slippers...

What an adventure it was to go to one of the small stores and purchase 9 pairs of slippers, and they are all a different pattern. There are 2 extra large for men, 2 extra small for children, and the rest for the women. The store owner finally asked me why I needed all of these slippers. I told him I was a physical therapist with a new clinic and I needed slippers for my patients to wear inside...he completely understood after that.

When have you ever gone to a doctor's office...taken your shoes off outside...and put on slippers (that someone else had their feet in)? Yes, I do have plans to periodically wash the slippers.

I have been sweeping up a lot of dirt each time I go to the clinic...and I am the only one in there. Yes, I have my shoes on, but I am careful about not walking through the mud on my way to the clinic.

So...my patients will take their shoes off outside the clinic, on a carpet, and put slippers on to come into the clinic. That is culture here, and it will help to keep the clinic clean, well...cleaner.

Almost ready...

Each day I am getting a little closer to opening the clinic...I am ready to start treating patients again. This is how the clinic will look from the outside. I like how the curtains provide some privacy, but still allow the light into the room. The furniture is all in the clinic, still waiting for the privacy screen, the frame for one table, and an exam stool. The privacy screen is really needed...although privacy in Malishevë is nothing compared to what privacy means in the US. There is definitely no HIPAA here.

I have two portable heaters in the clinic...it takes them about 30 minutes to nicely warm the room, when I have electricity. Don't know what I will do when I don't have electricity...I may have to close for that day.

It has been the little things that have taken the longest, like remeasuring the curtains, and the rugs, and continually sweeping dirt up. Where does all the dirt come from when nobody is in the clinic?

I am hoping for a Wednesday Nov 2nd opening...

Still moving forward...

Here are just a few quick updates about the progress on opening the clinic.

• How many bottles of "lime dissolver chemical" does it take to remove 2+years of rust and mineral build up from the toilet and bathroom floor...? answer 12 (what exactly is in those bottles...?)
  
• You know your car is small when the rods for the curtains won't fit inside of your car, but have to hang out the side window, the rods were 2.5 meters long.
• If you are measuring the windows for the curtains...do it 2 or 3 times to be sure. I gave the clerk the wrong measurements...switching the length and the width on the two large front windows. They were about 8" too short...and need to be reordered. A lesson learned...!
• A book case and a wooden storage closet with doors have been ordered, to be delivered on Thursday. I hope I did better with the measurements than I did with the curtains.
  
• I need to find a way to get the tri-fold privacy screen to Malishevë...I know it won't fit inside my car, and securing it to the top of my car would be an adventure, and a spectacle while on the highway.
  

The curtain rods are up, the furniture is in, both tables are in the clinic. Now for all the odds and ends...like trash cans, towels, an area rug, and slippers for patients to put on when they come in the clinic.

I am hopeful for an October 31st ribbon cutting. I will invite the Mayor and the doctors/staff from the health center.

It is coming together...

The clean team from Vajta Hungary...

An amazing group of young people are currently in Malishevë spending 10 days away from CC Bible College in Vajta, Hungary. Today they scrubbed bathrooms, windows, floors, and chairs in both the church and the clinic.

What a blessing to get the cleaning done.

What a blessing to get to work with this group of young people.

Now, the next step is to get the curtains installed across the front windows and across the smaller back wall windows...

The wait is over...

I have a new sink and a new hot water heater...!

Last Friday I went to the clinic to meet 2 workers that transported my treatment table from Prishtina to Malishevë. When I got to the clinic door, there was Shaip working on installing the sink. He was the plumber that we had originally asked to do the work. He had already completed the water heater installation and repaired the leaking faucet and leaking toilet.
Here it is all finished...there needs to be a little touch up work done on the wall behind. Also, maybe in the future I will put a tile splash board behind the sink, for ease of cleaning.

One more step towards getting the clinic open.

Still waiting....

A week ago Wednesday, the 5th, someone was to come to the clinic to begin the work installing the sink and the water heater and to repair the leaks in the bathroom. He still hasn't come, or even called. Last night, someone different was to go to the clinic at 5pm to begin the plumbing work. It didn't happen.

There are no yellow pages here to look up and call a plumber...it is all word of mouth. Someone has an uncle with a cousin that knows someone that can do plumbing.

In God's timing it will all come together, according to His plans.

Painting all finished...

The painting is all finished at the new clinic. Labi is the young man I hired from our fellowship, and he did a great job. It is amazing what a fresh coat of white paint did for the room. So the first step is completed.

Now...waiting for someone to install the sink and water heater that I have purchased. Pastor Randy spoke with a local shop owner who also does plumbing. He was to meet Pastor Randy at 2pm on Wednesday...last Wednesday...still waiting.

The landlord needs to come and repair the leak on the water valves to the toilet and the sink in the bathroom. Maybe the plumber can do all the work and just bill the landlord for his portion of the work...?

I will check on the window coverings and an area rug later this week.

"little by little"...it is coming together...stay tuned...

The Adventure Begins....

October 1, I paid the first month's rent on the new clinic area . This is going to be quite an adventure for me...I have never been in a position to have a clinic or manage a clinic before in my career as a physical therapist.

The room is located on the 2nd floor in a building that is mostly vacant. The KEK office is on the first floor, which is the electric company. There is a post office for mail and telephone service, and there is also a coffee bar at the other end of the hallway on the 2nd floor. The health center is visible from the front door of the building as is my apartment...so it is close to where I was previously treating patients and where I live.

Pastor Randy will be helping to manage the work that needs to be done before I can begin treating patients. A new sink will be installed so that I don't have to go into the bathroom to wash my hands after each patient. There is no hot water in the bathroom so I will need to install an "on demand" 10 liter water heater...so I won't be heating water when I am not in the clinic. That will save on the electric bill...! I also need to install curtains across the entire front wall, which you can see is glass. Most curtains here are a type of sheer fabric, some designs in the fabric are common. I don't mind the sheer fabric, it will allow sunlight to come in but offer some privacy to what is going on in the clinic. Paint...I know nothing about the paint here. In the US, I would ask the guy in the paint aisle what to buy. I have no clue...but I am planning on painting the walls white. You can see the frames of the windows/doors are bright blue, and my waiting area chairs are bright red. Enough said...

I have found a place to purchase an exam stool, no wheels, but it will work. I also located a tri-fold privacy screen, as well as some furniture from an English school. The father of a former patient, will take a truck to Prishtina to pick up the other treatment table that has been in storage for 2 years, and bring it to the clinic in Malishevë for me.

So this next week is about getting started. I hope to be treating patients by the 17th, sometimes things go really slowly here...timing is always an unknown. I am sure I will learn many things in this process...it is always an adventure...