Day 32

On the way to work I noticed this lady with an extremely swollen lower leg. I think this is caused by a bacteria transmitted by mosquitos but I'm not sure. I'll have to show this picture to one of the doctors to get confirmation of what it's called. 

Narayanamma got teeth! She told me that when she was younger, she took paracetamol for a really bad fever and suffered a severe allergic reaction that caused severe swelling all around her jaw and mouth. A similar reaction occurred after taking paracetamol again during her first pregnancy. Her teeth ended up becoming loose and dentists pulled them out. She said her children were embarrassed by her toothless appearance and thought she looked like a grandma, so she decided to take out a 9,000 Rupee loan from the bank to get custom fitted dentures. She came to work today looking YEARS younger. I couldn't even recognize her when I saw her. I'm so happy for her!

I attended a quarterly TB meeting where all of the district supervisors presented their district progress reports for TB control. I came to the meeting late and took a seat in the third row of the back left corner of the room. Charles was presenting in the front and when he saw me take a seat, he frantically hand motioned for me to take a seat in the blue chair next to Dr. Begam. I thought he was just trying to be polite and give me a better view, but I was too lazy to move and motioned back to him that I was fine where I was. Later Dr. Begam also frantically motioned for me to sit next to her, and I finally gave in and moved to that blue chair. Once I sat down I realized that they maybe wanted me to sit on the "women's" side of the room, since I had seated myself on the "gents'" side of the room. Dr. Begam was the only female, so I'm still unsure. 

A doctor donated a number of wheelchairs made from recycled materials. The seats are plastic chairs and the tires come from bicycles. Super clever and innovative!