{"id":4312,"date":"2012-10-22T11:46:02","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T18:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stirringthefire.org\/blog\/?p=4312"},"modified":"2014-05-14T15:27:32","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T22:27:32","slug":"stoic-at-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/22\/stoic-at-eight\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoic at Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our founder, Phil Borges, along with two\u00a0Volunteer Production Assistants<\/a>,\u00a0Rachel Gray<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Catherine Cussaguet<\/a>, are currently in Nepal working with\u00a0Resurge International<\/a>. \u00a0The organization does incredible work to\u00a0provide free reconstructive surgeries for the poor and builds year-round medical access in underserved areas. \u00a0 We will post their stories throughout the coming week. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

8 year old Kalus, who was treated by Resurge International.<\/p><\/div>\n

Story by Rachel Gray<\/p>\n

Patients from rural villages in Nepal often travel long distances (sometimes several days) to reach the nearest hospital.\u00a0 You can only imagine how many injuries go untreated.\u00a0 In fact, Dr. Shankar said that average time a burn victim waits to be treated is 10 years.\u00a0 When a burn victim is not treated right away, the severity of the issue expands.<\/p>\n

Kalus and his mother walked into the doctor\u2019s office this past week at the Chitwan hospital.\u00a0 Kalus is an eight-year-old boy who suffered a burn injury when he was an infant.\u00a0 His hand caught fire on the cook stove, debilitating three of the fingers on his left hand. His fingers contracted and stuck together in a bent position.\u00a0 Kalus\u2019 mother heard that surgery is not good for children (myth!), which is why they waited for over five years to see a doctor.<\/p>\n

Kalus came back to the hospital the following day for the operation.\u00a0 I found him waiting outside of the doctor\u2019s office that morning.\u00a0 Peering into the room his face was calm and inquisitive.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t seem at all nervous for his pending surgery.<\/p>\n

We suited up and followed Kalus into the Operating Room. While he was lying on the hospital bed, nurses were preparing the anesthesia.\u00a0 With all of the movement, lights and unfamiliarity, Kalus remained totally stoic.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t so much as make an uncomfortable face.\u00a0 I had never seen anything like it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A Doctor holds Kalus’ injured hand during surgery<\/p><\/div>\n

The surgery was successful, and Dr. Shankar was able to straighten out Kalus\u2019 fingers. Several days later we decided to visit Kalus at his village home (I\u2019m now starting to understand the long distances people travel just in order to be seen by a doctor).\u00a0 Kalus, his mother and sister anticipated our arrival with big smiles.\u00a0 We met them where the highway meets the dirt road that would lead to their village.\u00a0 The family jumped in the van and off we traveled down the bumpy (understatement) dirt road.\u00a0 We casually picked up Kalus\u2019 grandparents on, and Phil hopped on the back of a villager\u2019s motorcycle to shoot some footage.<\/p>\n

Rice fields, banana trees, and kids playing soccer lead us to Kalus\u2019 home.\u00a0 His family gathered outside, as Dr. Shankar checked on Kalus\u2019 wound.\u00a0 We conducted a short interview, and Kalus showed us how well he can write English. His family pays a monthly tuition for Kalus to attend a private school.\u00a0 The girls attend a government school, where the quality of education is less adequate.\u00a0 When asked about the chores that Kalus does around the house, the response was \u2018none\u2019.\u00a0 It\u2019s still very traditional here, Dr. Shankar explained.\u00a0 The boys study and the girls do all the chores.\u00a0 Families invest more resources in their sons.\u00a0 This is because when women are of marrying age, the bride\u2019s family has to pay a dowry (which is expensive and often a burden).\u00a0 The bride will then leave home and move in with her husband\u2019s family.\u00a0 The sons on the other hand remain at home and will inherit the property.<\/p>\n

After the interview, Kalus\u2019 mom brought out hard boiled eggs and black tea for us to snack on. Fresh sugar cane had just been cut and a few of us were munching on it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kalus in his home.<\/p><\/div>\n

We all agreed afterwards that we wished we could have stayed at Kalus\u2019 village for days.\u00a0 The family was so kind and the village was peaceful, unlike the roads we were about to approach to drive back in the city.\u00a0 There\u2019s a real simplicity in village life.\u00a0 Driving back, a man was pulling his water buffalo to churn the soil in preparation for the next seed cycle. What a great journey!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our founder, Phil Borges, along with two\u00a0Volunteer Production Assistants,\u00a0Rachel Gray\u00a0and\u00a0Catherine Cussaguet, are currently in Nepal working with\u00a0Resurge International. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,22],"tags":[158,471,159,160],"class_list":["post-4312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-documentary-training","category-stirring-the-fire","tag-nepal","tag-rachel-gray","tag-resurge-international","tag-volunteer-production-assistant"],"yoast_head":"\nStoic at Eight - Phil Borges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/22\/stoic-at-eight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stoic at Eight - 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