A Medical Center for the Poor
The medical center was strategically located along the main road 3 miles away from the Township hospital and will serve a cluster of 5 villages around it – Khemauk, Daukyat, Daukyat-auk, Shweindon and Taunggale, a total of 3,500 families. It was more than 60% complete, the building walls are up and only the roof, plastering and painting remains. The medical center was built by U Sanda’s brother, who was an engineer with the government. It has two wards with 8 beds, one for each sex, 8 rooms including a dispensary, consultation room and storeroom, an office, a meeting room and latrines. A hundred meters from the site of construction, there are laborers digging a well to supply water for the medical center upon its completion. Electricity will be provided by a generator.
The medical center will be part of the local healthcare system under the Township Medical Officer who will send doctors and nurses to operate it either daily or weekly depending on the manpower requirements at the Township Hospital in Bilin town itself. The work-force constructing the building consists of some children under 10 years of age carrying buckets of cement, laying the bricks and oiling the engines of the driller. Isn’t child labor forbidden under the International laws of labor? These children should be in studying in school like the kids in Singapore! They shouldn’t be doing all these manual labor which even adults will find strenuous. With no education, they have no future other than becoming farmers or laborers. Again, they have few other choices here, at least they are paid a few dollars a day to supplement the household income rather than idling around with nothing to do.
The medical center is not an isolated entity, it must be integrated with the rest of the community including education, economy and social development. The level of education will determine the health awareness and behavior of the community. There is one middle school at the entry of the road leading to Khemauk village and a primary school a couple of meters down the road besides the medical center. They are now closed due to the summer holidays but will re-open in June in time for our next visit. Education is essential to train local healthcare volunteers to see to the daily running of the medical center and to disseminate health information to the villagers.
We
are not responsible for the day-to-day running of the medical center whose
ownership must ultimately be given to the local community. Our role is limited
only to its initial setting up in the provision of basic medical equipments,
drugs and services. The long-term continuity and subsequent development of the
medical center will have to depend on the staff of the township hospital.
Certainly at this stage, there are many things still unclear and unsettled, but
I believe as time progresses, we will have a better picture of the Burmese modus
operandi and what to expect in the future. Before this trip, we were not sure
whether the medical center is being constructed or if we will be even going
there in June. The background research we had done on the healthcare system and
situation in Myanmar as part of the SSM had given us the necessary information
to fully assess the situation and plan for the next phase of the project. I am
quietly optimistic that the project will not only take off, it will serve as a
model for future similar projects elsewhere to follow. This is one small step
for a greater leap ahead.