In April, there were two scheduled visits to the Burma Children Medical Fund B.K. Kee Patient House. The first visit happened during the Thai New Year celebrations. I met a patient who had been staying there for two years due to severe burns. The patient was back for follow-up surgery and was returning home soon. In celebration of Songkran, I brought a meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken for the patients, which was well-received. Rotarian Nick Dale and his spouse, Pink, helped me with the delivery in heavy traffic. After the meal, we played a game where the patients had to fill in the blanks of a story about visiting a zoo. The patients had to pick a colour, an animal, an action for the animal and their reaction to meeting that animal. There were loads of laughter. Somehow all the patients chose a green monkey as the animal they would run away from. Our Nursing Intern from BEAM, Diana, who is in her final three months of her internship, helped us carry out the game. She said she was learning the Karen language from a patient studying for a GED.
During the second visit, Rotarian Raphael Djemal and I brought laundry detergent and toothpaste but found no helpers at the house. Klao was at the hospital with a patient who needed a CT scan. Eventually, we played Bingo with the patients, and despite the language barrier, everyone had a good time.