Lounging in my hammock before Khmer New Year, I was planning with Jean our imminent trip to Laos. She wanted to know if we would need malaria prophylaxis & I said no more than here in Cambodia. Jean looked doubtful then said "No offense Esther, but do you mind ringing & asking J what would she do?". I wasn't offended WWJD is something I ask myself here on a daily basis.
The mother that can't afford to bring her dead son's body home, the family with triplets that can't support themselves & the mother doesn't have enough food to breast feed successfully, the patient dying with only the cleaner looking after them as they have no relatives, the 18 month old critically ill child with no nursing care & the doctor absent at a wedding - all these clinical situations I have turned to J & asked her what would she do.
She is a nurse of many years experience, she is generous but not a complete door mat, she is kind but doesn't suffer fools lightly, she is compassionate & always seems to know what is the right thing to do. She has humanity, humility & cultural sensitivity.
Now this may well be down to that fact that she has been here 3 and a half years & listens to other people rather than thinking she always knows best as an "expert". However I suspect that she was equally thought of in a 'WWJD-way' in her old role as a NHS ward manager in the UK.
She has many Cambodian friends who I am sure have assisted in the WWJD phenomena. One of them, R, used to work at the hospital J was a VSO nursing advisor at for 2 years. He now works as her translator & a technical advisor at her current NGO. He is one of my favourite Cambodians (x-ref The Kindness of Cambodians). J will often ask R what should we do - he (like my lovely & soon to be ex-VA) is a her cultural guide. R & J's old VA have walked her through the intricacies of Cambodian culture & now she is better placed to navigate situations here as a result.
Recently the NGO she works for created a social network page, every employee had to fill out details about themselves including their "Famous Role model". Some people have written Cambodian pop-stars or actors, the more politically aware have written Hun Sen, one nurse wrote Florence Nightingale & an ex-pat wrote Jesus.
For his 'famous role model' R wrote 'J' - and why not? After all, when you're in a tough moral situation you could do a lot worse than ask yourself WWJD?
The mother that can't afford to bring her dead son's body home, the family with triplets that can't support themselves & the mother doesn't have enough food to breast feed successfully, the patient dying with only the cleaner looking after them as they have no relatives, the 18 month old critically ill child with no nursing care & the doctor absent at a wedding - all these clinical situations I have turned to J & asked her what would she do.
She is a nurse of many years experience, she is generous but not a complete door mat, she is kind but doesn't suffer fools lightly, she is compassionate & always seems to know what is the right thing to do. She has humanity, humility & cultural sensitivity.
Now this may well be down to that fact that she has been here 3 and a half years & listens to other people rather than thinking she always knows best as an "expert". However I suspect that she was equally thought of in a 'WWJD-way' in her old role as a NHS ward manager in the UK.
She has many Cambodian friends who I am sure have assisted in the WWJD phenomena. One of them, R, used to work at the hospital J was a VSO nursing advisor at for 2 years. He now works as her translator & a technical advisor at her current NGO. He is one of my favourite Cambodians (x-ref The Kindness of Cambodians). J will often ask R what should we do - he (like my lovely & soon to be ex-VA) is a her cultural guide. R & J's old VA have walked her through the intricacies of Cambodian culture & now she is better placed to navigate situations here as a result.
Recently the NGO she works for created a social network page, every employee had to fill out details about themselves including their "Famous Role model". Some people have written Cambodian pop-stars or actors, the more politically aware have written Hun Sen, one nurse wrote Florence Nightingale & an ex-pat wrote Jesus.
For his 'famous role model' R wrote 'J' - and why not? After all, when you're in a tough moral situation you could do a lot worse than ask yourself WWJD?
No comments:
Post a Comment