(Team member: Registered Nurse working at Kitano Hospital)
Good evening, everyone. My name is Hikaru Oda, and I work in the Central Surgery Ward at the Kitano Hospital. Thank you for inviting me to speak here tonight.
The world is facing a number of medically related problems, such as medical treatment of various illnesses and AIDS. I think any nurse would love to have the opportunity to visit America, which is said to have the most advanced medical treatment in the world, at least once, and as a nurse, I was very interested in seeing America's medical system firsthand.
When I first heard about the GSE program from the hospital director, I wanted to go, and that is how I first became acquainted with the Rotary's GSE program. Since I had never been overseas to study and never even traveled abroad, this GSE program allowed me to fulfill a dream I had never imagined possible, and it is something I will never forget.
During my vocational study, I visited 12 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. One difference between the United States and Japan was the amount of time patients spend in the hospital. I had heard about things from Ms. Sugino, who had the privilege of participating in a previous GSE trip, but as you know medical costs are astronomically high in the United States because of the medical insurance situation. I heard that the average time in the hospital for having a baby is two or three days at the most, and for major surgery it is about two weeks if there are no complications. One thing that really surprised me was the number of patients requiring full anesthesia who checked into the hospital on the day of the operation. At Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, they had a special room set aside for such patients. Everything from patient privacy to emotional security was taken care of by the doctors, nurses and special care givers who were assigned to each of the patients.
At the children's hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, the time in the hospital was at most one full day for mothers who had normal deliveries. The hospital provided an environment which enabled the patients to return home quickly. Mothers and babies were put together immediately after birth. The system they have there to teach new mothers how to feed, bathe and take care of their newborns, all within 24 hours of birth, is absolutely unimaginable here in Japan. The most surprising thing to me was that everyone, both the medical staff and the patients, was satisfied with the system the way it is.
The thoughts that came to my mind were things like, "Can the women's bodies handle this?", "Don't they feel uneasy about going home so soon?", and "Even if it costs more money, don't they want to spend a longer time in the hospital?"
In York, Nebraska, at one of my homestays, I had the chance to talk about the medical situation in America. They said, "Of course, money is a major concern, but today's medical science discoveries are amazing, and we fully trust the doctors. As far as we are concerned, recovering at home is far more peaceful and comfortable than recovering in a hospital." When I heard that, I thought about the expression being batted around here in Japan the past few years-- quality life.
I was also able to see patients who, like patients who were told upfront that they have cancer, were able to think clearly about what kind of life they were going to live now that they know they are ill and to think about the things they should do with the time they have left.
And at every hospital I visited, I saw a very active volunteer work force which was helping both the medical staff and the patients. The pastor I met at a church in Lincoln, Mr.Bill Palman, was working as a volunteer at the Bryan Memorial Hospital the next day.
I also learned by my visits to nursing homes and special housing for the elderly that the growing problem of treating elderly patients is the same as what we are facing here in Japan. I felt that even though our history and culture are different, we are all dealing and living with the same problems.
I stayed with 12 host families during my four weeks in America. Most of the homestays were just for two nights, and with my poor English I wasn't able to get to know any of the families deeply, but later I came to realize just how precious an experience it was to have the chance to stay with so many families in the American Midwest.
America gained its independence from England. With such a short history, my homestay families knew quite a lot about their ancestors. And they were able to talk about them with confidence. They had come to this land where there was once nothing, tilled the soil, started a life, raised their families, and built their communities and their nation.
In one discussion with host in York, he said, "I think the immigrants who came to this land where nothing existed but the prairie were able to start a new life with the little they had because everyone cooperated with their neighbors and those in the community. They were proud to be able to relate gently and kindly with one another. And being able to born here, and have the freedom to decide what we will do, where we will go and what we will say is also something that we Americans are proud of." I felt that thanks to my being able to visit the Midwest, I had come to learn about the true America.
We moved from one city to another every three days, and during that time we visited 16 Rotary Clubs. Our presentation consisted of our self-introductions and a slide show. Everyone was interested in our work, life style, and families, and I think we were more or less able to share with them about a life style and culture they have never seen.
Those who didn't even know where Japan is located listened very intently, and after the meetings were over many people would come up to ask questions. I think these moments also served as meaningful times of cultural exchange.
I had some painful and difficult times in America, particularly when I wasn't able to understand English or say what I wanted to say, or when I sat next to Rotarians at the meetings and was unable to say anything to them from beginning to end. Still, even though my English was so poor, the American Rotarians taught me many things about American culture. They allowed me to experience many things that I would never have had the chance to experience for a whole lifetime, such as attending church, seeing a traditional Protestant wedding, seeing wild buffalo, visiting the State Legislature, having an Easter dinner, being able to observe an operation, flying in a Cessna and much more.
Before going to America, I never imagined that I would be able to observe an operation in the operating room itself, but it was quite easy for me to do so at most of the hospitals I visited.
When I told Mr. Okuda about how moved I was by all I had experienced, he simply said, "That's what the Rotary is all about." During the year or so I spent getting ready to go on the GSE trip, I had absolutely no understanding of the Rotary and what it is about, but when Mr. Okuda said those words to me, I felt that I had finally come to understand, for the first time, what the Rotary is all about.
Through my participation in the GSE program, I was able to meet many people. Mr. Okuda and the other team members, a large number of Rotarians, and my homestay families, and I came to realize that the founding of these new friendships is part of what the Rotary desires to achieve. I believe that making these new friends, getting to know each other better and sharing our opinions all of this is merely the first step in the GSE program. My participation in the GSE program will have a tremendous impact on my future. I want to express from the bottom of my heart how thankful I am to the Rotary International for giving me this wonderful opportunity, to the Osaka-Umeda Rotary Club who sponsored me, to everyone in District 2660, and to Mr. Okuda, who supported and guided all the team members from the first day to the last.
Thank you everyone!
