The hospital made space for David Purvin and I to teach the ward nurses

Sunday October 12, 2008 05:50:21 PM

The hospital made space for David Purvin and I to teach the ward nurses by using one of the beds in a 3-bed ICU.  The middle bed was gone, and in the far bed from us was a young boy who was by himself for much of the time that we were there.  There was no TV and he had no books or other things to occupy his time (although he was definitely wide awake and aware of his surroundings).  From time to time - while we were teaching a few nurses at a time on the other bed - a nurse or a doctor would come in, do something with the child and leave.  They didn’t to talk to him or explain what was happening.  Several times after they left, the boy would cry quietly to himself.  No effort was made to stay and comfort him.  
At one point, a man and woman (obviously not medical) came in with a small bag of things for him.  I thought these might be his parents and that they would stay with him, but they stayed only a few minutes and then left as quickly as they had come.
When we were done teaching for the day (about noontime), I got one of the interpreters to go back to the ICU with me.  In our large bag of stuffed animals, I found a teddy bear with a hockey outfit and skates.  Through the interpreter, I learned that his name was Petr, he was 13 years old (small for his age) and that he had been absent from school for almost a month.  He was worried about how much homework he would have to make up because no effort had been made to bring his school work to him.  He didn’t know why he was kept isolated from the other children (there were children older than 13 on the children's ward) and he thought our CPR mannequins were very funny looking.  He liked to skate, was not a very good hockey player, but loved to watch it.  When I asked to take a photo (seen below), he promptly plopped the bear on his head and wanted the photo taken that way.
I didn’t want to 'rock the boat' by asking a lot of questions about why this child was left so alone, but he will not be alone in my thoughts of Minsk.   Cheryl Munn-Watley  

All of the team members have arrived

Sunday October 12, 2008 05:50:21 PM
All of the team members have arrived and are excited about the week ahead.  This team will stay in Minsk until February 17th to operate on children and educate the hospital staff.  The team members include: Dr. William Novick, Martina Pavanic, Dr. Robert Freishtat, Dr. Craig McRobb, Mary Patricia Cardoni, Helen Cracknell, Mary Kinler, Susan Krause, Frank Molloy, Laura Rae Demeter Morette, Cheryl Munn-Watley, David Purvin and Margaret Rose Widner-Kolberg.