Schweitzer was always the first to rise and last to put out his light at night. Each morning he would shave at a small mirror on the porch outside his door.
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AT BREAKFAST TIME, AT THE SAME PORCH, EVERY ABLE-BODIED PATIENT OR SOME FAMILY MEMBER IN THEIR STEAD WHAT A SYMBOL FOR THE HANDING OUT OF THE DAILY TASKS OF RUNNING THE HOSPITAL:SOMEONE WASH STONES FOR CONSTRUCTION, SOMEONE SPLIT BAMBOO FOR HOMEMADE COTTON SWABS, OTHERS WOULD WRAP THOSE STICKS WITH KAPOK, OTHERS WOULD CLEAN OR CAREY OR STAND DUTY AS ASSIGNED WATCHERS. EACH HAD SOME TASK TO PERFORM, AND EACH EARNED HIS OWN WAY IN THE HOSPITAL. IT WAS ALL A PART OF THE SCHWEITZERS PHILOSOPHY OF CHARITY. EVERYONE WORKED IN ADDITION TO THE GIFT TO THE HOSPITAL, WHICH EACH PAID, SUMMON MONEY AND A FEW IN EGGS, PRODUCE, CHICKENS, AND SO FORTH. I ONCE CHECK TO THE STATISTICS ON 10 CONSECUTIVE HERNIA PATIENTS, AND THE AVERAGE "GIFT" WAS $.86. IT MAY NOT SEEM A LARGE SUM, BUT THAT YEAR THE PER CAPITA INCOME WAS $169. ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES THE PATIENTS COMPLAINT, THEY PROBABLY PARTICIPATE IN THE COST OF THEIR CARE, INVESTING SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES. THEY PRESERVE THEIR SELF-RESPECT AND LEFT WITH AN INTACT SENSE OF INDEPENDENCE AND PRIDE. AS MENTIONED, WE SAW PATIENTS ON THREE DAYS A WEEK AND OPERATED ON THE OTHER THREE. WE WORKED FROM JUST AFTER EIGHT UNTIL NOON AND THEN AFTER A MANDATORY REST., WE CAME BACK TO OUR DESKS AT TWO AND WORKED UNTIL SUNSET. HOW MANY PATIENTS WE SEE? ONE DAY, OUT OF CURIOSITY, I PUSHED A SMALL LAB COUNTER EACH TIME A PATIENT CAME TO MY DESK THAT MORNING. BY NOON IT REGISTERED 125. ON THAT PARTICULAR MORNING, EACH PATIENT AVERAGED ONLY TWO MINUTES AT THE DESK. SURGERY WAS MUCH LIKE WHAT WE WERE ACCUSTOMED TO IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES WITH RESPECT TO ASEPTIC TECHNIQUE, SCRUBBING, INSTRUMENTS, MEDICATIONS, ANESTHESIA, AND RECORDS. WE WERE GOWNS (STRIP TO THE WASTE UNDERNEATH) AND NON-DISPOSABLE RUBBER GLOVES AFTER A STANDARD SCRUB(AND WITH AN ALCOHOL SOAKED AFTERWARDS). I RECALL LEARNING THAT HUMAN PERSPIRATION MUST BE STERILE, SINCE IT WAS UNAVOIDABLE THAT'S WHAT RAN FROM OUR FOUR HEADS AND ELSEWHERE DOWN INTO THE WOUND. ALTHOUGH A SURGEON CANNOT BE TRUSTED WHEN WE COUNTING HIS INFECTION RATE AWAY FROM HOME, I CANNOT RECALL ANY PROBLEMS FROM THIS. WE HAD ELECTRIC POWER DURING THE MORNINGS OF OPERATING DAYS. JUST GAVE US TWO STANDARD OPERATING LIGHTS. ON SOME THURSDAY AFTERNOONS WE COULD USE THE X-RAY UNIT FROM OUR ACCUMULATED CASES. THIS NECESSARILY RARE USE OF X-RAY SHARPEN OUR SKILLS AS DIAGNOSTICIANS,AND USUALLY WE WERE AS GOOD AS PERCUSSING CAVITIES IN A TUBERCULOSIS CHEST AS READING THEM ON X-RAY. INCIDENTALLY, THE HEAT IN THE DARK AND X-RAY ROOM WAS SUCH THAT THE GRAPH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT TIME SHOWED LESS THAN ZERO MINUTES RECOMMEND IT. IN THE KNIGHTS THE SOUND OF THE CRANKING OF THE 35 KW GENERATOR WAS THE SIGNAL TO ALL THAT AN EMERGENCY SURGICAL CASE ARRIVED. THE HOSPITAL WAS FREQUENTLY CRITICIZED BY THE PRESS FOR BEING UNSANITARY OR DIRTY. JUST CAME FROM A CONFUSION BETWEEN WHAT IS MERELY SIMPLER AND WHAT IS ACTUALLY UNCLEAN. THE HOSPITAL WAS LITERALLY TAKEN APART EVERY THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVERY SURFACE SCRUBBED WITH A HARSH GREEN SOAP, DRIED IN THE ULTRAVIOLET SUNLIGHT, AND EVENTUALLY TAKE THEM BACK INSIDE. THE FLOORS WERE NOT EXCEPTED. EACH PATIENT CAME WITH THEIR OWN LINENS AND AFTER ARRIVAL GATHERED STRAW FOR THE DISPOSABLE MATTRESS. SINCE THEY DID THEIR OWN COOKING, AND SHARED AND MANY OF THE NURSING TASKS, THE MINIMIZE THE TRAFFIC WAYS BY WHICH MANY ORGANISMS TRAVEL AND SEEMINGLY MORE SOPHISTICATED HOSPITALS (WHERE THE INFECTION RATE IS MUCH HIGHER). THERE WERE MANY ITEMS, HOWEVER, THAT WERE NOT DISPOSABLE. I CAN RECALL, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT A RETIRED NURSE CAME TO VISIT ME JUST BEFORE I LEFT FOR LAMBARENE,AND THOUGHTFULLY BROUGHT ME A USED RED RUBBER NASOGASTRIC TUBE.NOT KNOWING WHAT ELSE TO DO, I PACKED IT. WE HAD NOT BEEN THERE LONG WHEN THE CASE REQUIRED A TUBE, AND WE HAD NONE AVAILABLE - EXCEPT FOR THE USED ONE. OVER THE MONTHS, THAT TUBE WAS IN NEARLY CONSTANT (BUT HIGH-PRIORITY) USE. THE PATIENTS LIVED AS FAMILIES DURING THEIR STAY WITH US. THIS MEANT THAT SOMETIMES FAMILY MEMBERS WITHOUT ACUTE PROBLEMS SOUGHT MEDICAL ATTENTION EITHER FOR LONG SINCE CURED PROBLEMS OR IN ORDER TO PREVENT A FEARED WE CURRENTS IN THE FUTURE. ONE THING IS CLEAR, HOWEVER, AND THAT WAS THAT IT WAS HELPFUL TO AVOID SEPARATING A CRITICALLY ILL PATIENT FROM THOSE WHO WERE CLOSE TO HIM AND LOVED HIM. THEY SEEMED TO GET ALONG BETTER AMONG MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN FAMILIES. THEY HAD SOME PROBLEMS IN THE MATTER OF THEIR CONCEPTS OF NPO (NOTHING BY MOUTH), CATHETER CARE, DIET, AND SO FORTH. THESE MINOR AREAS, HOWEVER, WE'RE TRIVIAL IN THE FACE OF THE EARTH DECIDED ADVANTAGE OF KEEPING THE FAMILY TOGETHER AND STRESSFUL TIMES. SCHWEITZER WAS IN EVIDENCE EVERYWHERE. HE WAS AT THE TABLE WITH US FOR THREE MEALS EVERY DAY. HE SAT, READ, AND WROTE AT HIS DESK IN THE HOSPITAL DAILY, AND HE WALKS THE GROUNDS AS A CONSTANT SUPERVISOR FOR EVEN THE MINUTEST DETAILS OF THE CONSTRUCTION WORK. THE APPROACH OF EVENING WAS ALWAYS A WELCOME WONDERFUL TIME OF DAY. WE FREQUENTLY WALKED DOWN TO THE RIVERS EDGE TO WATCH THE SUNSET BECAUSE IT WAS TOO LATE TO SEE WELL ENOUGH TO CONTINUE WORKING.AS WE SAT BY THE RIVER, WE WERE REMINDED OF THE WORDS FROM THE CREATION STORY IN GENESIS: "AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHTS IN THE FIRMAMENT OF THE HEAVEN TO DIVIDE THE DAY FROM THE NIGHT." THAT DIVISION WAS OBVIOUS EACH EVENING, AS WE LEFT THE DAYS TASKS FINISHED OR NOT IN THE FACE OF THE INEVITABLE FALL OF NIGHT. ELSEWHERE WITH THE ELECTRIC LIGHT, HOWEVER, THE CONNECTING STREAM OF LIGHTSPILLS OVER THE DIVISIONS BETWEEN DAY AND NIGHT, AND BEACH DAYS TROUBLE SEEMS TO RUN TO MOVING INTO THE NEXT, SO THAT AS WE LIVE, WE ACCUMULATE MORE AND MORE BURDEN PASSED ONTO US TO THAT ARTIFICIALLY EXTENDED STREAM OF LIGHT. WE SEEM TO HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME OR IN DAY TIGHT COMPARTMENTS OR UNITS. EACH MORNING AS WE RETURNED TO OUR WORK, WE FOUND THE MORNINGS TASKS LESS BURDENSOME AS WE TOOK THEM UP, NOT ONLY REFRESHED BUT WITHOUT FEELING ANY SENSE OF WHAT MY TROUBLED US AT EVENING THE DAY BEFORE. ONE OF THE REAL LESSONS OF LAMBARENE WAS TO LIVE LIFE ONE DAY AT A TIME.