Who needs fairy liquid?

This is how you make your own liquid dish detergent. It is one of the livelihood skills which patients at McKean Hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand learn during their treatment at the hospital. Do have a look at my work blog for more photos of what I've seen today.

It was a good day, some great stories of good practice this morning, then a trip to McKean Hospital, which is a leprosy referral centre, a disability centre and a centre for care for the elderly. They have a facility which cares for elderly leprosy affected people who could not return to their families after treatment in the past due to stigma and disability, and a centre for foreigners. Chiang Mai is popular place to retire to, but life gets much more complicated when your care needs increase, and there's nothing your consulate will do for you. They have two units, one for semi-independent living and one for dementia patients. Heather, who has worked there for many, many years is particularly entertained by the fact that a facility set up by westerners to serve the most needy of the Thai people is now run by Thai people to serve the most needy westerners! Care isn't cheap by Thai standards, but compares very well with UK prices, and even better with US/Japanese prices. They currently house people of 7 nationalities. The Thai care for the elderly system is in its infancy, but they face an aging population and social changes over the last few decades mean that the extended family as it used to exist is no longer a reality, and the facilties at McKean have become a benchmark for their developing system.

Today was a day with much laughter, around things like the fact that the bus we got to McKean seemed to belong to a local Tiger Park, but didn't seem to have a door, which was handy for taking photos, as there weren't any tigers, but might not be so safe if there were! Wilson from South Sudan and I went with Terver from Nigeria to pick up his new tailored shirt and suit, he's taking advantage of the cheap prices here to get some new clothes and shoes, including school shoes for his three daughters. We pulled his leg, but he was looking good in his new clothes. There are just a few more alterations to be made tomorrow and he will pick them up and we'll organised a cat walk in the hotel! We probably won't really, but we will find a way of winding him up anyway.