Dust of Progress

"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems -- not people; to focus your energies on answers -- not excuses."
-William Arthur Ward

"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
-Benjamin Franklin US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

"Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."
-George Washington Carver US horticulturist (1864 - 1943)

I think I the majority of my day was spent battling excuses. I started to write about what seemed like a never ending list of excuses that people gave me, why problems could not be solved, but after I read it over it did not seem very interesting at all and it kind of sounding like I was complaining too much so I cut it out. I will just say this, if some people could convert their time and energy that they use to come up with all of their excuses and direct it towards finding solutions to their problems then a lot more progress would get done. Similarly, I believe that the world is divided into two types of people, the No People and the Yes People. Here is how you can tell which one you are. If someone comes up to you and tells you about a problem, and while they are explaining their problem to you you start thinking of reasons why it can not be solved, then you are probably a No Person. I encounter a lot of No People in the hospital.

I walked into the ER and there was a patient lying on one of the beds. I asked the ER doctor what was wrong with her. He said that she had urticaria which meant that she had a rash all over her body. I watched the nurse administer some medication. With his dirty hands he injected calcium gluconate directly into the patient's vein. He then threw the syringe and the uncapped needle into the trash. I tell you all of this detail because I want to illustrate what kind of challange I am facing. Just about every step of the care that was given to this patient was done incorrectly (including the medication that was given). The nurse did not wash his hands before he gave the injection. He did not wear gloves when he injected the medication. He did not wipe the patient's skin with alcohol. He should not have injected the medication directly into the vein with a needle. He should not have throw the needle away in the trash. Most importantly, he should not have ever given calcium gluconate in the first place. It does not help with urticaria.

I told the nurse that it is very important that he washes his hands between patients. I shook his hand and then I showed him my hand and I said, "You see, I now have germs on my hand. I need to wash my hands." I then went to the sink and washed my hands. His reply to me was, "I am an old man. I can not was my hands with cold water."

We passed by some new signs on the way home. I am not sure what they mean.

We picked up our colleagues at the Serena Hotel. They put together a disaster preparedness conference. The Serena Hotel is the nicest hotel in all of Kabul. I thought that it was an interesting contrast showing the nicest hotel of Kabul along with the slideshow up top.

Here is another example of progress that not all people get to enjoy. It is a billboard of an upcoming condo or hotel that is being built. I can guarantee that the average citizen will not be able to afford to live there. Another downside of progress is that the cost of living increases for the poor. Let's just hope that the poor does not get left behind in the dust all of the progress that is taking place.

Stay tuned. I will have a brand new slideshow tomorrow. Thanks for reading.