On my way home......

I left India at 11:50pm and have arrived in Singapore at 6:35am. Awaiting flight at 925 headed for San Francisco via Seoul, Korea.
My last few days in India were bittersweet.  Happy to be coming home to my family and friends and sad to be leaving new friends.
So much more to share with you so expect more to come in the next few days....my brain is sleepy therefore, I will spare you all having to read my sleepy brain writing.

Boarding plane to SFO now.............

To Bangalore and back

November 2 , 2011

I apologize for the lapse in communication but internet has not been readily available until now!

Returned very late last night from 4 full days on the go in Bangalore. We spent the majority of our time in rural Bangalore visiting several projects run by a dynamically run NGO called Karuna Trust.  www.karunatrust.com  The roots of this organization and their work to serve the poorest communities, the tribal community, is beyond belief.  I had the pleasure and extreme honor to have spent the past 4 days with a remarkable man, Dr. H. Sudarshan.  He is an MD, a native of Bangalore who has dedicated his life, not just his career, to the integration of rural development and sustainability.  I have many stories to tell you all about this remarkable man and his work.  He has been recognized worldwide as he was the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award in 1994, which is viewed as an

Alternate Nobel Prize to honor those “working on practical and exemplorary solutions to the most urgent challenges faced by the world today”.  The Right Livelihood Award is widely recognized as the world's premier award for personal courage and social transformation.
So much to share from my journey here....as the days progress and I return home, (tomorrow actually) many of the stories I have heard and adventures I have experienced will be shared with you as I reflect on my cherished experiences here in India.

I will share a  quick synopsis of our journey in Southern India:

We visited 2 of the 26 primary health clinics under Karuna Trust; a 20 bed tribal hospital; a school in the tribal sector of the Bilijiri Hills; vocation training and production centers; an orphanage for girls, an orphanage for boys; a rescue home for women, and a technology resource center providing job training/placement for the rural/tribal communities. We had the pleasure of staying 1 night at an amazingly unique project, the Gorukana, (http://gorukana.org) a beautifully built eco-friendly lodge, in which 100% of the benefits go directly to the development of the people and conservation of the wildlife of the Bilijiri Hills.  More on this amazing place and concept later……like many of the experiences here, each are more than worthy of their own blog.

Here are a few of the gazillon pictures I have taken....the first 2 pictures are of one of primary health centers we visited; here they do approximately 200 deliveries a month; 1 obstetrical MD; 1 medical intern and 2 nurses....and, did I mention that is the staff for the babies, NICU as well.  Also, pics of darling school girls and the beautiful girls of DeenaBandu , an orphanage for girls.  All heartbreaking and heartwarming.......

Traditions

Over the past week I have experienced a few of the many traditions that are celebrated in India:  Diwali, Kali Puja, and Annaprashan.

Kali Puja

We attended the ritualistic worship celebration of Kali here at the Ramakrishna Mission. As far as I understand, Kali is a Hindu goddess that is worshiped as the Mother Goddess who is known to destroy all evil. She is depicted with a dark fierce face. The worship started at 8pm where a large room full (school size auditorium size) of people paid their respects to the goddess. The monks performed a ritualistic ceremony that lasted until 5 am.

Barbara and I were very proud of ourselves as we remained there until 1:30am then took a short nap and quickly returned for the conclusion of the ceremony at 4:00am. I was surprised to see how many people stayed for the duration of the ceremony. (And have I mentioned, that Barbara is 80 years old....impressive!)

Oh, did I say, conclusion? Well, that’s what I thought until I woke from a short nap to find that the activities continued into that following day, First, by a large feast consisting of all the offerings brought to Kali the day prior. Followed that evening by the conclusion (this time, the real one) of the ceremony known as “the immersion”. The statue of Kali is carried in celebration through the tree lined, candle lit roads of Narendrapur accompanied by clapping, dancing, shouting and cheering men. From what I am told, Bengali women are not to dance. Barbara said that we weren’t Bengali, so we could join in.  The statue is brought to the water and placed on a large floating structure adorned with large banana plant leaves.  The floating structure is then placed in the water and rotated 7 times until she is slowing released to the water.  The procession returns to the auditorium where a prayer/chant is said and Shanty( peace) is granted to all.

Annaprashan

During my stay here, I have been fortunate enough to meet an adorable family: Abir, Dolo, and baby Rishi. They have introduced me to another interesting tradition called Annaprashan. It is the start of feeding solids to an infant. As it is said in India the “taking of rice. It is a tradition throughout Inida but may be done differently depending on the region.  In the Bengali region, the “taking of rice” is done on the day the baby turns 6 months old.  At that time, he is being weaned from breastfeeding.  It is tradition for the maternal

uncle to feed the first bite and then the remainder of the family participate in giving the baby a taste.  Today, we met with extended family members who traveled from their towns to be here for this traditional step in little Rishi’s life.

We will miss the ceremony as it will occur during our excursion to Bangalore.

But we are looking forward to seeing pictures when we return.

Here are a few photos of Kali Puja and of the family excitedly awaiting the Annaprashan of their 6 month old son.

A Common Bond….. A generation and world apart

Kolkata, India

10/26/2011     7:10pm

This is Anjali and her family. A smart, beautiful 20 year old girl of a family of 4 whose monthly net income is estimated to be about 3000 Indian rupees, which is roughly 60.00 US dollars.  Anjali’s father, Gopikahn is the sole supporter of his family.

On my first morning here at the dining hall, I met Gopikahn. He is the man who brings us our breakfast everyday.  Upon meeting him, Barbara told him I was a pediatric nurse. His eyes lit up and he couldn’t get the words out fast enough that his daughter was a nursing student and that he wanted her to meet me.  So, yesterday I met his beautiful daughter, Anjali, his son, Rishi, and his beautiful wife, Premshia.  We talked about school,  her program, differences between schooling in U.S. and India, jobs, career, dreams and goals.  As the children spoke of their schooling and achievements their mother glistened with pride by their side.   Both Rishi and Anjali displayed the utmost respect and gratitude for their parents hard work on making education happen for them. “Nothing” is taken for granted; “All” is appreciated and respected.  Heartwarming!

As I am finding it to be customary here, we were invited to their home for tea the next day…….

We just returned from our “tea” (which isn’t ever just tea- food is always served) with this lovely family at their home. Their home consisted of one room (approximately 10 x 12) equipped with a double size bed, (the cot that usually takes up room there was moved outside in preparation for Barbara and my visit. Also a small refrigerator, a large cupboard, which Premshia fashionably upholstered with one of her saris, and a religious alter occupy the room. Directly behind the room was a small narrow room (which would be tight for 4 people to occupy at the same time) that consisted of the kitchen and bathroom.

They displayed extreme pride in their home. Their hospitality was overwhelming. My eyes were refilling with tears throughout our visit there.  I felt extremely honored to be a guest.  Anjali showed me her nursing text books (all in English) and we talked about nursing, her likes and dislikes, giving injections, starting IV's, hospital tasks; school schedule and school life. She is currently in her 2^nd of 4 years of schooling.  She had many questions about hospitals and nursing in the U.S.   I am not exactly sure how her father is paying for her education or texts (didn't feel that it was polite to ask at their home) but I plan to ask him in the days following at our breakfast...as I would love to help her in some way to continue her dream of being a nurse and to help her family ease a bit of the financial struggle they must battle although they mention not a word. They are proud, they are loving, they are Rich in Love!

Upon leaving, Anjali and I exchanged addresses and phone numbers and promised to keep connected despite our generation and world apart.....

This experience with Anjali and her family was not one of my “scheduled experiences” here, it just appeared.

  India is magical.

No Words Needed.

Pure Love

Para, India  October 21- 23, 2011

Mothers, fathers, children, babies arrive to Para from nearby villages via open cars,  by carts, by bike- that is, riding on the frame holding the child while someone else pedals or by foot.  The colors of the mother’s sari’s are continually breathtaking.  Do not think I can ever get tired of the vast array of colors, design, outward and inner beauty displayed by these mothers.

For 3 days, we ( Dr. Chaterjee, Indrijit, Mousam and myself) ran health clinics. The 1st day- a Developmental Screening clinic for 0-1 year olds at the Para site; this was a pilot clinic for Dr. Chaterjee . That afternoon we conducted a mother's group meeting in the midst of a remote village.  The 2nd day- we traveled to a different village to a school site to run a primary health clinic (227 kids in 5 hours!!)  The 3^rd day- a nutritional screening/primary health clinic for children 1-6 years old. ( 182 kids in 5 hours !!!) Last month, Nandita ran the same clinic and had 50 patients in total. I suppose word got out! This huge surge in attendance clearly displays the need for health care in the rural villages. Health care is desired and obvious to us over the past 3 days, will be utilized!  These clinics will provide a basis for primary care and continuity of care and further resources for these families. Amazing!!

For my colleagues and co-workers, I have many stories to tell you about the diagnoses picked up over the 3 clinic days.  Again, amazing!

Due to my lack of any Bengali language skill whatsoever; I weighed and measured the length and took arm circumferences of the children. Something I felt I could do and communicate via body language. Two of the days, I was lucky enough to have an assistant and more lucky to have met this beautiful 70-80 year old man called ChaCha (means uncle). ChaCha stayed by my side and helped me communicate to the families (although he only spoke about 5-10 words of English- I learned that sign/body language and the word “OK” go a long way!) He was previously a glaucoma patient at Para, (Nandita's husband runs an eye clinic there- does 800 surgeries a month!),  and since his surgery and new eyesight/glasses ChaCha walks there from his village every day to help out.  He definitely stole my heart- his smile was infectious; no teeth at all; full of love. When I left, he took both my hands and rubbed his hands together on them and put them to his heart!  Pure Love!

Despite poverty and a life that is unfathomable to us, the mothers and children radiated immense beauty and love. It confirmed my belief that there is really nothing like a mother-child/ family bond throughout all cultures and socioeconomic statuses to keep children happy, secure,and loved. Heartwarming!  Pure love!!

Para….from Pure Fear to Pure Love

 Para, India  10/20/2011

 Pure Fear

I arrived in Kolkata, India, an unfamiliar city, country, culture, people, food, and language.  Within 1 day’s time, I was on the road to Para, a place that I could not even find on my atlas at home.  I traveled there with 3 unfamiliar people as well. An amazingly brilliant, caring, selfless, dedicated woman and pediatrician, Nandita Chaterjee from the Nanritam organization and two of her medical students, Indrigit and Mousam.  The drive there was terrifying beyond belief.  Roads here in Kolkata are jammed packed with cars, trucks, people walking, people riding bikes, cows walking or lying down in the middle of the road.  Horns galore! There are no lanes so cars just swerve in and out of obstacles as they see fit.  It seemed similar to driving against oncoming traffic continuously. And, I was in the front seat !!! Thank goodness for a bit of jet lag, so I did sleep some of that fear away.

We arrived somewhere around 10pm. The trip taking about 6 hours overall.  We were greeted by the Nanritam team. Everyone was smiling and welcoming upon our arrival.  My fear was relieved by these welcoming smiles but only for a short time as it revisited me as soon as I closed the big metal door to my room.  Imagine being dropped off in the middle of a strange open land with unfamiliar people, where you speak absolutely NONE of the language. …And then, power surges on and off; followed by a total power outage….okay, time to sleep off the fear again, so I thought. Then appeared clashing thunder, lightening, rain pours throughout the night.  Deep breaths…..deep breaths…..I was having a hard time “embracing the moment” at that time.  Part of me was terrified, part of me was excited with anticipation of what tomorrow would bring.

The photos are of the building I stayed in, my room, "the door" and the surroundings from outside my window upon waking in the morning! Woke to a calm, slightly overcast but warm morning without any evidence of the passing night time storm. Good morning Para, India !!  Looking forward to opening the big metal door......