'The Dan Lai people have doctors...'

KĐS - The movement to bring the Dan Lai people out of the dark forest is considered the first "event" that helped them integrate with the world. The fact that they know how to use machines to plow, harrow, grow rice, and improve the quality of life is the second "event"....

Dan Lai doctor

That day, when arriving at the gate of the commune health station, Ms. Vi Thi Loan, a population officer of the Mon Son Commune Health Station, Con Cuong District (Nghe An) ran back to the gate to welcome everyone and announce the good news: "The Dan Lai people have a doctor now". Seemingly not satisfied with that information, Ms. Loan immediately pulled everyone's hand and walked along the infirmary, to Dr. Vinh's room and proudly introduced: "This is Dr. La Van Vinh, 38 years old. The first general practitioner of the Dan Lai people".

Ms. Loan introduced with the same joyful feeling as everyone else when visiting the remote Mon Son Commune Health Station. Because the story of the Dan Lai people having a general practitioner is something that people have never thought of after this ethnic group left the core area of ​​Pu Mat National Park to the Tan Son and Cua Rao resettlement areas right in the center of Mon Son Commune and the Thach Son and Ba Ha resettlement areas in Thach Ngan Commune.

Mr. La Van Vinh, the first general practitioner of the Dan Lai ethnic group.

In a neat and clean room, Dr. Vinh wore a stethoscope over his chest and a white blouse. As if he could guess everyone's thoughts about the story of why a Dan Lai man from a cave in the mountains and canyons upstream of the Giang River became a general practitioner, Dr. Vinh shared in a simple voice: "When I was a child, I got sick and had to go to the Mon Son commune clinic for treatment. It was the care of the doctors here that deeply imprinted in my childhood mind the image of a dedicated and attentive doctor regardless of day or night. Growing up, during the last days of high school, I secretly nurtured the dream of becoming a doctor like those doctors."

Not only the Dan Lai people, the ethnic communities in this mountainous area are always proud of Dr. Vinh and always wish to have more doctors for their community. "Currently, I am the first doctor of the Dan Lai people. Hopefully in the following years, there will be a second and third doctor who is also a Dan Lai. I believe that the development of social life will have a positive impact on the awareness of the people of Co Phat, Khe Khang, and Khe Bung villages," Dr. Vinh confidently said.

"Mobile" to treat in the village

The doctor repeated the story of why everyone in the village was born and grew up only knowing how to go to the forest to find food to live, while he became a doctor. Dr. Vinh looked pensively at the red dirt road connecting Pha Lai dam upstream of Giang river and the village cluster and told the story of his parents taking him to the center of Mon Son commune to stay at a relative's house to study in the first grade.

"Back then, next to the fast-flowing Giang River, there was only a single, densely forested trail from Pha Lai Dam, winding up to the core of Pu Mat National Park and the Dan Lai hamlet. From Co Phat hamlet, my parents took me, but it took more than a day to reach the commune center. That day, after only half the journey, it got dark, and the whole family had to "camp" to sleep under the edge of the forest. Late at night, a sudden tornado blew through, blowing away the roof of the hut covered with forest branches. Father and son, mother and son could only sit leaning on each other. The forest wind was bone-chilling," Dr. Vinh recalled a scene from going to school 30 years ago.

The Dan Lai people have lived isolated for many years in deep forests and mountains with many backward customs.

According to Dr. Vinh, due to the difficult roads, this was the first obstacle in his school life. It was also because of the hardships and difficulties that the young man from Dan Lai had to endure that had shaped his will to study.

"When I arrived at the commune center, I felt like I had entered another world , even though there were many difficulties at that time. At that time, I only thought about studying to escape poverty, to escape the dark and remote mountains. Only by studying can I help others and myself, and help my fellow countrymen...", Vinh shared.

In 2006, La Van Vinh passed the entrance exam to Nghe An Medical College. Unexpectedly, this new stage of his student life continued to be difficult because of the months of studying with a bag containing a few old, torn clothes.

"The day I went to the city to enroll in school, my whole family struggled to find a little change and a few kilos of rice for me to stay in school. When looking for a place to rent, we had to be very persistent to choose the cheapest place in the alley, to save money for my parents. During the two years of studying, there were many meals I skipped because I didn't dare ask my parents for money," Dr. Vinh said.

In 2009, after graduating, doctor Vinh volunteered to do medical work in the village of Co Phat, Khe Bung, his hometown.

While his classmates chose to work in places with better conditions, Doctor Vinh turned to two villages in his hometown to work because he understood the backward lifestyle that still plagued his people. He thought that since he was born in a village, the people would understand and follow scientific treatment methods.

A pregnant woman from Dan Lai wrote her phone number on a cover so that doctors and nurses could call her to remind her about her check-up.

With this understanding, Doctor Vinh wants to use his specific actions in examining and treating the villagers to change their awareness of disease prevention and treatment properly. Children must be fully vaccinated, and pregnant women must regularly visit and give birth at the commune health station or the military and civilian medical station of the Border Guard stationed right next to the village. "More importantly, it is important to warn and prevent child marriage and incestuous marriage to improve living standards, thereby having good health and improving the quality of the population in remote areas," said Doctor Vinh.

Talking about the issue of encouraging mothers to give birth at medical facilities, Dr. Vinh recalled a pregnant woman in Co Phat village who was in critical condition due to a difficult birth. It was around the end of 2012. At that time, a group of Co Phat villagers used a hammock to carry a pregnant woman to the military medical station for help. The woman had been in labor for nearly a day but could not give birth despite the midwife in the village trying many ways.

"After examining the patient, a colleague at the military medical station and I determined that the fetus was too large and that if we could not deliver the baby, the lives of both mother and child would be in danger. Immediately after, we decided to cut the mother's perineum to get the baby out. This difficult birth was successful. Mother and child were safe," Dr. Vinh recalled.

Also from handling this difficult birth, in his mind, Mr. Vinh always wondered to supplement his knowledge to handle more difficult cases for the people. "In reality, in the village, there are cases so serious that life only exists in the moment of treatment. If the doctor does not have a solid career, he will not be able to overcome that moment. This thought urged me to continue studying in the university bridging class," said Dr. Vinh.

But to continue studying, "where is the money" is still the "first" question when Vinh's allowance and his wife's salary are only enough to support their small child. However, when Vinh just opened his mouth to say he would go to Vinh city to study, his wife immediately agreed.

In October 2014, Vinh went to the city to find a house for rent in the alley at the end of the street for only 450,000 VND/month. The landlord knew that he was from Dan Lai and was studying to become a doctor, so he took pity on him and reduced the rent and waived the water bill. To earn more money, every weekend, Vinh went to Lam River to cast his nets and nets to catch fish to sell. At night, he went to the fields near the outskirts of the city to catch frogs to sell to traders.

"Each kilo of frogs fetched more than 100,000 VND. After 6 years of hard work, the day I received my general practitioner degree, tears welled up in my eyes. At that time, I just wanted to return to Dan Lai as soon as possible to show off to everyone," said Dr. Vinh.

Doctor Vinh wants to use his specific actions in examining and treating the villagers to change their awareness of scientific disease prevention and treatment.

Now, Dr. La Van Vinh has had four years to realize his dream of becoming a doctor. During those four years, when there was a serious case that could not be transferred to the commune or district health center, Dr. Vinh was immediately "mobilized" to provide emergency care.

"The Dan Lai people have not really changed their awareness about health protection and care. Therefore, once a month, I and the center's medical staff "travel" to the hamlet cluster to conduct periodic check-ups, creating a new lifestyle of community health for the people. If they need medical assistance, please call us, we are ready to directly advise or go to their place to treat them," said Dr. Vinh.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/nguoi-dan-lai-co-bac-si-roi-169240824154912604.htm