So yesterday (10/21/10) we visited another health clinic. This one was much smaller, but allowed more 1 on 1 opportunities with people from the community. It was great as everyone there was very interested in the information that we brought with us, and I feel everyone was about to talk about their respective topic in depth with multiple individuals. Another neat thing to point out is that I now have in ability to ever complain about not having enough space inside the pharmacy. The "pharmacy" in this clinic was the size of a closet, with not enough room for even 2 people to not bump shoulders.
Lastly, I have to mention the state of one of the patients that we met. This was a very very intense experience might I add. So we had an man come in who was very friendly, out going, nothing at all seemed wrong with him. What we didn't know is that this man has sickle cell disease which roughly 10 years ago caused a nasty decrease in blood flow to his legs which in turn caused necrosis of the skin engulfing his entire right shin, and a fist sized hole in his left. Anthony and I both had the chance to see this up close, and let me say that this wound was not your average sore. This man has been living with a wound the size of his entire shin for about 10 years that went as deep as the bone. He walks roughly 1/2-1 mile every other day to the clinic to get this cleaned, and the only pain killer he takes for this....Ibuprofen....I am in awe....
Today (10/22/10), we had the opportunity to go back into the capital city of Roseau to visit a herbal remedy specialist named Catherine. This woman had expansive knowledge regarding herbal medicines, and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend a couple hours with her going over some basic remedies, her life and beliefs, as well as sample some of the herbs she had freshly picked. I will give you a small example, of one of the herbs that we went over; Cayenne Pepper.
Cayenne Pepper (also known for its primary ingredient Capsicum) is a reddish pepper that is commonly used for both culinary and alternative medicine. Its uses range from stimulation of digestion and stomach muscles to promoting improved circulation to the peripheries, and protecting the stomach against certain medications such as Aspirin. Cayenne is also used topically to help with conditions such as arthritis, neuralgia, and muscle pain. The pepper itself is rated at about 30,000 -50,000 heat units on the Scoville scale, which is actually a more mild pepper. To give you a sense of scale, police pepper spray is labeled at roughly 8-9 million heat units while a Jalapeno Pepper is about 3000-8000 units. The vegetable itself is rich in Vitamin A, and includes Vit. C, B6, K, Manganese, and some fiber.
Overall another great day, and i'm looking forward to the weekend thats for sure!
Thanks everyone!
Tyler
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