Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2019 - 37

It wasn't until we were given the news that, in order to take
part in our experiential learning activity which involved following
the research facility's health team, we'd have to camp out in a
remote village for a full week that the reality of where we were
hit. Thinking about a week of no running water, no electricity,
and no air conditioning brought back the panic and stress I felt
the first day I arrived. But despite these initial negative emotions,
my time in the village proved to be the most fulfilling experience
throughout the entire trip.
Being able to follow the local health team provided me with
a unique perspective that I wouldn't have been able to receive
if I were just a tourist. Located an hour away by foot from the
main road was the village, with a small shack-turned-temporary
health clinic which was only large enough to fit a single table
and three chairs. The table's surface was covered with boxes of
medication. Ibuprofen was seen as a top medical treatment at the
clinic, whereas I usually referred to it as a regular in my mom's first
aid kit. The line outside of the clinic often wrapped around the
building, with patient concerns ranging from headaches and colds
to malaria and hypertension. Each of them wanted to get in to see
the doctors and nurses before they left for another 3 months.
This lack of accessibility to health services brought up a lot
of questions I had regarding the town's medical system. What if
there was an emergency? Where was the nearest hospital? How
do the townspeople treat their sickness when the health team isn't
around? These questions were all answered by a simple observation:
Since the Malagasy people are not able to receive regular medical
attention from professionals, they have become very resourceful
and independent when it comes to taking control of their health.
They often work together to solve issues that most Americans
would just Google the answer to or call their doctor about.
Experiencing a new culture, eating the local cuisine of wet rice
and beans, and interacting with friendly adults and children in
each of the villages we visited kept reminding me that the world is
so much smaller than we think it is. The similarities in the way we
play and live together transcend the cultural boundaries we decide
to place on ourselves and each other. Not only was I able to learn
more about the shared human experience, I was also able to learn a

lot more about myself by expanding the boundaries of my comfort
zone. I hiked for hours in the Malagasy summer monsoons, slept
alongside cockroaches and rats, capsized in the rapids of the
Ranamofana river, and pushed myself into trying new experiences
I only dreamt about.
The day before heading back to the airport, we ended our stay
in the same hotel we were in during our first night. When I walked
into the room with my other roommates, we almost instantly
made eye contact with an old friend of ours. In the bathroom
blocking the doorway was a cockroach. My roommates and I
looked at each other, laughed, and decided to name it Steve. I
wasn't in the United States anymore, but I loved it.
Ersha Kumar is a Wilson High School graduate in her
third year at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY.
She is working towards a B.S. in Applied Mathematics
and Statistics, Psychology, in the Women in Science and
Engineering Honors Program. Ersha is planning a career
in medicine.
FALL 2019

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Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2019

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