Hands-On Learning Begins!

The students were so excited today that they finally got a chance to get out of the textbook and do something with their hands! After learning about the systems of the human body the past two days, the last lesson of today was about taking someone's blood pressure. Then we got out stethoscopes and four blood pressure cuffs and broke up into small groups so each student could take another student's blood pressure. It was a lot of fun for them and fun for those of us who were observing them! Enjoy the pictures.
Just before the blood pressure cuff experience, Dr. John Paul taught an informative session on checking a patient when they come in for medical care. It was especially neat for those of us from Antioch Church in Manassas, VA to hear Dr. Paul because our church supports both Dr. Paul in India and FLC in Thailand. John and Elizabeth Paul have been friends with the Kalnins for many years, and it was in fact the Kalnins who first introduced our church to Dr. Paul's mission. He has taught at the Barefoot Doctors School many times.
Tomorrow is going to be even more fun as our students get to try their hand at suturing. They won't be practicing on each other, of course! Our KLC cook went to the market this afternoon to buy some pig's feet because Dr. Royer says pig's skin is the closest thing you can find to human skin for suture practice. I don't know if that is good or bad, but whatever! Dr. Royer was able to get a lot of suture kits donated by friends and medical personnel in Indy so our students have plenty of kits to practice with plus take some home with them.
We are a little short on blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes right now. We will eventually have enough of them for each student to have their own, but we are relying on donations for this. Some of these items are being brought by other teachers in the next week or so, but we are still confirming how many more we may need to buy here in Thailand. If you would like to make a donation, be watching the blog for more information about this, perhaps as early as tomorrow's blog. Thanks.

Clark was back over at Beulah Church today to work on the outside of the sewing room. He and Chairot were adding a rain gutter down one side, and tomorrow they will paint the outside of the building. Then on Friday Clark will be able to join us again at KLC for our final day with the Barefoot Doctors students. After that, Rick Astone and Dr. Nilson will have to supply the information for our future blogs.
If you've been enjoying these updates, don't worry. We are planning to continue this blog at least until the end of the 2010 edition of the Barefoot Doctors School around March 14th.
Meanwhile, let us tell you a quick story about one of our students. We can't give her full name, but Awal lives in a very remote village in Burma near the border of China. You can see from the map of Myanmar/Burma where the rest of our first-year students live. (In addition, there are 71 other Barefoot Doctors working in other places around Burma.) When Awal was selected to come to the Barefoot Doctors School, it took her three days to walk to the village pictured in the picture she is holding. Then it took her three more weeks to walk from there to Putao, where she got on a plane headed for Thailand. She and some of our other students have already been gone from home since December or early January so that they could participate in the Barefoot Doctors training program. That's dedication! That shows how much they want to do God's work and help the people of Burma! Their sacrifices make ours seem like nothing! Please continue to remember them in your prayers every day!