Project Sekong 2013: People Often Ask Us For Help Because There’s No Other Help To Be Found

February 24, 2013
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After we move into a village and set up camp, word spreads quickly that an aid group has arrived. People who are desperate for help often find their way to us in the hope that we might have knowledge or resources that can improve their lives. In the past we’ve been approached by people in need of artificial limbs, eyeglasses, surgery for cleft palate, therapy for clubfoot, and treatment for leprosy and other diseases.

We have to careful that we don’t overextend our resources and get involved in providing care that we’re not qualified to provide. We often find ourselves telling people, “We do bombs, we don’t do legs. We don’t do cataracts. We don’t do legs.”

That said, the truth is we rarely turn people away. We are well connected with a variety of non-profit agencies in Vientiane and other cities of Laos, and we can usually connect people with help they wouldn’t find on their own.

Last year the little girl pictured above arrived in our camp with a broken arm. A tree had fallen on her the day before, and she had suffered for 24 hours without so much as an aspirin. She stayed with us for another day while we attempted to arrange transport to the provincial hospital, several hours away. In the end, when no other vehicle could be found, we transported her in the bed of our work truck.

For the girl and her family it wasn’t a very comfortable ride, but it was the best we could do and far better than the tractor-pulled wagon that she arrived in.

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