that lately I have felt more than a little uncomfortable answering-in fact I distinctly recall squirming in my seat the last time I was asked and wishing I could avoid the question entirely. I went into medicine because I want to help people. See, easy answer. Yet, I feel like its become a clichy for many people. I believe that some of my discomfort may have come from the fact that the word "help" is part of my answer and that since graduating I've been paid for the services I've provided. One of the most interesting reflections we had was on the difference between what it means to help and what it means to serve. We read an essay called "In the service of life" by Rachel Naomi Remen and what I appreciated was the difference she elaborates between helping and serving. "Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals...it incurs debt...but serving, like healing, is mutual...(it) rests on the basic premise that the nature of life is sacred." It is this difference, a sublety between terms, that I believe prior to coming to the DR I subconsciously felt and which gave me a sense of unease and discomfort when I answered the question "why did you decide to become a physical therapist?" In the DR I served and received so much more that I felt that I was more a beneficiary than anything else. Many of us who were in the DR, our students for the first time, and many of us professionals many times repeated can recall patients and instances where there is nothing that we can do for a patient from a medical standpoint but from a human standpoint we can pray, we can hug, we can be present-the most important part because it recognizes a person as whole, not just a part to be fixed, it's healing for everyone involved; this is service-seeing the whole person. Coming down to the DR I feel like I needed a reminder of this distinction between helping and serving and what it means to assist in the healing process. This is part of what I've taken with me home from the DR. I hope that in the future I can answer truthfully and enigmatically, "I wanted to serve."
I just finished reading the book Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (I'd underline the title if I could). One of the most fabulous things about going down to the DR was meeting so many wonderful new people and getting to know others better. This book was one that many of the other professionals had read that I didn't recognize but that they said was very good. So I picked it up from the library the other day and finished it in the next. It is the real story about Dr. Paul Farmer and his efforts to cure the world. One of things I think I liked about the book was that yes, it was inspiring but it also said that you can't go out and try to be Paul Farmer you have to find your own way. It has been a good platform for me to think and pray about what I want to do next. So this is in part an acknowledgement to all the professionals with whom I have travelled and worked: you have deeply affected me and I want to say THANK YOU-it has truly been a pleasure to get to know each of you. I really do love each of you. A hug from me to you.
During our last days in the DR we saw many patients. One of the days that stands out is the ICC clinic day. For myself and I imagine for Kristin as well it was a reunion. We got to see some of the children and women, the promatoras, with whom we had worked closely two years prior. It was absolutely wonderful! Some of the children had made such big strides and were now old enough and had progressed enough to need walkers (which we were lucky enough to be able to give them). It was a fabulous day.
The weekend we spent in Sosua, south of Porta Plata and north of Cabarete. QUE WOW! It was a great time. Paid out of pocket for it but even that was only a marginal expense for an all-inclusive resort. It was quite different from the last time that we were down there--for one, there was a huge beach that last time had been nothing but rocks! I'm not sure how that changed but Kristin and I were both confused at first when people had said hey go down to the beach on the south side of the resort and we were both like "what are they talking about?" Well, we found out pretty quickly and it was an amazing beach! The water was the perfect temperature and not too salty but enough that floating was just a joy. Perhaps my favorite memory/activity was waking up earlier with some of the other professionals and doing yoga on the beach. After an initial few giggles, and one enormous snort from me, we all really got into the exercise and fully appreciated the scene to which we were privy. It was magnificent. The meals there were "SO GOOD" and the butter was "SO GOOD." Much of our conversations or lack there of was because the food was "SO GOOD." We all enjoyed the company, the weather, got a little tan, Kristin did some shopping, and one of the mornings I went surfing. Yuppers, by myself, no one else wanted to go so I gua gua'd it to Playa Encuentro, detour via Cabarete (a little nervous at that point but that disappeared quickly) and then to the beach where I rented my board and hit the waves for two blissful hours. I got back in time for lunch and traded updates from the AM, some of the students and one of the professionals, Amanda, had gone on a waterfall hike. It was a grand afternoon. Had our toes painted before loading on the bus and away we went back to Santiago. The trip back to Santiago was a memorable one, we went through a few IPODs whose batteries went out until we landed with Suzi's and then by a few requests we jogged down memory lane of the 80s and early 90s... it was fabulous and fun singing along with songs that I thought I had forgotten-- some Boyz2Men etc. Oh GOOD TIMES!
This was a magnificent two and half weeks. Thank you to everyone who has followed this little blog. I hope it was interesting and a bit fun!
I've been asked, and it's a common question for any professional, "why did you decide to go into physical therapy?" It's an easy answer really but it's an answer that lately I have felt more than a little uncomfortable answering-in fact I distinctly recall squirming in my seat the last time I was asked and wishing I could avoid the question entirely. I went into medicine because I want to help people. See, easy answer. Yet, I feel like its become a clichy for many people. I believe that some of my discomfort may have come from the fact that the word "help" is part of my answer and that since graduating I've been paid for the services I've provided. One of the most interesting reflections we had was on the difference between what it means to help and what it means to serve. We read an essay called "In the service of life" by Rachel Naomi Remen and what I appreciated was the difference she elaborates between helping and serving. "Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals...it incurs debt...but serving, like healing, is mutual...(it) rests on the basic premise that the nature of life is sacred." It is this difference, a sublety between terms, that I believe prior to coming to the DR I subconsciously felt and which gave me a sense of unease and discomfort when I answered the question "why did you decide to become a physical therapist?" In the DR I served and received so much more that I felt that I was more a beneficiary than anything else. Many of us who were in the DR, our students for the first time, and many of us professionals many times repeated can recall patients and instances where there is nothing that we can do for a patient from a medical standpoint but from a human standpoint we can pray, we can hug, we can be present-the most important part because it recognizes a person as whole, not just a part to be fixed, it's healing for everyone involved; this is service-seeing the whole person. Coming down to the DR I feel like I needed a reminder of this distinction between helping and serving and what it means to assist in the healing process. This is part of what I've taken with me home from the DR. I hope that in the future I can answer truthfully and enigmatically, "I wanted to serve."
I just finished reading the book Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (I'd underline the title if I could). One of the most fabulous things about going down to the DR was meeting so many wonderful new people and getting to know others better. This book was one that many of the other professionals had read that I didn't recognize but that they said was very good. So I picked it up from the library the other day and finished it in the next. It is the real story about Dr. Paul Farmer and his efforts to cure the world. One of things I think I liked about the book was that yes, it was inspiring but it also said that you can't go out and try to be Paul Farmer you have to find your own way. It has been a good platform for me to think and pray about what I want to do next. So this is in part an acknowledgement to all the professionals with whom I have travelled and worked: you have deeply affected me and I want to say THANK YOU-it has truly been a pleasure to get to know each of you. I really do love each of you. A hug from me to you.
During our last days in the DR we saw many patients. One of the days that stands out is the ICC clinic day. For myself and I imagine for Kristin as well it was a reunion. We got to see some of the children and women, the promatoras, with whom we had worked closely two years prior. It was absolutely wonderful! Some of the children had made such big strides and were now old enough and had progressed enough to need walkers (which we were lucky enough to be able to give them). It was a fabulous day.
The weekend we spent in Sosua, south of Porta Plata and north of Cabarete. QUE WOW! It was a great time. Paid out of pocket for it but even that was only a marginal expense for an all-inclusive resort. It was quite different from the last time that we were down there--for one, there was a huge beach that last time had been nothing but rocks! I'm not sure how that changed but Kristin and I were both confused at first when people had said hey go down to the beach on the south side of the resort and we were both like "what are they talking about?" Well, we found out pretty quickly and it was an amazing beach! The water was the perfect temperature and not too salty but enough that floating was just a joy. Perhaps my favorite memory/activity was waking up earlier with some of the other professionals and doing yoga on the beach. After an initial few giggles, and one enormous snort from me, we all really got into the exercise and fully appreciated the scene to which we were privy. It was magnificent. The meals there were "SO GOOD" and the butter was "SO GOOD." Much of our conversations or lack there of was because the food was "SO GOOD." We all enjoyed the company, the weather, got a little tan, Kristin did some shopping, and one of the mornings I went surfing. Yuppers, by myself, no one else wanted to go so I gua gua'd it to Playa Encuentro, detour via Cabarete (a little nervous at that point but that disappeared quickly) and then to the beach where I rented my board and hit the waves for two blissful hours. I got back in time for lunch and traded updates from the AM, some of the students and one of the professionals, Amanda, had gone on a waterfall hike. It was a grand afternoon. Had our toes painted before loading on the bus and away we went back to Santiago. The trip back to Santiago was a memorable one, we went through a few IPODs whose batteries went out until we landed with Suzi's and then by a few requests we jogged down memory lane of the 80s and early 90s... it was fabulous and fun singing along with songs that I thought I had forgotten-- some Boyz2Men etc. Oh GOOD TIMES!
This was a magnificent two and half weeks. Thank you to everyone who has followed this little blog. I hope it was interesting and a bit fun!
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