Living Conditions
What are the living conditions for the people serviced by the clinic?
The villagers live in one- or two-room homes made of wooden boards with dirt floors. There is no running water, electricity, or indoor plumbing. Few homes have latrines. Cooking is done over an open fire inside the home, and smoke-related illness is widespread, especially among the younger children. Water is carried in plastic jugs from a nearby lake or stream during the dry season. In the rainy season, water runs into a community cistern or, in some cases, rain is caught in rooftop gutters and runs into a plastic storage tank. Life is hard and death remains a constant threat because of the absence of medical care.