The medicine factory is built! (Nov. 26)
Before we were able to start building the factory, we had to decide whether we wanted to renovate an old building in our village or build a completely new structure. Due to the fact that there are only a small number of people in our village and there are many unused buildings, we decided that it is best to just fix an abandoned building that is situated between the nunnery and the monastery. I am happy with where we have decided to put it because it is a short walk from the nunnery where I live to the factory. Also, there are not a lot of buildings surrounding it and it is close to the mountains, so there may be herbs, flowers and other materials we can use in our medicine very close by. There are some herbs that only grow in places with high altitudes, so we have the opportunity to try to collect some. There is even space for the farmers to grow some of the herbs that we need more readily in our pills.
We have also asked some of the villagers going on the expedition to try to collect some of these rarer herbs and minerals. We have not heard a lot about how their expedition is going, other than that one person unexpectedly got injured on the way. I am hopeful that the factory will be completed by the time they return so that we may have the medicine that they will need to heal. Perhaps if they have someone knowledgeable in medicine with them they might be able to find some herbs in the mountains such as Hippophae, they can use the seeds to help heal any wounds. I also hope that no one else gets injured on their journey.
The builders that we had to renovate the old building were very skilled and got the renovations done very quickly. It is now a safe place for us to use and store our medicines. Although I did hear from the other nuns that someone working to help build the factory approached her about the possibility of our factory being haunted. I was told that there were mysterious things happening, but that a ritual was to be performed and all will be well. I was not involved in a lot of the building process since I have no skills in this area, so while they were building I decided that I would research more into specific pills we could make. I found many, one of which can help cure sores, pains and aches. It is called Khyun-lna, and all of the ingredients can be found in our region. These ingredients are: Terminalia chebula, Inula helenium, Acorus calamus root, arsenic, and musk. I have also learned that arsenic can be very dangerous, so this pill must be an older, traditional pill. Perhaps we can try it without the arsenic and see if it still works.
We were also able to acquire a copper vat for our medicine factory that we will be able to use for making pills. This vat will be useful in shaping the pills, and adding any coating or colour. We were also able to get several large mortars and pestles that will be useful at crushing many herbs at once. We have trays to lay plants out on to dry and large bags to store them in. As well as trays to store the completed pills in.
I am very excited about the future of our medicine factory and the possibilities that it holds. I will continue to help in collecting any ingredients that we may need and I hope that those on the expedition have some luck in finding the more rare herbs and minerals.
