Where There Are No Doctors

Chiang Rai, Thailand, 2017

An eight-mile hike through the mountains of Chiang Rai led us to a remote Red Lahu village, where I joined a group of medical students volunteering alongside Dr. David Mar Naw. For the next week, Dr. David and the students provided basic medical care to the community.

Not every case was routine. Children arrived with injuries, and one woman was treated for a deep wound to her leg after being attacked with a knife. She was in considerable pain. Before treating the wound, Dr. David hurried outside, gathered a handful of plants, crushed them, and applied them directly to her leg to help ease the pain. The students then worked alongside him to clean the wound and stitch it closed.

Dr. David rarely missed an opportunity to teach. After villagers slaughtered a pig that would feed us for much of the week, he gathered the medical students around and used the fresh pig’s heart for an impromptu lesson on how the organ works.

For seven days, we lived alongside the community, sharing meals and sleeping in the village while Dr. David and the students provided care. These photographs are a record of that week.