health care continued

Oct 30, 2006

Whenever I head to a very different climate, I know it will take me 2 weeks to adjust. If I can adjust carefully then I will not get sick unless something unexpected happens. Often when people go on vacation they get sick right away particularly if they go to a developing county. For me, this is important to avoid if I am coming to work in the villages. I don’t want to feel poorly on top of adjusting so I take time to adjust.

I rest a great deal, drink my oral rehydration formula and take appropriate homeopathics and vitamins each day as the need arises. This must sound like a traveling medicine chest and it is. Over the many years I’ve traveled both alone and with my children, I have avoided some of the more serious complaints.

So here are some other things I carry and what I do with them. I carry Tea Tree Oil and Grapefruit Seed oil. The GFSO is used internally for any type of digestive complaint. If used immediately you can avoid stomach problems by either contaimenated foods or water. It is extremely bitter. When I start I dissolve 1-3 drops in water then see how I feel. If I burb and pass wind then I usually know I’ve stopped the growth of the bacteria inside. If not, I take more and adjust.

I also use the GFSO and TeaTree externally. I bathe or wash 2x/day and put one or two drops of each into a rinse water I’ll use after I shampoo and wash. This I pour over my body and hair as the last thing before I dry. This keeps away the skin fungus, heat rash and usually calms the insect bits. I do not use any repellent. I don’t choose to use chemical ones and the natural ones haven’t always worked. But when I come to Pakistan again I’ll bring several and see if they work on whatever has been biting me. I’m not certain what is I biting me (no-see-ems) but I’ve been bitten a great deal this week only on my belly, hips and back and itch particularly at night.

This might be bed bugs.

I carry Psorinum and Mezereum. I take the former to block any scabies attacks and the latter for the night time itching. I carry Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide in 6c. The pollution is exteme here. I take them 1-2x/day depending on how much driving we are doing. I also take Tuberculium whenever my lungs are feeling weak. Next year I'll look for some other cough remedies. Everyone seems to have a pollution cough, me included.

Bouncing around in an older Jeep on roads that are like washboards for hours each day is tiring and bone crunching. Symphytum helps as does Cimicifuga. Doing some form of stretching or yoga whenever I find a floor space appropriate that also helps.

Vitamins are: probiotics, laxatives (taken 1x/week to have a good thorough bowel movement), liver herbs, hawthorn for the heart, herbal sleeping formula and sea vegatation. The types of vitamins I carry will depend on the place and what my particular health issues have been during the recent months. It’s vitally important to protect from intestinal parasites so cleansing the bowel every week is important.

The best cleanse is a Yogi one. Drink 2 liters of room temperature salted water all at once in the morning but don’t eat. It takes about 3-4 hours to work through your intestines and you’ll have 5-6 bowel motions. Your head will clear out and you’ll realize that even with all your care you still weren’t feeling well.

Changing weather, food, environment along with social behaviors is always challenging. Since I will remain in Pakistan for 2 months I will become more adapted. Heading to the mountains next week so I’ll need to use a whole new set of remedies and vitamins. I’m prepared.

I’m writing this at 1:00pm. I’m in my room. The mullahs are calling prayer from all the mosques with amplified speakers. The roar of buses, lorries and motorized rickshaws travels easily up the two stories, along with all the sirens and talking of people on the street. The courtyard is shared by many homes so all the talking is heard along with children crying. Life abounds and I’m happy to be part of it.

For people who do not travel or live in less developed countries, the pleasure of so much life reminds one of the lack of it in so many developed countries where families are isolated one from another and children absorbed by TV and computers.

Most people would be horrified at the children here. First of all they share the road with all the vehicles. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. The horn is used frequently but not aggressively and children from the age of 2 know to give vehicles the right of way. Gaggles of children wander the streets at certain times of the day. Pakistan does not have compulsory education so few children are educated and fewer girls.

Since we are in a poor area, the rags children wear are the colour of dust. It is the young girls and women who wear colour and wear colour they do. Their clothing is always remarkably bright and decorated yet they cover their heads. There are less women wearing burqa (full covering here) and these are always black.

I can’t imagine what it is like to wear black in this weather. Since there are many tribal groups the clothing is most often tribal with a head covering.

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