Field trip to Tangtse June 2011

With Chuskit, Andre, Maria and Dorje, the carefully driver

We started at 8.30 at our guesthouse, picked all the aid equipment from RAC, whatever we may be need for our patients like crutches, foam, shoes, hard splints, etc..

We made a long journey over the Chang-la pass, the third highest motorable road in the world (5360m). The first day we visited two monks. One patient needed a new toilette from the world challenge group, because the distance to the local toilette is too difficult for him.

The other monk had improved since the last visit 3 month before. He is able to walk more than 300 meters across difficult ground to visit his aunt, who is living in the neighbourhood. He is very motivated and does his exercises very well. It depends on the state of his improvement, but by the next fieldtrip he may be able to walk with crutches. At the moment there are no adult crutches at the RAC, it would be nice if someone help us to get some.

The next day we went to Pangong lake to visit a 17 years old patient with CP. She was very happy to see us and was waving from afar. In the beginning before the treatment she was crying because she was so happy to see us. Afterwards we had a look at her wheelchair and improved her sitting support with some foam. Then we went cooking in the house of an old woman, it was very funny because she give us her house for cooking and eating, very kind. Last day we went to a boarding school and met two girls, they are fine so we gave them new exercises. More than 200 children are living there and when we arrived they were busy with washing and garden work. Four girls are sleeping in one room. We thought it is the space for two girls. But they seemed to be happy and pleased.

Then we visited the last patient at a very barren landscape, no trees, only flowers grow there. The family was very nice and looked very well after their severe disabled child. After treatment we gave him some sitting support with foam for his special chair and wheel chair, and we brought him a small table for his special chair. The family was very kind to us to offer us butter tea, chai, cookies and sweets from China. We are very pleased with the successful treatments. We could really help and the families were very happy to see us.

Maria and Andre