Santhosh's ramblings

As a professional care giver in health, looking back over last few decades of engagement in various ways of caring and facilitating systems of caring, I realize that my reasons of being in the field are not anymore that I started off with. I remember, when I started off on my journey, as a young consultant, I was one who wanted to change the world.   Started off with an arrogance that “I know it all” and I with my knowledge and skills can change the world I am kept in! I started off with also the clear understanding that I have the knowledge and skills, and the “poor and the people in need” my “God given talents and abilities” so that they can live a better life. (I do no think I still have been completely cured of this paradigm, but it seems to have weaned off a bit over last few decades.) And the institutional structures that I was part of, encouraged this paradigm. We are one of the best care providers, we have the knowledge, the ability and of course “compassion” as a...

A visit to the Armauer Hansen’s laboratory in the St Georges hospital, Bergen was an interesting but challenging one. The Leprosy Museum (Lepramuseet) in Bergen is housed in the 18th century buildings of St Jorgen’s (St George’s) Hospital, and St. Jorgen’s Church forms part of the old leprosy hospital buildings. The hospital was founded before 1411 and was the central institution for treating people affected by leprosy in Western Norway until its closure in 1946. The present-day buildings date back to the early 18th century. An enthusiastic historian with his passionate story telling stirred our hearts, minds and souls! Let me share with you some reflections, from what I heard. It was at St Jørgen that Hansen’s predecessor, Daniel Cornelius Danielssen, embarked on leprosy research in 1839. In 1840, Danielssen began a collaboration with Carl Wilhelm Boeck. This partnership culminated in the celebrated work ‘‘Om Spedalskhed (On Leprosy)’’, putting Bergen in the forefront o...