Puesto de Salud

Last time I went out to do surveys with team Ikatu, Tim and I only had one to conduct, while a couple of others had two or three. So, when we were done with our one, we wandered around the town to see what we could learn. During our wanderings, we happened upon the health center, and decided to stop and ask some questions. It was a very informative experience.

The health center. (And Tim)

Some fun facts for you:
As you can see from the sign, the health care center is open 24 hours a day.
All services are free. But... (there are always "but"'s in the developing world)

There is never a doctor on hand. There are only nurses, and one medical student.
They never have enough medications for the month. For example, while they offer free vaccinations, they are currently out of Hepatitis.
They also offer free family planning, including birth control pills and condoms. Apparently they don't run out of these, like all other medicines. But that's only because no one takes them.
There are no emergency services. For those, you need to go to Asuncion. They have an ambulance that can take you there, but to use it, you have to pay for the gas in advance. If you can't, they won't take you.

Despite these downfalls, it seemed pretty clean and organized. It's a start.