ewww

I used to abhor the use of cleaning chemicals and bleach (for reasons of personal health and environmental health)... I've always just used vinegar, grapefruit seed extract, or some kind of naturally prepared product. I don't even like to swim in pools... So when I got here I'd wear gloves to touch almost anything in the clinic including the bottle of bleach water that we clean things with, as I didn't want to even touch it..... Now I find myself with a different way of going about things, as I'm often in the situation of touching filthy things without gloves. Thus I find myself spraying my entire body with the bleach solution--legs, arms, hands, etc after inevitably coming into contact with bodily fluids, questionable looking skin (fungally/bacterially infected or scabies filled or otherwise...) stepping into puddles of things, etc. Since there's often no running water up at the clinic and hand sanitizer gets gross after a couple applications (not to mention it's limited in quantity), it seems to be the easiest thing. Recently I have just been trying to clean myself after coming in contact with things, as contact is inevitable (see catching babies in flip flops...), and having to believe "I do not believe in bacteria/viruses/fungus/nor the danger of cleaning chemicals ETC!" (repeat, repeat, repeat) (in addition to my prior mantra of "i do not believe in scabies")

Anyway, we wash our dishes in bleach water too and I feel like the chlorox is starting to seep out of my pores, so maybe it will protect me....eep! (yes, this is a delusion I realize) I just hope all this bleach doesn't damage my fertility or something.... I know that people who drink chlorinated water are at much greater risk of developing cancers (especially bladder cancer, presumably because it's sitting in there until you pee it out?). For now though, I am choosing the risks of chlorine exposure over persistent fungal infections (I keep getting them on my arms and neck!) and whatever other many kinds of parasitic, viral, and bacterial (etc) things are creeping around the clinic.... Ew. Only one more month...