kenny's impressions

I mentioned in my last post that my colleague Kenny Ferguson was here for 2 weeks running chronic oedema training. It was a crazy couple of weeks with very sucessful training and adventures gallore. The photo shows the course participants in Calicut. Here are Kenny's thoughts;


'firstly i would like to thank mhoira and Cairdeas for the
opportunity to work in and experience India albeit for a very
short time. nonetheless this proved to be one of the most
enjoyable and important experiences of my carreer in
palliative care to date. also a big thanks to mhoira for all
the background support work she did on my behalf which
ensured the smooth running of the course and for making me
feel so welcome. all of this background work and support made
it so much easier to settle in quickly and get on with the
work. my work focused on training the trainers in the
management of chronic oedema (a significant health problem in
India).these courses were offered from two centres, Calicut
and Cochin each course running over three days.i also spent
some time observing the work of the home care service offered
by volunteers up in the Waynad district of Kerala.this was
indeed a great example of palliative care for the community
by the community.i think india has a lot to teach the west
about the importance of strong family ties and community.

in the face of huge resource difficulties i was amazed at
the morale, committment, energy and thirst for knowledge
shown by both groups of nurses. we had great fun during the
courses with much moothie playing and laughing at ourselves.
hopefully the courses went well and we certainly initially
got some very positive feedback from course participants. a
lot of thought and discussions needs now to continue with
mhoira and our indian nurse and medical colleagues as to how
best continue to support oedema work in kerala into the
future. this was a very important and enjoyable (if
exhausting) experience for me.it reminded me of why i came
into nursing and particularly palliative care.while i went
out to india in a training role i know i learned more from
the nurses and volunteers i worked with than i could ever
give. it was my pleasure and
priveledge to work with such professional and committed
indian colleagues.once again thanks to them and to cairdeas.'