Bong Broh's back

In the physio up-grade training clinic, Steve and the Khmer physios are currently targeting back and neck pain. It changes every 10 weeks so they gain experience in a wide range of areas. It also means that they meet a wide range of characters, like the one Steve was dealing with yesterday…

Bong Broh (older brother) is a very poor man. He arrives at the clinic each week in the same clothes. He is often unwashed and smelly, yet Steve encourages the physios to treat this man with the same concern and respect as the office worker, foreigner or movie star.

After weeks of treatment with no results, Steve sent him to a local hospital for an MRI scan of his spine. As Steve was unsure of the cost, he gave Bong Broh more than enough money to pay for it ($150), instructing him to get a receipt and to return the remaining funds next time he came to the clinic.

It was a lot of money and it was too much temptation for Bong Broh. When he returned, he brought back only $5 claiming that they didn’t give him a receipt. Steve accepted this, but when he pulled the x-ray film from the envelope he also found a receipt for only $80.

Furious at being lied to, Steve managed to remain quiet while he slowly thought through the situation and his response. He knew that without his help, this man would never recover and his family would remain shockingly destitute. In the end, he spoke strongly to Bong Broh, reprimanding him to be honest in order to show gratitude for the support he was getting from the clinic.

The scan showed that Bong Broh needs an operation if he is to have any hope of reducing his debilitating pain. So yesterday (learning from his previous “near miss”), Steve met Bong Broh at the hospital and directly paid the operating doctor $550 of project funds (Bong Broh had previously told him it would cost $850). He also gave Bong Broh $40 to buy a clean set of clothes, a sarong, a sleeping mat and food for his stay in hospital… it was a generous amount from which we are hoping he can manage save a little for his family.

They operated last night and we won’t know for a number of days whether the operation was a success.

It all reminds me of Matthew 9:11-13 when the Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples why He eats with tax collectors and "sinners". Jesus replied, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners".