I am writing this in a hotel room in Westport in the State of Washington in the USA. I can hear the ocean in the distance and i can see it through the hotel window.
Yesterday I was at the Intenational Conference on Diabetes, and had made a slew of new friends.. and had the satisfaction that our philosophy in the remote corners of Nebraska with HoCank and Omaha Indian nations had resonated with the indigenous people asking for change in the management of their own health.
I met the Panamanian delegate who said, you are so cuban that is why you are so different from your friend DAG. I said, he chose the capitalist route and has big house in Paitilla in Panama City and I took the socialist route to help people in various parts of the world, but I have to tell you, I am very happy and have a diverse life.
Last week, I had given a talk to a large group of enthusiastic Cuban doctors on a topic of medical anthropological interest which was well received.
The week before traveling in the chilly weather in a clinic bus to remote parts of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. A week of work with the Omaha Indian friends. Nowhere did I feel stressed, everyone treated me well, most of the work I did had nothing to do with the western medicine, but mostly applied forms of medical anthropology.
Since all of us are looking at what makes the health of our patients better, our own individual welfare and income takes a back seat. In the poor community of UmonHon Indians, the enthusiastic nurse was able to arrange a few to have continuous glucose monitoring and pump therapy for the 7 who need them. It is a luxury not even the rich white americans can afford because we do not have to commercialize something as good as continuous glucose monitoring.
I am looking forward to complete relaxation over this weekend, in this very isolated spot in Olympic Peninsula. A good sister friend is with me and we are planning various humanitarian programmes in the years to come.
Few more days with the Indians, eating well and being fed well, and it is time to take the Qatar Airways flight, in an indirect fashion, to Europe and the village by the sea in Brittany..
You need only a few friends, and a thousand acquaintances will not do..
Yesterday I was at the Intenational Conference on Diabetes, and had made a slew of new friends.. and had the satisfaction that our philosophy in the remote corners of Nebraska with HoCank and Omaha Indian nations had resonated with the indigenous people asking for change in the management of their own health.
I met the Panamanian delegate who said, you are so cuban that is why you are so different from your friend DAG. I said, he chose the capitalist route and has big house in Paitilla in Panama City and I took the socialist route to help people in various parts of the world, but I have to tell you, I am very happy and have a diverse life.
Last week, I had given a talk to a large group of enthusiastic Cuban doctors on a topic of medical anthropological interest which was well received.
The week before traveling in the chilly weather in a clinic bus to remote parts of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. A week of work with the Omaha Indian friends. Nowhere did I feel stressed, everyone treated me well, most of the work I did had nothing to do with the western medicine, but mostly applied forms of medical anthropology.
Since all of us are looking at what makes the health of our patients better, our own individual welfare and income takes a back seat. In the poor community of UmonHon Indians, the enthusiastic nurse was able to arrange a few to have continuous glucose monitoring and pump therapy for the 7 who need them. It is a luxury not even the rich white americans can afford because we do not have to commercialize something as good as continuous glucose monitoring.
I am looking forward to complete relaxation over this weekend, in this very isolated spot in Olympic Peninsula. A good sister friend is with me and we are planning various humanitarian programmes in the years to come.
Few more days with the Indians, eating well and being fed well, and it is time to take the Qatar Airways flight, in an indirect fashion, to Europe and the village by the sea in Brittany..
You need only a few friends, and a thousand acquaintances will not do..
