Human Development Foundation

Signs of Life Among the Ruins

Report from HDF medical camp outside Jhandiala:

The temperature is getting colder as the weather turns inexorably toward the coming winter. The medical camp in Jhandiala is HDF’s second one here, it has been open since 15 October. This is just one story.

One afternoon, while the health staff was busy treating the many people in need, an elderly woman came into the camp, and asked if a Lady Health Visitor (LHV) could come to her house. The staff said they would get to her as soon as possible. After some time, she approached the staff again, and was very insistent in requesting a LHV to go with her. The doctor on staff assigned a LHV to accompany the woman to her home, and they departed the camp.

The old woman was seeking medical aid for her daughter-in-law, who had gone into labor in the morning. With no shelter, the woman had given birth in the fields, under the open sky. The mother was suffering from severe fever and infection, but the baby was in good health. The baby’s umbilical cord had not yet been detached, and the child was in need of a bath—both the mother and child had spent the day lying outside in the open, shivering in the cold.

The HDF LHV gave the mother some antibiotics and treated her for exposure. She also detached the cord and treated the child for exposure as well. The HDF team was also able to provide medicine, fruit, milk and a blanket.

Sometimes in the magnitude of great disasters, we overlook how important each life—every life—is. HDF continues to help, one life at a time.

You can help, too. Click here to donate toward HDF’s important work.

Date/Time Last Modified: 11/7/2005 11:27:31 AM

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