Do you recognize the two trees on either side of the outpatient clinic sign? They are both native in my hometown and one is my state tree. J This morning when I walked outside it sounded like a pet shop. I hard time trying to see them in the trees, but it sounded like a good sized flock of happy parakeets had decided to descend on compound. The power outages are at the annual minimum about now. We just heard that we are down to 1 “scheduled” hr per day off. It’s a pity that this extra energy cannot be stored properly against the other 9 months of the year when rain does not fill the rivers with hydroelectric power.
The past few weeks have been spent writing grant proposals and evaluations. This coming week, two of our Masters students from Tribhuvan University are hoping to have their final thesis defense. They both worked hard at Anandaban for almost 3 years on a project investigating strain typing for tracking short range transmission of leprosy. It was a lot of work! There are also several sets of government paperwork that need to be submitted this week and next. Next week, a project auditor from the US will come to check on the skin test project paperwork. At the same time, Dr. Hugh Cross, our TLM national rep, will be here for strategic 5yr planning meetings for the hospital. Doesn’t everyone enjoy back-to-back all day long intense meetings?
The week after that… I leave for Japan and Hong Kong. In Fukuoka, Japan there will be an NIH US/Japan cooperative Leprosy and Tuberculosis meeting. Scientists will present their latest findings for discussion. It’s a great opportunity to learn, meet with collaborators and see friends and colleagues! After that, I’ll fly to Hong Kong for a biosafety and good clinical practices training workshop specific for leprosy and TB. The last time I attended a workshop hosted by this group, we were in sessions essentially from breakfast til evening – lots of information. This trip and workshop is funded by the US National Institutes of Health. So, US tax payers, this is something that you are funding. Many sincere thanks! Two of us from Nepal are receiving the training as well as another Leprosy Mission lab staff from Cebu. Hopefully, the training will help us maintain the best levels of lab procedures in handling human samples for hospital testing and research.
By the way, working in a developing country diagnostic laboratory makes for special opportunities. Yes, my office door is right next to where samples are taken for lab testing. How often do people bring their sputum to you in bottles like this? This patient had shown considerable thoughtfulness to carry this with him on his journey to Anandaban. Ishwor promptly added Lysol. I think we prefer our sputum samples freshly hacked on site.
The internet has slowed again of late. Oh well, when you notice that I don’t post as much it is most likely due to power, internet and/or workload issues. It is never, ever because there is a lack of things going on! If I have good internet access in Japan or Hong Kong, I will try to find time to post pics and maybe even video.
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