UPDATE JULY 2006

[ See also recent photos - July 2006 ]

Dear friends, namaskar.

Our project has made good progress this past month in the area of construction. Thanks to the donations received from many of you, we've been able to complete the wall plastering in all seven rooms of the first section of the ground floor of the new clinic building, i.e. the consultation rooms for acupuncture, homeopathy and allopathy as well as the acupuncture hall, the office, staff kitchen and storage room. The electrical installation has also been completed, as well as fitting of all doors including the front gate.

Additional cementing had to be done on the roof, as puddles were forming after rainfall and there was no drainage system in place yet, so that the rainwater was flowing over the outside walls and resulting in dampness of the insides of the walls. We leveled the roof and constructed a low brick border along the edge of the roof with drainage holes and pipes in appropriate places. This month we will complete also the plastering of the outside walls, for further protection against the rain. The other still pending construction work is the kitchen flooring, plumbing and painting inside and outside.

The beginning of the monsoon rains last month marked the prime time for planting and landscaping. We cleared the clinic surrounding of weeds and wild bushes to make way for more than 20 papaya and banana trees. The papaya trees grow quickly and provide fruit as well as shade within 6 months. We also planted a variety of vegetables including gourd, bitter gourd, cucumbers, beans, two varieties of spinach and several root vegetables. Nine new herbs have been added to the herbal garden.

The simple and temporary bamboo fence which we constructed last year around the front of the temporary building and around the whole compound has been increasingly damaged over the past few months. In front of the temporary building it has now been replaced with a stronger and more permanent wood and bamboo fence. For the compound fence we've started to plant hedge plants along it, so that after several months it will be much stronger as well as more attractive. Some simple fencing has been done in front of the new building to separate from each other the areas for herbs, other plants, pathway and the parking area.

Since we began the project last year, patients, staff and visitors have had to enter our compound through the neighbour's property, as we didn't have our own access to the main road. Last month we were able to establish our own access pathway and main gate, connecting our compound directly to the road.

In our weekly village programs since beginning of June we've started well cleaning again, as with the rainy season the village wells become dirtier and often cause diarrhoea and dysentery for many villagers. As during last year's rainy season, this year we again are demonstrating to the villagers how to easily and cheaply disinfect the water by mixing into the well a small amount of bleaching powder, and how to clean and disinfect the well surrounding with phenyl. At each program between 100 and 200 villagers attended.

Until some time ago, AIDS was still relatively rare in our district. Recently however, 5 deaths due to AIDS were reported. Therefore the local health department and city hospital have appealed to local NGOs to start AIDS awareness programs especially for the rural population. We've taken up this program in coordination with another local NGO for rural development. Our first program was held on 24 June at our clinic; 85 attended from nearby villages. They had no proper understanding about what AIDS is, and some had never even heard of it. So this and our upcoming AIDS programs are groundbreaking health education in our rural area. The second program was held one week later, with 129 attending.

Another newly started preventive health care activity is the Malaria Eradication Program. Last month 2 of our assistant staff began attending training sessions for this program conducted by the local health department in the nearby city. The training will continue for one year, and from this month our trainees will begin with the Malaria education programs in the villages of our area. Both training and village programs are sponsored by the government.

Great news this month is the connection of our clinic to the government electricity supply, after many months of bureaucracy and waiting. Already more than one month ago the work order for the installment of the poles, cables and other equipment for the connection was approved, and some time later the poles were delivered. Again several weeks passed until finally the transformer was delivered, and with our own efforts to acquire still lacking cables, we were able to complete the connection during the last days of June. This has made our working and living at the clinic much easier, as our generator and lead-acid battery haven't been working well since months.

Another increase of our work efficiency has been made possible by expanding the employment of Dillip, our senior acupuncturist and project co-manager, from 3 days to 6 days (full time). In this way not only the acupuncture services, but also construction, village programs and other activities can move ahead more smoothly and efficiently, even and especially when I go overseas every 6 months for at least a month.

Last but not least we're very happy that a small group of friends in Singapore have announced their visit to our clinic coming December. One of them is a trained nurse and shiatsu therapist and may stay some days longer to give direct service to our patients. We hope to expand our services around that time to include regular wound treatment and dressings with an adequately equipped dressing room and a newly employed nurse or nurse assistant, who can receive training and guidance from our friend.

We welcome also any other visitors or volunteers to come at any time, especially now that the first section of the new building is nearing completion and we also have our electricity connection. Many thanks to all of you for your ongoing support and interest in our project.

Yours
Dada Devashuddhananda

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