(1154) Medical camp to the interior

During the last  three-day weekend I joined a medical camp visiting an interior area in the state. Vehicles that could go off road came from Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau. Medical doctors, dentists and nurses went along to treat the village folks for free. Rich men underwritten the medicine that costs about fifteen thousand dollars. Ordinary folks like me donate and collect clean usable clothes for distribution. Drivers collect money amongst themselves and pack goodie bags for children under 12 years. People of means from various religious background donate essential food: rice, noodle, salt, cooking oil, milo, coffee powder, milk powder...

This particular trip there were not enough volunteers, so I don't see de lice cream being applied. I went along with the chief cook and all the implements for cooking were stacked behind our packed vehicle. After about five hours on the road, we stopped along a shady road and had a picnic lunch of  white rice and fried fish. Some thoughtful individual from KK brought some sambal  belachan - chilli paste cooked with onion, garlic, shrimp paste with seasoning. The delicious addition made a whole lot of difference to an ordinary meal.

During the first night it rained cats and dogs for hours. Some younger volunteers had to pull their sleeping bags from the open grandstands to go into suffocating tents as the rain drove out a whole host of centipedes, worms, scorpions... from the field up the wooden grand stand steps. It was scorching hot the next day. The medical team did a roaring business of over 350 registered patients. I processed the used clothing with my team mates. Mixed clothes of different age group and gender were tied into bundles of about 6 to 10 pieces depending on thickness. In the morning we distributed one bundle per family. By about two pm the visitors trickled down. We then give each person who went through the medical and dental stations one bundle each. Clothes run out by 3:20pm and the last batch who arrived in estate vehicle meant for palm oil fruits didn't get any.

On the third day I arrived home at 5:40pm totally tired out by the long journey on terrible roads of mud and stones. It was akin to being beaten all over the bones, all that being bounced over the seat restrained by seat belt did produce muscular pain.