Free-Medical-Care

An experience story by Emma about 'Medical Camp Ladakh 2025'

My name is Emma, I am a medical student from Berlin, and this past September, I had the great pleasure of being part of the gynecological team at the Medical Camp in Ladakh. The ten days of working alongside Dr. Ayla and her team were not only extremely educational for me professionally but were also characterized by inspiring teamwork, many special encounters, and unforgettable experiences.

I was allowed to participate very independently in the examinations and had numerous valuable interactions with patients. I was particularly impressed by the commitment and trust with which the women from Ladakh come for preventative care; many of them travel long distances to get there and have been visiting the camp for many years. It was clearly evident how much trust they place in Dr. Ayla and her team, and how comfortable patients of all age groups, from under 20 to over 70, feel under their care.

During my time at the camp, I was able to learn many new examination techniques and see a variety of clinical pictures for the first time. A particularly formative experience for me was seeing how medicine is practiced under limited conditions, and yet comprehensive care is still successfully provided. Limited materials, power outages, and water damage were constant challenges, but Dr. Ayla and her team manage to maintain a professional and pleasant examination environment despite these circumstances. The patients leave the camp with a good feeling, and that deeply impressed me.

I am very grateful to have made a small contribution this year to this important project, which so visibly makes a difference. I hope to be part of this team again in the future, and one day as a fully qualified doctor.

Thank you to all my colleagues for the wonderful collaboration, and see you soon!

This is how our mission leader Ayla commented 'Medicamp Ladakh 2024'

The Heartbeat of Ladakh!

The journey to Ladakh was a battle before it even began. Plagued by visa complications, our arrival in Leh was delayed by two crucial days, a frustrating start to a mission we had anticipated for months. Yet, the moment we finally stepped onto Ladakhi soil, any lingering frustration was washed away by the warmth of the welcome we received.

Preparations began in a flurry the very next day. We reunited with Samten, our steadfast local coordinator, and the wonderful team of volunteer nurses and lab assistants from the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre. We were met with a pleasant surprise: the small hospital had been completely renovated. It had served as a quarantine facility during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result, it was now modernized and better equipped than we had ever seen it. To our delight, a new gynecological chair and a relatively good ultrasound machine were available. Our only limitation was the lack of a breast ultrasound probe, but we were grateful for what we had.

Given the four years that had passed since our last visit and our delayed arrival, we had planned for a quiet start. Samten had only broadcast the news of our camp via radio three days before our arrival. But the need was greater than we could have imagined. Even before our official start, three women who had heard the initial announcement arrived, only to be told of our delay. Determined, they took the time to come back, and we examined them and provided therapy recommendations before our clinic had even formally opened.

We were assigned a single room, which we creatively transformed into a fully functional clinic. With a few adjustments, it became an examination room, a small pharmacy, a consultation space, and a changing area, all in one. A corner served as our lab station, where we meticulously washed and sterilized our instruments throughout the day.

The first official morning began with a lovely breakfast, lovingly prepared by the Mahabodhi Center—a daily ritual of coffee, apples, and encouragement. When we arrived at the hospital, we were stunned. The entrance was swamped with people. A queue snaked down the stairs and out the main door, with a dense cluster of women crowding the registration desk. The local volunteers were a bit overwhelmed. We took a deep breath, headed to our room, and simply began to work.

Knowing that many of these women had traveled vast distances, some over 200 or 300 kilometers, we were determined not to turn anyone away. We threw ourselves into the work, giving it our all. On our busiest days, we saw up to 70 patients, each visit including a preliminary talk, a thorough examination, and a final consultation with a therapy plan. For some, we performed minor procedures in the hospital's beautifully modernized operating theater. The sheer number of patients was overwhelming, but their gratitude was profoundly moving. Some wept with relief.

Amid the blur of faces and stories, one encounter stood out. A woman arrived who we had operated on eleven years ago. At the time, no surgeon had been willing to help her due to a combination of an infectious disease, a single kidney, and a severely myomatous uterus. She had traveled a long way just to see us again and get a check-up to ensure everything was still okay. She was radiant, the very picture of health and vitality, almost unrecognizable from the woman we remembered from over a decade ago. Her smile was pure joy. Seeing her so happy and healthy made us feel overjoyed in return. In that moment, we felt the profound purpose of our work crystallize. There were others, too—patients we had seen five, seven, or ten years prior, who returned for follow-ups. But this one case had remained etched in our memory.

Despite the long hours and our relentless pace, we couldn't get through the entire list of women who had registered. The work was endless. But as we packed up our instruments on the final day, exhausted but fulfilled, we carried with us the image of that smiling woman—a living, breathing testament to the heartbeat of the work we were so privileged to do.

Sibels retrospection from 'Ladakh 2019' mission!

At first the project made me feel skeptical, since it would have been the first trip to Ladakh/India in my life. I had huge concerns about the surrounding in Ladakh and about the possibilities how I could support the project. Since I very trust my friend Dr. Ayla Bayrak and the other friends, who joined the organization, I decided to be part of the trip without further ado. From the very first moment I arrived in Leh everybody welcomed me with lots of love and respect. It made me feel very happy and pleased to help people, who otherwise would never have the chance to get plastic surgery. Most of the patients have been children with burn injuries or congenital malformations. It was a pleasure to see the happiness in their faces after their medical treatment. Moreover, coming from thousands of kilometers away and being able to contribute something positive to their lives made me feel satisfied and to be honest a bit proud. The whole time we spent in Ladakh we have been treated with overwhelming hospitality. Thus, we made great friends. The people I meet will remain in my heart and I will remember them with great fondness.

Such experiences are the motivation for our team of Free-Medical-Care e.V.

This is the story of eight year old Lotus. Due to heavy burn injuries his ability to move was limited in such a way that he was unable to walk. His older sister carried him as far as she could, but living a ´normal´ life for Lotus and his family was impossible. From 2012 onwards Lotus was under medical treatment of Free-Medical-Care e.V. including several surgerys. On arrival in 2015 the team was moved to tears seeing Lotus playing football with his friends besides the monastery of Ladakh.