joeharrisfan

It was sad, to be concise. Haunting, almost. The people there are wonderful, very hospitable and kind. The system, on the other hand, is a different story. The worst thing was the poverty and the effects of the system not being distributed equally. The worst thing I saw...I was instructed to write a 55-word description of it after the trip as a way to cope with what I saw:

Koreans don’t scream - they wail with emotion. I traced the shrieks out the North Korean OR to another. Open doors. A young patient, no older than I. Strapped arms, chest, legs. Shrieking. Open abdomen, conscious patient, casual surgeons. Head turns - ferocious eyes rife with pain. Anesthesia? Not enough money. The cries of a debilitated warrior. Insomnia.

Another story: I was almost not able to make it out of the country with what I was carrying. I can't say what exactly on the internet though, sorry, but it really was a miracle. At the checkpoint, they had me take out all books, electronics, computers, cameras, and flash drives. As I was taking everything out, I threw up a prayer, and at that moment, the guard watching over me was called away, and in that time I thrust "things" into my jacket (I had already been patted down). They checked my other belongings and I was safely out.

EDIT: Okay, some of the material was photos that I couldn't post on the internet. I'm not taking out nukes or Bibles or anything!

Wow, what a thought-provoking question. Yes! Perhaps not from their technology, but from their character (especially doctors). Their tenacity, resilience, and compassion is what American doctors can learn from. Imagine a healthcare system without the pressures of making millions and corrupt insurance companies bleeding out the population. Doctors know they don't know they have much to work with, but they do all that they can.

TB and Hep B are two of the biggest diseases in NK. Many doctors that serve these people contract those diseases and often die from them. That speaks volumes on their life. They work with urgency, and they serve with empathy.

So perhaps medicine isn't about making money to buy a yacht or a new set of drivers. Maybe it's about serving the people.

Yes, out of privacy concerns not for the DPRK but for the NGOs that still go. If I say something that raises eyebrows and they link me to the groups that are making great progress, I can deter or hinder that progress by being careless.

Haha! Well, we were actually impressed with the organization that North Korea undertook to quarantine itself from Ebola. In fact, a few days after I left, the country shut down, so I was very fortunate.

No. But you are instructed to say what you have to say. In the Operating Rooms, we had the freedom of not being shadowed by guards, and the doctors and I had honest conversations. The whole population has a general idea of how debilitated the government is. You may have heart of the Great Famine of North Korea in the 90's. Massive flooding resulted in destroyed crops (North Korea is 80% mountainous and 20% of the land is arable, but only 1.6% is used for permanent farming) and 5-6 years of intense famine. Many died, and people resorted to eating tree bark or cannibalism as you may have heard. It was a dark time, and really, many people were saved only because of American and South Korean NGOs flooding the land with tons of food (Christian Friends of Korea sent in 700 tons of rice and other food in that period of time).

Sorry, I got sidetracked.

Yes. The guides followed us like hawks. For instance, if I went to a public restroom at a restaurant, the male guide would follow me into the bathroom and wait outside my stall. Fortunately, this was no ordinary tour group, but rather a medical team. We got to go to Wonsan and see the the operating rooms in Pyongyang. We were able to see impoverished parts because our role as medical providers necessitated that. Hope the gallery is informative! I've only gone there once, so I'm no expert by any means.