Got a few over the counter medicines to hand out at the dump.
from Facebook....
from Facebook....
Did a big buy of stuff to hand out to the families of the dump in the coming few days. 8 sets of boots sizes 8 (children) through 11. Mama noodle treats for the kids (they love them). Fisherman's cough candies for those I hear coughing. And some sucker style candies for kids in general. Also picked up some over the counter medicines, pain pills (will only hand out 2 per person), motion sickness pills (many times when people who are not used to riding in vehicles do, they get sick and throw up), bandages, and a skin cream. Oh yes earlier today bought some Avenger toys for the kids (could not resist, they enjoy toys so much) and 2 headlamps of higher quality. I will be buying many more of these type headlamps before I leave Thai, probably another 30-50. The people use them all the time, when they are working at night or after dark in general, a vital tool for them like the boots.
The skin cream is for a man in the dump who has a bad rash on his arm. He came up, showed me his arm and asked for cream. I took a picture of the rash then showed that to the pharmacist who advised me on the best type cream medicine. Am not that comfortable handing out meds but all this stuff is over the counter taken in small doses, it should be safe. When people work in garbage all the time they get all kinds of nasty minor complaints. There is a free medical clinic nearby (by car, motorbike) for the more serious cases but for little things people often come to me and show me there problems asking for help. I do the best I can do, take a photo, explain the problem (in Thai) and ask the pharmacist in town what they recommend. Then I bring it back to the dump and give it to the person the next day. I always tell the person to use just a little bit at first, do it slowly. The people are desperate and without me getting them the cream or pills they might not get anything. It would be better if they went to a trained physician but if a bit of over the counter cream or some eye drops will help them that I will do that for the families.
