Health care

Dentist
Originally uploaded by Matthew Dolman

The health care system here in China is so different to what we are used to in the Isle of Man. In the picture is a dental practice on a street near our flat. All of the dental surgeries seems to have the operating chair near the window, I guess so that passers by can see the quality of the dentist. It's certainly a far cry from the private little room that I am used to and seems pretty mad but it is just a different way of thinking, which is something that we seem to come across a lot here. Although we haven't tried going to a dentist here yet, Aaron, my brother had some work done at a local dentist, and when he got it checked out by a UK dentist, he was very impressed with it.

We have had quite a few visits to the hospital since we have been here. Mainly trying to get Tabitha's injections done. We were so thankful that we were able to find a clinic in a local hospital that is run by a western charity that has really good procedures. We had heard some horror stories about the Chinese system and whether true or not we really didn't want to risk Tabitha's health. The clinic is based on the 4th floor of the hospital. There is a massive difference between what is inside the clinic for the few who they can accept(they take in a lot of orphans and help them where possible), and the rest of the hospital which most native people in the area will use. The clinic is very clean and modern, while the local people had to put up with an old, dark and basic hospital. I'm not trying to criticize China for their lower standard of health care, as I'm sure before too long theirs will be much better than in the UK. But we felt sad that we had access to such good facilities and that other people who are no worse than us had to have something much less. One time while we were in the clinic a little girl probably 11 or 12 was looking through the glass door of the clinic to try and have a look at Tabitha but wasn't aloud in. It left us asking the question, what have we done to deserve better. The truth is nothing. All we can do is thank God that we are blessed with what we have and try our very best to help others get an improved lifestyle.