WEDNESDAY

After nine hours sleep (when do I ever sleep for nine hours?!) and a shave, we headed for clinic again: it seems the word has gotten around that I am here and we see thirty patients during a non-stop 7 hour clinic! Fortunately I bought some local biscuits to help us avoid the National disease of gastritis! (8p for 5 biscuits).

We see the common cases of gastritis, colds, back pain, headaches and COPD but also see a likely fractured femur in a 10 month old (her sibling dropped her) & night blindness in a 6 yr old which is caused by common Vitamin A deficiency (and hopefully reversible). It is a sad reflection of the local poverty that the number of flies in the clinic gradually increases during the day. 

The evening sunshine catches the brown sides of the tall mountains overlooking us, making them glow orange and creating a beautiful backdrop to the roadside balconies that we walk past on a short walk home. 

The high rate of musculoskeletal pain reflects their very physical lives: as I write this I can see two young women standing pounding grain using long heavy wooden poles tipped with metal. They alternately raise their arms above their heads, then bend and ram the poles down into the small pit at their feet. It is a communal roadside affair: beside them sit at least six other women chatting as dusk approaches. Just up the road is the village communal stepped stone seats (at a small crossroads) where the men gather and chat at any time of day. This is true of all villages & often associated with a stupa.