3.06.2011

day trippin

A few weeks ago I tagged along with a friend of mine on a day trip to a little village in Kaduna State. She coordinated a donation to benefit this village's medical clinic.  Before the donation, the medical clinic consisted of a tiny hut with two beds; babies were born right next to where AIDS patients were treated.  Thanks to this donation, they were able to expand the medical clinic to its own building with three separate treatment rooms.  The improvement really was astonishing.  I felt very lucky to get to watch the ribbon-cutting, and I was also pretty proud of our government's donation because I could actually see how it will make a difference. 
The hut in the foreground is the original medical clinic.  The new clinic is in the background.  And yes, I accidentally walked into that ribbon.  (The side was still taped on after the front was cut!  And the attendees thought it was hilarious.)
 
I feel like I should also mention it was my first exper- ience without running water.  They had to teach me how to use the bucket to flush the toilet - which I'm still not sure if I did right.  Crazy the things you take for granted.

Here's the link to the rest of my pictures from that trip:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100586084762366858227/20110218?authkey=Gv1sRgCNKo1ZT5up_nVw&feat=directlink