Temporary Clinic and Daily Schedule

Back in my first post from Chanaute I included a picture of the temporary clinic which is actually made up of two separate buildings that look like they are joined but the rear structure was built about a year ago and the front building is an older building made of stone and cement (by our standards it could use some serious tuck pointing). The front clinic is where the midwives/nurses administer to the general health needs of the residents of Chanaute including first aid and dispensing western medicines. Behind this clinic room is the newer building that also has a clinic room which is where I'm treating patients each day. See picture below.


On top of these two small structures is a temporary metal shed that is bolted into the stone and cement buildings below and consist of five rooms. The front room serves as a meeting room for the clinic director and is used for everything from town meetings to construction planning as far as I can gather. The next room houses the three guys who perform the heavy construction projects (like building a retaining wall nearby for some new housing that will be built). During the day this room is sometimes used for other purposes like holding a informational meeting for local residents on how to apply for a work Visa abroad. The next room is a kitchen which is where Bina, one of the midwives cooks and where we both eat.


The last two rooms are bedrooms. One for Bina and one for myself.
Last but not least are the bathroom (a small tiled room with a sink and a hose from outside that supplies running water constantly and prevents you from closing the door completely) and a second toilet room that has an Asian style toilet (essentially a porcelain sink like structure that feeds into a hole in the ground that you squat over). I will say there are at least two advantages to this style of toilet. First, if you are not already aware, there are many who believe that it's better for your colon to squat during your bowel movement, so much so that there are devices sold that help you obtain a similar position with a standard toilet, thus creating what some call a squatty potty. Second, for anyone who has used a public toilet and wondered how clean that toilet seat is, with an Asian style toilet your bum never comes in contact with a seat since there is no seat. I actually think we should make all public toilets Asian style everywhere. :-)

My daily schedule so far usually involves waking up between 6:00-6:30, and starting my day by either going for a morning hike or doing some light exercise in my little room. Unfortunately I don't really have a good space to do Tai Chi at the moment.
After my morning exercise I either clean up (i.e. Take a cold bucket shower) or freshen up (comb my hair and put on some new deodorant). From what I can tell, the people of Chanaute don't generally shower every day based on my observations. Twice a week seems to be the high standard. But I'm guessing that many locals shower once a week or as they deem necessary. I actually haven't minded the cold bucket showers so far, but that may change as the weather and the local water source gets colder. After I clean up I meditate for about 20 minutes and then I have tea and breakfast.
At 9:00 am I start seeing patients in the clinic and work until about 11:30 before having lunch. Then it's back to the clinic until 4:00 or 5:00 depending on how busy we are that day.
The remainder of the day is spent doing some reading, listening to an audiobook, writing blog updates or drawing before having dinner and then calling home.




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