The past one week has been pretty eventful. As I mentioned in the previous posts, I’ve been involved with the school health survey, home visits, blood donation drive, aedes survey etc.

These are the few lessons and reminders that came to my mind over the past 5 days…

1. It is not easy to be a teacher.
If you have nice and obedient students, then I guess it may be alright. But if you have a class filled with cheeky students who don’t give a damn about what you say or teach, well, that is another story.

2. It is not easy to be a school-health nurse.
Giving health talks in schools daily when nobody wants to listen is really a test of patience. While the poor nurse was trying her best to educate the class on the dangers of Estacy pills, some students were chatting among themselves, others were glaring/sneering at her, while one student was actually fixing her hair while staring at her reflection in her pocket mirror. Argh!

3. When you hold a needle, you have the upper hand.
When these same annoying students lined up for their anti-tetanus injection, they weren’t looking as smug as before. Hrmmph. The ball is now in our court. Better be nice to us, or we’ll jab your arm really really hard…

4. The blood donation needle is huge.
I’ve never donated blood before as I have been conveniently underweight previously, therefore being ineligiable to donate. Now that I’ve seen the needle up-close as well as inserted a few into other people’s arms, I am all the more determined to remain underweight.

5. People in small towns have bigger veins.
I postulate that it could be due to the fact that they have a tougher life and exercise more. These small-town people are also much more forgiving when you miss their veins, unlike those in the metropolitan city who would just scold you and demand for your qualifications.

6. Giving birth is a painful process.
5 of us watched 3 deliveries in a row on Wednesday night, and that was enough to put us off giving birth once again. The first mother gave birth so fast, it was as though she was laying an egg. The 2nd mother on the other hand took quite some time before the baby actually came out. As for the 3rd mother, she was screaming and crying and not wanting to push. She needed an episiotomy and the nurse was waiting for the right time to cut. As the baby’s head kept popping in and out, she was also deciding whether to cut or not to cut. Each time she nearly cut, our blood pressure shot up, we stopped breathing, only to repeat the cycle until she finally snipped it…

7. 10.00 am is tea-time.
In government service, morning tea is a very important meal of the day. No matter what you are doing, you’ve gotta stop for a drink, a kuih or something lah. Then only got energy to work mah.

Well, I guess this is all for now. Perhaps there will be more to come in the future…