Lessons from the hearth

One of the things I started to do after reaching NJH was to use a traditional stove using wood to boil water. In summer, we need about 10 litres of drinking water for our home and to get it boiled, it used to be quite cumbersome till someone advised to use a stove using wood.

Initially, it used to be a very difficult . . . the major part being to get the fire started. 

Then I learnt to do it fast. And I learnt quite a lot . . .

1. You need to have patience to start a fire.
2. One can quick start a fire using things like diesel or kerosene, but it is expensive and dangerous.
3. The best way to start the fire is to start burning small twigs. The twigs look very insignificant. But, they contribute a lot to start the fire. But, they will not give the amount of heat or burn for long to be of use to you. But, you cannot do without them.
4. The bigger wood .. .. .. Of course, it is the larger wood pieces that give the heat that matters. But, they are of no use, if the twigs do not help them get afire.
5. Once the big wood catches fire, one needs to supervise it. You have to be around the fire. Many a time, it burns too fast that it does not serve it’s purpose. In addition, one needs to push them deep into the stove to ensure that the fire stays.
6. In the beginning, I was really enthusiastic and used to stuff the stove with quite a lot of firewood. I wanted to have a good fire. Then I realised that it does not work. The wood, smaller twigs or the larger wood pieces need space to catch fire. Congestion causes the fire to die down.
7. You need to give some space between the stove and the vessel to ensure that the fire burns well. 
8. When I start the process next day, I need to ensure that I clean the stove of the ash of the previous day.

Quite a lot to lessons to learn from such a simple activity. Issues about giving space and freedom to achieve your objectives . . . contrary to what popular notions are . . .  

Opportunities at NJH

We have few more openings at NJH. We request people with a commitment to serve underserved and marginalised communities to apply. We prefer those with a personal call to such a vocation because of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives.

1. Consultants in Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics  and Orthopaedics. They should be willing to rough it out in a bit of a hostile environment.

2. Masters in Social Work/Develoment graduates with experience in Community Based Rehabilitation/Disability for 2 posts of Project Assistant in Community BasedRehabilitation of the Disabled.

3. Masters in Social Work/Rural Development graduates with experience for 2 posts of Project Officers in Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change.

4. Masters in Social Work/ Rural Development graduates for 2 posts of Project Assistant in Community Based Rehabilitation of the Disabled.

5. Accountant cum Data Entry Operator for the Community Health Projects.

6. 2 Pharmacists with registration in Jharkhand or willing to get registered in Jharkhand.

7. X-Ray technician.

8. Warden for Nursing School hostel. 

9. Occupational Therapist for the Disability Project. 

10. Electrical Engineer for the Hospital and the Community College. 

Please note that this is a updated post and all previous opportunity announcements stand cancelled. 

The Coupe . . .

Since last week, I was in a dilemma. I had booked railway tickets to go home by the Dhanbad-Alleppey Express for the 6^th of May exactly 120 days before the date of journey. Angel and Shalom got confirmed berths whereas I was waitlisted 1. To my chagrin, I remained waitlisted even 24 hours before the start of the journey.

However, I left the matter as we had booked 2AC and it was not very difficult for the 5 of us to adjust in 2 seats. I prayed that we have a comfortable journey.

And the good Lord answered our prayers.

We got a coupe which is present in some of the 2AC coaches towards the end of the compartment. I’m not sure how many of you have seen this.

It’s about 4 feet broad and 6 feet long with 2 berths, one lower and one upper. The best part is there is a separate loft for keeping luggage.

However, there was one small hitch. The window was small compared to the other windows. And I had to intervene many a time to solve window sitting rights between Shalom and Charis. Good that Chesed is yet to learn the joys of sitting by the window.

So far, we reached Visakhapatnam about 15 minutes before schedule without much hitches except a leaking coach about which I shall post later.

Nicobarese Gospel Song

This is a video of a Nicobarese gospel song sung by students in a camp set up after the tsunami in Dec 2004 which affected the Nicobar Islands quite badly. 

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- Mount Harriet, Andamans

- White Surf, A Waterfall Forgotten

- Fruits in the Andamans

- Serenity . . .

- Ross Island - Abandoned, but beautiful

Frightening . . .

I came across this very disturbing news of a State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directing a Physician and a Gynecologist to compensate the family of a woman who died of anesthesia related complications during child birth. 

You can read the full report of the judgement here. 

However, the statement 'the commission dubbed the doctor a 'quack' for administering anesthesia despite not being qualified to do so' disturbs me. 

At NJH, we don't have any specialists and we do much more than Cesarian sections where we give anesthesia for child birth. And there are umpteen centres which has saved many a life without the presence of the required consultants. 

Yes . . . we do have a detailed system of taking consent where we make it very clear to the patient that we do not have specialists of any sort around. 

But, in the absence of adequate public health facilities, specialists come at a premium in private healthcare. Leave alone specialists, even an MBBS doctor is costly for most of our agrarian populations. 

Which is the reason that real quacks abound in almost the whole of the country. 

And of course, I had written in a previous post about the availability of specialists in our part of the country to cater to the specialist needs of the community. 

I wonder if the terminology of dubbing a medicine consultant a quack is really called for.

Would appreciate comments on this . . .