Once again, I had the opportunity to visit Bihar Sharif and watch two young girls get their vaccinations. I took the bus with my friend, their uncle, from Nalanda to Bihar Sharif. There we were met by a car with the two girls, their mother, aunt, grandfather, and grand-uncle. Their uncle and I joined them in the already crowded vehiche and we drove through the town to an area with many medical offices.
The doctor’s office was open to the street and I saw many plastic chairs and women with babies and toddlers sitting in the chairs. We passed the office and parked the vehicle. Then we walked back to the office, went to the check-in desk and were immediately waved behind a curtain into a small doctor’s office. The doctor sat behind his desk and had two chairs in front of the desk. An infant scale was in one corner and a small stool was beside his desk. An assistant weighed the first girl and then she was placed in her mother’s lap who was sitting on the stool.
I playfully played with the second child, gently pinching her on the arm, thinking that this might help when she felt the pinch of the shot. Unfortunately when I looked over at the first child, she was getting her two shots in her thighs. (In America, I always received my shots in my upper arm) I’m not sure if the doctor sanitized the area on her leg with rubbing alcohol before giving her the shot. The assistant had two pieces of cotton that he placed on the dusty desk under a paperweight. After each shot, the cotton was held against the child’s leg to stop any bleeding. No small band-aid was used.
The entire scene was kind of comical, because unlike in American doctor’s offices where the number of family members in the room is limited, all of the family and myself were present in the tiny room. After the first girl received her shot, she began crying which set off her sister. I quickly gave them each a tiny sticker that I had in my purse, which calmed the first girl briefly. Their caring uncle then gave each of them a sweet mango juice and then we left.
I wonder how this experience differs with the vaccination process in America?
The doctor’s office was open to the street and I saw many plastic chairs and women with babies and toddlers sitting in the chairs. We passed the office and parked the vehicle. Then we walked back to the office, went to the check-in desk and were immediately waved behind a curtain into a small doctor’s office. The doctor sat behind his desk and had two chairs in front of the desk. An infant scale was in one corner and a small stool was beside his desk. An assistant weighed the first girl and then she was placed in her mother’s lap who was sitting on the stool.
I playfully played with the second child, gently pinching her on the arm, thinking that this might help when she felt the pinch of the shot. Unfortunately when I looked over at the first child, she was getting her two shots in her thighs. (In America, I always received my shots in my upper arm) I’m not sure if the doctor sanitized the area on her leg with rubbing alcohol before giving her the shot. The assistant had two pieces of cotton that he placed on the dusty desk under a paperweight. After each shot, the cotton was held against the child’s leg to stop any bleeding. No small band-aid was used.
The entire scene was kind of comical, because unlike in American doctor’s offices where the number of family members in the room is limited, all of the family and myself were present in the tiny room. After the first girl received her shot, she began crying which set off her sister. I quickly gave them each a tiny sticker that I had in my purse, which calmed the first girl briefly. Their caring uncle then gave each of them a sweet mango juice and then we left.
I wonder how this experience differs with the vaccination process in America?
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| Sujuni I stitched of the twin girls who had received the vaccinations. I gave this piece to their mother. |
I give vaccines almost every day. We too put them in the thigh but we do clean with alcohol. They too cry and then we give them a band-aid with a cartoon character that they probably know all too well. After that we offer them a sticker and sucker if their mom lets them. Sometimes I almost cry with them!!
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