 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Ighiu Dispensary is the main health centre for Ighiu village and the four satellite villages that surround it. This means that this one small dispensary has to serve in the region of seven to eight thousand people, most of whom are extremely poor and many of who have severe health problems.
When we first arrived in Ighiu in 1993, we found the doctor, a lady named Luci Angel, struggling to cope in a ramshackle building that had no water supply or toilet facilities and virtually no real medical equipment to speak of.
The wooden floors were rotted through leaving huge holes that had been filled with cement. The floor was then covered with a patchwork of linoleum that was curling up at the edges. The walls were peeling and damp was rife.
To date our group has dug a well to the depth of fifty feet in order to obtain a constant supply or water. In the well is a submersible pump that supplies water storage tanks in the loft of the building. From there runs a full hot and cold water supply along with heating ( temperatures can get as low as -15C ), a toilet and a shower. To ensure the safe disposal of the wastewater, we dug a septic tank at the rear of the building. A complete new floor was laid and covered properly with linoleum to enable washing down of the floors.
We have decorated as we have gone along and the whole building is currently in the process of being completely painted thanks to a generous donation. We are investigating plans to convert the basement of the building to provide another two rooms so that the dispensary can be rearranged to allow a room with some beds to allow overnight staying of patients. Currently patients must travel to and from the dispensary everyday if they require continued treatment which can mean lengthy travel for many patients. This can obviously aggravate many conditions so an overnight room would be of great benefit to many.
We previously managed to obtain a complete high speed dental unit by way of a donation which replaced an old belt driven unit that they had been using. Along with this we have supplied a variety of equipment and medicines. This is an ongoing project for the SROA.
Doctor Luci informed us a few years ago, that there was an abnormally high amount of diabetics in the area and asked if we could help. We provided her with monitoring equipment and a large, constant supply of testing sticks This, along with education and regular monitoring of patients has ensured that in the last eighteen months there has been no reported cases of diabetic coma. Dr Luci sees this as a dramatic success that has benefited many people.
"The medical dispensary had less supplies than we had in our group first aid kit."