Ocean containers, as we've reported in the past, make dandy building blocks. They've been used as the framework for retail stores, vacation homes, and apartments, among other structures. Now you can add medical clinic to the list.

A 40-foot container donated by ocean carrier APL has been outfitted as a self-contained medical and dental clinic, with a generator, air conditioning, a bathroom, and examination rooms. The new clinic is now open for business in the jungle near San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. At the clinic, volunteers treat people who have been relocated from a village that was damaged by earthquakes and mudslides.

APL worked with Hope Charitable Services of Portsmouth, Va., and its partners, Lend-A-Hand Mission Teams and the Catholic Church's Diocese of Richmond, Va., to convert the container into a sparsely furnished medical and dental office. APL then shipped the clinic to Guatemala and arranged for transportation to El Salvador. Once the container arrived at its destination, it was repositioned on a foundation and hooked up to water and power lines.