Guyana Nurse Training Program: The haves and the have-nots

Our weekend consisted of a little culture and a little R&R...

Saturday was a walk on the seawall. Georgetown is built below sea level, so the dutch and then the british and finally the guyanese have built and added to the seawall over the years to keep back the tide (If you've read other posts, you'll see that the lack of elevation usually causes flooding during heavy rain...see November 2014). While usually a "walk on the beach" is a visually stunning experience, this walk looks over the brackish brown water (from the high iron content and the mud from the rivers that flow into the ocean), and mostly contains trash, the homeless, and the occasional dead animal. I opted for the more "pleasant" photos for this blog: a boat moored to the shore, the coastline looking towards the Pegasus and Marriott hotels, and of course the seawall itself. We walked all the way to Pegasus where we sat at the bar for lunch and a beer before experiencing the cultural tour of Stabroek Market. The market, constructed in the 1880's by an american architect and engineer, has the historic clock tower reminiscent of victorian England. The market is definitely the hub of Georgetown- all around and within the market are people selling clothing, shoes, handbags, personal care items, food stuffs, as well as actual food to go. It's like a walmart on steroids (and usually is just as good for people watching!). It's busy, crowded, and hot- people always touching and pushing, all of us guarding our purses with our lives. It smells of sun-baked meat, old produce, and sweat. I believe we made it about 10 minutes before walking very quickly to an exit- and to a slightly less crowded 1970's era department store for Randy (He shops WAAAAYYYY more than any of us ladies!), stopping by a few small kiosks to look for touristy stuff. Though the market was too crowded for us Americans and our personal space issues, it was a great look at the way people here really live- how they buy products and interact with one another.

Sunday was a nice air-conditioned ride to the new Marriott Hotel. It smelled of lemon and freshness. The food, while pricy, was American- no strange spices in the hamburgers for Julie (the Family Planning Fellow staying at project dawn) and big fresh salads for Kate and Cait. The beer was served on draft, which I have never seen. The pool was large with multiple sun loungers available. The ocean had imported white sand and beautiful palm trees. We felt like we were in a carribbean resort, not in the Georgetown we know. The people were almost all foreigners on business or vacation. It was a great place to relax and rewind.

The juxtaposition of these two days brings up feelings that almost all global healthcare volunteers have at some point, which is that of guilt over how much we have and how little the people we serve have. At the end of a long hospital day, we go back to our air conditioned rooms, our refrigerators full of food, and a nice cold beer. We type on our laptops and recount the struggles of the day. While we don't always have the comforts of home, we really don't want for much- we have all we need and more to be comfortable. Meanwhile, the nurses we work with are barely able to buy school supplies for their kids, let alone afford air conditioning and healthy food. They are the have-nots, but the important people who carry on day after day helping their neighbors by doing their best to take care of patients through resource poor hospital systems. They're the ones who come back to work day after day while babies are not surviving because of lack of working equipment and education. They're the ones who deserve the day of Marriott pampering.

While I can't change my "have"ness, I can at least fully appreciate how lucky I am- to have the ability to take time away from work for travel, to have a great home-cooked meal with colleagues, and a fantastic day of rest to recharge for the week ahead.