There was a quiet excitement and anticipation in me before coming to Suriname this time—excitement to meet our Sewa volunteers here, and anticipation stirred by familiar memories from my visit to Nickerie in July 2023. I landed at the Paramaribo airport on Saturday night and was warmly greeted by Sewa Suriname volunteers Aswin ji Charoe and Abhinay.
The next morning, I travelled to Nickerie by taxi. Conversations with my co-passengers made the long drive more thoughtful and enjoyable. Mungra Medical Center arranged my stay in the physicians’ residence—an individual house with everything one needs for comfortable living. The experience was made even more pleasant by the delicious meals provided by MMC. I had carried a few essentials for the mornings—milk, eggs, and some snacks. Residences of physicians from the Netherlands surrounded the house. Though I didn’t find enough time for an informal dinner with them—perhaps next time—I did speak with several of them about cases and local challenges.
One of them, to my surprise, was the great-grandson of the legendary Dr. Snellen, who introduced the Snellen chart used worldwide for visual acuity testing. Life has a subtle, beautiful way of connecting past and present. Each day began with 7:30 a.m. sign-outs by the overnight staff, followed by rounds to see admitted patients, then the outpatient clinic. I saw many interesting and challenging cases, made more complex by resource limitations—restricted medication availability, limited MRI scanner availability, and the geographic gap between Nickerie and Paramaribo. Despite this, the volunteer physicians from the Netherlands have been holding the system together remarkably well.
What deeply touched me was the joy on the faces of Hindustani patients. One 83-year-old gentleman said, with tears in his eyes, that he was so happy someone from his grandfather’s country had come to treat him. I felt that warmth and connectedness to his roots, and it stayed with me. Overall, this journey has been inspiring, joyous, and humbling. We live in a global village, and the health and well-being of people in Suriname is a responsibility I share. Building and nurturing these connections is essential.
As the sewa motto reminds us: “Together we serve better.”
Bridges built with compassion, beyond all differences, can transform the well-being of communities—of the whole planet. Carrying all these wonderful memories, I depart with a small ache— a sense of unfinished care. And maybe that is what will bring me back again.
--Dr. Kiran Patil is a board-certified Neurologist at Independence Health System in Butler, PA, and a core member of the Doctors for Sewa team. He is currently volunteering in Suriname, where 20–25% of the population is of Indian origin. A patient interaction in Surinamese Hindi, reflecting shared ancestral roots, left a lasting impact on him. Based in Pittsburgh, he comes from a family involved in social work and actively supports Sewa work with his wife and two children.
