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At Madhu/there were 28,000 refugees,/and yet/there was only one small hospital,/where we had only two nurses,/two Tamil doctors,/interpreters,/and health workers. We had only the simplest medical equipment to work with. There were times/when we felt sad/because we had to treat so many patients/with old equipment.
We started at 9 a.m./and treated about 150 people each day. They spoke Tamil. We asked them simple questions/and decided what to do. In the afternoon,/we treated people in our eight beds,/usually pregnant women and babies. Sometimes/we went to a small camp/eight kilometers away from Madhu. We worked from morning till night.
Malaria,/asthma,/pneumonia/—these diseases were the most common. Poor food and water were also serious problems. When the rainy season came in October,/diarrhea increased/and we lost some of our children. We treated everyone who came to us,/even soldiers carrying weapons,/but only after they put their weapons away.
We were told we would be safe. However,/there were times/when we were ordered not to go out at night. We listened to the radio/to find out whether it was safe to go outside or not.
At Madhu/there were 28,000 refugees,/and yet/there was only one small hospital,/where we had only two nurses,/two Tamil doctors,/interpreters,/and health workers. We had only the simplest medical equipment to work with. There were times/when we felt sad/because we had to treat so many patients/with old equipment.
We started at 9 a.m./and treated about 150 people each day. They spoke Tamil. We asked them simple questions/and decided what to do. In the afternoon,/we treated people in our eight beds,/usually pregnant women and babies. Sometimes/we went to a small camp/eight kilometers away from Madhu. We worked from morning till night.
Malaria,/asthma,/pneumonia/—these diseases were the most common. Poor food and water were also serious problems. When the rainy season came in October,/diarrhea increased/and we lost some of our children. We treated everyone who came to us,/even soldiers carrying weapons,/but only after they put their weapons away.
We were told we would be safe. However,/there were times/when we were ordered not to go out at night. We listened to the radio/to find out whether it was safe to go outside or not.