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The most difficult thing/about our work at Madhu/was making decisions.//
We had to think about the local situation,/because looking at the situation/through Western or Japanese eyes/could lead us to make wrong decisions.//
Since our medicine/as well as our medical equipment/was very limited,/we had to look at each situation/as it happened/and choose the best thing to do.//
I clearly remember the day/when a woman brought her five-year-old boy/to our hospital.//
I saw immediately/that he was beyond help.//
We gave him oxygen,/but he was pale,/his breathing was difficult,/and the oxygen mask made him uncomfortable.//
He was not improving.//
We were using our last tank of oxygen.//
We didn’t know/when the next tank was coming.//
If another person needing oxygen arrived,/maybe this tank could save his or her life.//
I made my decision/and made a sign to the nurse/who was working with me/to turn off the oxygen.//
The nurse simply couldn’t do it.//
I waited five seconds/and then turned it off myself.//
I did it/because I thought it best/to leave the child in the hands of God.//
Was that the right decision?//
I still don’t know.//
The most difficult thing/