| How it started
The Catholic Medical Guild of Singapore was approached by Archbishop Matthias U Shwe of Taunggyi, in the southern Shan state of Myanmar, to help train the "Zetamans" (young lay evangelisers) in medical knowledge as part of his pastoral care plan.
Dr John Lee, then Master of the Guild, took an active interest on receiving the request through the Canossian Sisters, and promoted its cause to fellow Guild members. After an initial survey trip by Dr Alethea Yee suggested possible areas of assistance, the first medical mission was born in October 1998.
Four medical teams have experienced the meaning of "mission" since. A group of dentists joined the medical doctors on the latest project in March 2002. The Place
Myanmar, 3 hours by flight from Singapore, is a Southeast Asian nation with Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand as its neighbours. The military junta has been in government since 1988.
Taunggyi is the capital of the Shan state. It is situated 1,400 meters above sea level about 500 kilometres north of Yangon and about 10 kilometres southeast of Mandalay. With 150,000 inhabitants, it is the fourth largest town of Myanmar.
It is uniquely positioned close to the Black Area of Myanmar, rural or jungle land where insurgents against the government hide. Movement in and out of the Black Area is closely monitored and restricted. Medical supplies and aid is scarce for people in these rural areas and basic healthcare is much needed. The People
The population is Bamar (68%) by majority. The Shan, Karen, Rakhine, Chinese, Mon and Indian are the prominent ethnic minorities among the 135 ethnic groups of Myanmar's population of close to 45 million.
Buddhism is the national religion with 89% of the people being Buddhists. 4% are Christians and 1% are Catholics. The Health
- The Diseases
The diseases seen in Taunngyi, especially in the rural areas, are typical of those in developing countries, i.e. mainly infectious diseases and malnutrition. Diseases of developed countries like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and strokes are not commonly seen and tend to occur among those living in the city.
The commonly encountered ailments in rural villages are:
- Malaria: it is said that 90% of all prolonged fevers seen in Myanmar is due to malaria until proven otherwise.
- Coryza and influenza: especially during the cold, rainy season.
- Dysentery, cholera and typhoid fever.
- Scabies, viral exanthems and other infectious skin diseases.
- Worms: causing malnutrition, iron-deficiency anaemia and pruritus ani.
Pervasive malnutrition hampers the immunity of most Myanmese and makes it more difficult for them to recover from bouts of illnesses. - The Healthcare System
Traditional healers are the first line of consultation for rural villagers with medical problems which have failed home remedies.
Government hospitals and private clinics are situated in the towns and those living in more remote villages do not have easy access to these facilities. Private clinics are prohibitively expensive and beyond the reach of the average Myanmese. Government hospitals are more affordable but medications frequently have to be purchased from the black markets and the quality of available medications is often inconsistent.
Childhood vaccinations are provided free by the government and it is one of the focus of the Ministry of Health. The coverage is not uniform especially in mountain areas due to:
- difficulties in access
- differences in health belief
- lack of awareness The Church
The Taunggyi Archdiocese is vibrant and alive under the visionary leadership of Archbishop Matthias U Shwe. The archdiocese has a comprehensive pastoral care plan and strives to be self-reliant as well as missionary, calling on all to "to launch out into the deep". Archbishop Matthias is humble, open and resourceful, continually inviting different experts to help his priests, religious and lay leaders in spiritual formation and pastoral management.
The church has involved young lay evangelisers known as "zetamans" in serving the needs of the surrounding rural villages. These remarkable young people in their teens and early twenties inspire with their spirit of volunteerism. They serve for 3-7 year periods in villages, many in remote regions, including the forbidden black areas. They do social work such as taking care of orphans, provide simple education and evangelise through their actions. As health care is inaccessible in the rural areas, they need to be equipped with basic medical knowledge and simple medicines to take care of the health needs of the orphans and villagers.
There are also more experienced health workers stationed in dispensaries in the various parishes. The main health centre at St Joseph's Cathedral has a clinic and a 4-bed infirmary. The clinic is supervised by Dr Lewis, the former head of the tuberculosis control unit in Taunggyi and is staffed by a part-time Buddhist doctor, Dr Nyaunt Lwin, who is paid a token sum.
A 4-storey hospital with a capacity for 20-30 beds and an operating theatre had been built with the generous sponsorship of a Spanish organization. The church is in the process of equipping it and training the necessary personnel. The Project
- The Objectives
The medical mission has 4 main objectives:
1. The education of the Zetamans and health workers in basic and advanced primary healthcare.
2. The training of specific skills.
3. The operation of general medical, dental and specialist clinics.
4. Material and financial assistance. - The Healthcare Course
This took the form of 4-5 day basic and advanced healthcare courses. The number of participants ranged from 60-80. The material for the health care course was based on the book "Where There is No Doctor &endash; a village healthcare handbook" by David Werner, published by the Hesperian Foundation. The courses were conducted in English, with concurrent Myanmese translation for those participants who were not as proficient in English. We managed to purchase Myanmese-translated copies of the book for the Zetamans and health workers' individual use.
The course topics covered
- Preventive healthcare: nutrition, sanitation, prevention of disease, dental hygiene.
- Nursing: care of the sick, healing without medicines, first aid, wound care.
- Diseases: common illnesses, serious illnesses, malaria, sexually transmitted diseases, eye diseases, ear, nose & throat diseases, skin diseases.
- Women's health: menstruation, natural family planning, pregnancy, labour, breastfeeding.
- Child health: vaccinations, childhood illnesses.
- Use of medications: indications and dosages of common medications, use of antibiotics, dispensing, how to give injections. - The Skills Courses
Practical procedures were taught to selected participants through hands-on experience, including
- Wound suturing.
- Malaria parasite identification.
- Dental fillings. - The Clinics
Doctors volunteered their services for
- General medical clinics.
- Gynaecologic clinics: female doctors were popular among the largely female zetaman population and the female religious as the clinic at St Joseph's Healthcare Centre clinic was staffed by male doctors.
- Eye clinics: when an ophthalmologist went on one of the missions.
- Dental clinics: a dental team was assembled for the first time for the 4th mission at the request of Archbishop Matthias. 3 dental doctors carried out dental extractions and fillings. - The Donations
Material supplies and financial aid over the last 4 missions included
- Often-used medications: antimalarials, first-line antibiotics, antipyretics, analgesics and topical dermatological treatments. Medications are much needed even though they are easily available in the markets and in neighbouring China and Thailand as the quality of medications is highly variable.
- Health care texts: 500 copies of Myanmese translations of the book "Where There is No Doctor &endash; a village healthcare handbook" and 50 copies each of "Teaching the Billings Ovulation Method 1 & 2"
- Toothbrushes: 10 000 toothbrushes were given to the archdiocese to encourage the practice of dental hygiene.
- Microscopes: 5 sets of microscopes were contributed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of malaria.
- BP sets and stethoscopes: 21 sets were given to the zetamans.
- Clothing: old and new for the orphans and the poor.
- Financial Aid: variable cash donations were made during the missions. - The Volunteers
Medical and dental doctors of The Catholic Medical Guild of Singapore actively supported the project by volunteering their time and services at their own expense.
Friends of the Guild in nursing, paramedical and even non-medical fields, including training, accounting and law have joined in and enriched the missions with their diverse contributions.
The first three projects had teams of 4 to 5 persons. The last mission in March 2002 scored a few firsts. It had an unexpected bumper group of 18 volunteers. It was also the first time that dental services were offered and a skills course to identify malarial parasites was taught. - The Funding
Members of The Catholic Medical Guild of Singapore had donated generously to the project despite the ongoing recession in Singapore over the last few years.
The primary healthcare undertaking also enjoyed the patronage of FIAMC and the Lee Foundation of Singapore.
Pharmaceutical and medical supplies companies sponsored some of the medications and consumables. The Feedback
- The Course Participants
"The program is surely very useful to us. God bless you!"
"try their best very hard…doing a lot of sharing. They show us a lot of good example the way towards God. So we see their strong faith and union with God. So again thanks be to God for sending to us our dear brothers and sisters from Singapore.." - The Volunteers
"Think my 'mission' to Taunggyi was to realise how much God loves me & how blessed I am…
There're many more angels whom I discovered in 1 short week, & I thank God for the opportunity to witness your goodness & beauty…
I thought we were making a big sacrifice going there for a week to do 'mission work'. These people have taught me what 'mission work' means. The zetamans give up 3 GOOD YEARS of their lives for other people, the sisters & priests spend ALL THEIR LIVES working for God & His people, though now I believe they will receive more than they give, which is the case for me…
Now I feel even more inadequate & overwhelmed. Inadequate for whatever feelings of superiority I had before I went - they have taught me humility, through love; I am so far from 'mission work', so far from truly 'loving'. God looks at the heart, not at our academic qualifications or social background; what I believed made me superior is in reality what causes me to lose my direction & be inferior.
Despite their 'deficiencies', they learn to cope with life, with all its physical hardships (for them) as best they can. When one has little, every extra bit becomes a bonus & a blessing to give thanks for. I learnt to count my blessings ONE BY ONE." "Thank you people for helping me find God in..........YOU." "If we don't speak or act, who would hear and see? Christ has no body now on earth but yours." Future plans
The Catholic Medical Guild of Singapore sees its role mainly in
(i) imparting health care knowledge and skills.
(ii) medical care, general and specialist, on an intermittent basis. |
