Naipur

Today we went to a satellite clinic two hours south of Calcutta, in a village called Naipur. This is for patients who are stable and live at home, but need repeat prescriptions. I helped in the dispensary: a woman would work out how many drugs were needed for two weeks (the clinic runs every fortnight) and would ask us for the amounts, which we would collect and she would put in a paper bag with when to take them on the front. I was surprised that our work was never checked for the right amounts: she would have a cursory glance but that was all. Also, most patients were prescribed multivitamins as well, which came in a big pot. I would pick out individual tablets and put them in the bag. I was not wearing gloves or had washed my hands, but they didn't seem bothered! After that, we went for a walk by the Ganges.

The queue of people waitinhg for the clinic to open. This tiny hut was where the clinic was held: there was a tiolet, one room for the psychiatrists, one for the social worker and the dispensary, and a waiting room.

This is the room with the psychiatrists. They share a table and see two patients simultaneously. The door is also always open to the waiting room (on the left) - no privacy at all!

This is the ganges. When the Aussie volunteers got here, they showed the patients a photo of the beach in Australia. The patients were facinated at the colour of the sea - "It is blue. Is it really that colour?" Meg said, with some confusion, that of course the sea was blue, what colour did they think? White they replied. The sea is white. I can now see why they think that!

I saw a coconut, and had to have one.