Project Phongsali 2011: What happened to Pome? Why didn’t he return for follow-up treatment?

In 2010 we transported one-year-old Pome and his parents to the COPE center in Luang Prabang for treatment for a birth defect. When we inquired after the boy this year we were alarmed to learn that his family failed to return to the center for a critical follow-up procedure. Had death, illness, poverty, or impassable roads kept the family from the appointment?

Week One

Day Four:

We took advantage of having over-nighted in Luang Prabang to drop by the COPE (Cooperative Orthotics and Prosthetics Enterprise) rehabilitation center located on the grounds of the provincial hospital. The Luang Prabang center is a satellite of the COPE clinic in Vientiane, and is one of several branches located strategically around the country.

We found Mrs. Manivone, clinic director and my friend of long standing, in fine health and good cheer. We passed an hour discussing the current range of services available in Luang Prabang and checking on the treatment records for six villagers that I delivered to the center last year.

Mrs. Manivone expressed disappointment that Pome, the young clubfoot patient from distant Tintook Village, failed to keep a scheduled appointment in June and therefore was never fitted with a proper leg brace. That brace, an essential element in the course of treatment used in Laos, must be worn for many months following initial surgery and rehabilitation. Foregoing the brace means almost certain failure of the earlier treatment.

Mrs. Manivone told us that she was surprised by the family’s lack of follow-through. Her recollection is that Pome’s parents were very supportive and happy during their three-month stay at the clinic. When Mrs. Manivone told me that the boy should have returned to the center in June, I immediately thought of a hurdle the family might have faced.

Tintook, Pome’s village, is twenty kilometers from the main road. In the dry season a four-wheel drive vehicle can, with luck and good driving skill, make it up the mountain; during the rainy season, access by car, truck and even motorbike is near impossible. I recall hearing from a nurse who periodically visits Tintook telling me that during the rainy season she has to walk the full twenty kilometers between her home and the village.

We left COPE resolved to find Pome and his parents, if this year’s work takes us anywhere close to Tintook.