Awesome, awesome, awesome day at the clinic today. Just really incredible. Got to ride the truck on the way over, and, well, the roads we bounced around on in Costa Rica look like fresh asphalt by comparison. QUITE impressive. And, there was a miscommunication about when the clinic was opening, so many people (meaning MANY) camped out not just one night waiting for us...but two nights. Ooo, felt bad. So, when we got there, we almost couldn't pull the truck into the driveway. On one side, a crowd of sick people, on the other, a three-foot deep ditch. We made it work but it was sure invigorating.
Today, in general was a slow-ish day, but I think we still probably saw a hundred people. I mostly confined myself to the upstairs storage room, working with Linda, who lives here now, and has implemented a full tracking database. Didn't have that before. How do you effectively run a pharmacy with no tracking system? Answer: you don't. In years past, it took the team a whole week to unload and shelve its drugs and materials. We mostly finished by the end of the day today. One goal for us is to do a top-to-bottom count of the storage room, in anticipation of the last visiting team in May. Since the mission closes for the summer, that last team tends to prescribe a lot more medication, and having an exact inventory helps the mission tell that team what to bring. I guess this highlights my own egghead tendencies, but it's kind of a thrill to be able to do that kind of task, which does little for me or my team, but makes a real impact on the larger goal. This whole inventory system is goes galactic distances towards improving the efficiency of the clinic AND all the visiting teams. Mmm, I'm almost waxing poetic about medical inventory databases.
Dork.
So, it was a reasonably full day, followed by...well, most of us walked back to the clinic. It was warmish, and a bit humid (not by Southern standards), and the road is not in good repair. It's quite rocky terrain and way steep; I'm not sure how anyone gets any farming done here, though I did see some short corn stalks. And the thing is, the intact concrete portions of the road have mostly filled in with sediment. So when they get wet, say, after a late afternoon rainstorm, there's a curious kind of surfing to be done. You don't really want to wipe out on the rusty can lid there on the shoulder. Again, invigorating.
But the plants here are....what are they? Some kind of acacia, a lot of trumpet-flower, some kind pea family plant, and some comfrey cousin, plus who knows what else. Took a bunch of pictures of plants in flower that I'm going to try to ID.
And then there are the all the folks you pass along the way. Unbelievably friendly people, and very funny kids. I have a pictures of a kid who wanted his photo taken, though I couldn't catch his name. Mostly folks just seemed quite good-natured; greeting people is deeply ingrained in the culture. It's so Midwestern. Who knew?
Tomorrow: day 2. We're told the pace picks up as folks settle into their routines. Stay tuned....
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