Working in Achham

Today is my fifth full day working in Achham. There are a lot of things I could take about, but not really great stories from over the past few days. I thought I would take a few minutes to just mention some of what it is like here.

Sleeping: I’m currently staying by myself in a room in one of the hospital’s staff quarters. It is not a big room but it is more than enough space as it is not furnished with the exception of a bed. The bed itself is a wooden board, but I have put a few layers of blankets on top of it to make it more comfortable to sleep on. I’m used to it by now.

Food: I eat three meals a day at the kitchen. The food is normally rice, and some sort of vegetable, normally potatoes, so it is not the most nutritious. It is also quite salty. Breakfast is normally has some kind of bread instead of rice. There is also always this thing called Dall to eat which is like a beef broth that is alright. Breakfast the past two days however has been pretty good as yesterday was kind of like a pancake, and today was homemade rice crispies. Both were good. I have not been eating a whole lot, but I am starting to get used to it.

Average day: Wake up whenever the sun wakes me in the morning, go to the community health and data office around 9 am to start working. Take a lunch break at 12:30, then work again till 6:30. Read for a couple hours, then eat dinner and go to bed.

The Work: Most of the work I have been doing so far has been working on some documents for the community health program. The phones are arriving in a couple days, so I will be able to get to work on that data project soon.

Electricity/ Internet: Very unreliable. There is not often electricity as the hospital’s solar panels have broken down and we are waiting for a replacement part for it to work again. Until then, the hospital has been using a generator but only when a patient needs it for treatment or when construction is going on as they are doing a lot of work here. I only have internet when the power is on, so it is not very often.

Water/ Sanitation: The toilet consists of a squatter toilet which I am still getting used to using. There is only water sometimes as it often gets disconnected somewhere away from the hospital, and when it turns back on, it is used for the hospital before it can get to the staff. I’m getting enough water to drink, but there is often not enough to fill up my water bottles (though it is getting better)

Weather: Very hot, and very dry. It has not rained once, and it is scorching in the afternoon.

My Health: Okay. I’ve had a lot of stomach and digestive troubles since getting here, but that is to be expected. Hopefully it will improve soon, and I’m not worried because I am at a hospital if anything happens