[Marxism] Pakistan: Up In The Mountains Men Stand Tall

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Granma Daily
December 8, 2005 

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs330.html

Up In The Mountains Men Stand Tall
TEXT AND PHOTOS: JUVENAL BALÁN NEYRA - SPECIAL envoy
juvenal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.


Fog still covers the tents, and the first sun rays touch the peaks of
the mountains in this northern and remote Pakistani spot. The Nheelum
River flows rapidly and lets us hear the sound of water caressing
stones in contrast with the mechanic whirring of helicopters coming
and going, bringing aid to the victims of the disaster.

by the flag of blue and white stripes with a red triangle and a lone
star , every day there is time for a morning gathering

The flag with a red triangle, a lone star and blue and white stripes
flies between the high mountains in Hattian Bala, a few kilometers
from Muzaffarabad in the province of Cashmere, marking the setting of
the hospital base camp where 8 women and 15 men from very far away ?
from Cuba in the Caribbean ? defy low temperatures, high grounds and
language barriers, as they struggle to improve the health of
Pakistani victims hit by the strong earthquake of October 8th.

There was a hospital in the region, but it was reduced to rubble by
the earthquake. Now in its outside grounds, a group of Cuban doctors
assist those who come seeking for medical help and give out medicines
brought from Cuba or donated by China and the Organization Médicines
sans Frontier.

Long distances and blockage of mountain paths as a consequence of
landslides often make it difficult for the Cuban specialists to reach
untreated victims. For example: a man whose femur was fractured
during the earthquake was taken to the Cuban doctors 23 days after
his lesion; another, with a protruding broken tibia, 18 days later.
Both men were treated with external fixators. A 10 month old baby
held sheltered by his mother?s arms, with breathing difficulties and
a desperate look, had pneumonia. Even a girl with tetanus, with
generalized body rigidity, was given emergency aid and evacuated to
Muzaffarabad.

It is hard work, but Cuban doctors rise to the challenge. Abib, his
weather beaten bearded face revealing his 80 years, was brought by
his wife and two sons. They traveled carrying him for several hours.
He was dehydrated, with great abdominal pain, vomiting. He had not
released feces or gas. Diagnosis: Intestinal obstruction.

The operating room is readied, surgeon Ariel Almanza Fonseca,
assisted by orthopedist Carlos Herrera de la Fe, check the patient
and determine it is a case of acute appendicitis. Anesthesiologist
Gerardo Luis Garcia gives him an intravenous general anesthetic and
endothraqueal ventilation assistance.

All of them, together with orthopedist Amaury Castro Aguilera and
intensive care specialist Rafael Negrin La Rosa, are proud of their
work to save Abib´s life. Every morning or evening while making their
rounds, they monitor the patient?s progress. Abib has started taking
food and his face shows the first signs of recovery.

Orthopedist Juan Carlos Martin Tirado is the leader of this team,
part of the Henry Reeve International Medical Contingent. He tells us
the base camp hospital was set up 3 or 4 days after the earthquake by
a Pakistani doctor and Médicines sans Frontiers. They only had a
trauma specialized surgeon and medicines received as donations.

?The first of us arrived on the 25th of October and the rest of the
group joined in later. Up to the present we have saved or cured
around 3000 Pakistanis and have performed 67 major and 140 minor
surgical operations, mainly of femur and hip fractures,? Juan Carlos
explains.

?The experience of working at the camp base hospital has enriched our
professional knowledge. We have to make the most of our
resourcefulness, because there are no complementary services such as
laboratories, X-Rays, oxygen or blood transfusions. We must bring out
the best in ourselves to overcome these difficulties, but we are
succeeding and living a unique experience.

In the hospital area we met with doctor Italo Subbarao, an American
from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. When members of the Cuban
press approached him, he commented,

?Cuban doctors are unbelievable. I was in the mountains and found a
woman with a fractured femur, I called Doctor Juan Carlos and he told
me to bring her in. They operated on her and now when I come to visit
she is looking at the river and the mountain with a smile on her
face. Her family is happy. Thank God the Cuban doctors are here
working miracles in this part of the world.?

Oliver Behn, Coordinator of Médicines sans Frontiers (MSF) in the
Hattian Bala region comments, ?When we arrived here with MFS there
were great needs in the Hattian population which we could only
partially satisfy. A few days later the Cuban medical team of doctors
and nurses arrived. They have made a significant contribution to
cover the needs of the population. I think they are doing a very good
job. They listen to people and consider their opinions; they are most
welcome and it is very good to have them here.?




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