My earlier post on the works of Bhutan Stroke Foundation garnered some interest. Thank you all for your responses and wishes.

One frequent comment our people get at the foundation is why we need to exist because we have free medical service in the country.

Yes, that’s true. However, stroke is not just a medical case. It is a traumatic personal, social and financial situation. It leaves a person debilitated for months or for years and requires constant care and attention. It disrupts the life of the whole family. The recovery, where possible, takes time. It requires skills and patience, and it requires lots of resources.

The free medical service more or less stops once the patient is discharged from the hospital and is told to go home, and to return to continue the physiotherapy and in many cases speech therapy. For the urban poor and for people from rural areas it is marked by a huge economic strain.

Furthermore, people are often rushed to Thimphu in an ambulance in a medical emergency. And because it is an emergency the patient and the accompanying person go from a district hospital to Thimphu – without any preparation for the journey – no food, money, or extra clothes.

And once the patient is discharged and shown the Exit door, many don’t know where to go. They don’t know where to stay to continue with physiotherapy sessions and follow-up treatment.

This post-stroke care is one area where we are trying to expand our services, besides the massive awareness campaigns and health screening we have conducted so far.

We are taking small steps. Some of our volunteers are visiting patients lying at home to clean them of sweats and bed sores, help them do physio exercises, and cheer them up. There is a lot we can do, and a lot of work and ways we can help.

The foundation is struggling in terms of resources, but it is doing well in volunteerism and goodwill. As a communication practitioner I know I can write the story of each successful case we have handled, or the misery that someone is going through. If we do that millions will be raised in a matter of days.

But we continue to resist the temptation, and respect the privacy of our beneficiaries. We don’t splash them on Facebook. We won’t take selfies when we rescue the patients from the hospital doors. We mustn’t show off feeding the sick. We will not update delivering food and clothes to the affected families.

Hence, for some time we will go about with the face value of the foundation team. Besides the faces of the foDawa Tsheringhering, our new ED Rinchen Khandu, and of our goodwill ambassadors and the medicals professionals supporting us silently, my face will be what you will see for some time – seeking alms. 😎😎😎

(By the way I am on a month-long pilgrimage – starting and ending with sacred sites in Bhutan. Do you like my monk bag? 😁😁😁)