Each day is an adventure.

What a blessing to go to Bharatpur with Dr Fraser Black, and to witness the effects of the Bharatpur-Hospice Victoria Twinning project.  Greeted at the airport with flowers, warmth, and met Usha, one of our online students.

Next day joined the team for rounds.  Met Sabita and Mina (two of our online students)…. then visits to the community with Mina. She provided care with gentleness and such skill. Families and patient very appreciative of the home service. Wonderful to be welcomed into the homes and to see how people adapt to the needs with such limited resources, with creativity and grace.

Woke the next morning thinking, “In North America we  choke ourselves with policies, procedures, building codes, union agreements etc…”   Is is possible to respond to the needs that are ahead, the doubling in the number of annual deaths, when we are in a tightjacket of bureaucracy and so much time is consumed addressing the needs of a system rather than the needs of the patient and family?

As that progressed the same theme recurred in several different ways.

Policies and guidelines etc… are needed, but in order to address the massive needs of the aging and dying in the coming decades, we need to draw on all our creative juices!  If creativity is nixed early by the “can’t do’s” then movement will be impossible. We can not solve, or address these problems with the rigidity we have created.

Nepal, Mexico, other resource poor areas can teach us much about caring – but we may have to lighten up to learn!