There is a lot I don’t write about in the blog…mostly because it is difficult and hard to express. But on this Thanksgiving Day, I can’t help but mention some of things I am seeing on a daily basis that make me thankful for all I have, my friends and family, and the good things in my life. I often pass a woman plagued with leprosy, she has no hands and barely any feet, she wonders around our campus and I’m not sure what exactly she is doing. Every morning and evening, I pass little girls ranging from 5 to 15 years carrying tin cans of water on their heads, they place them on top of a cloth so that it isn’t directly on their scalpel. While most kids their age should be playing in school, these girls are carrying the only water their family will have for the day. When I run in the morning, I see women doing laundry in the river, they have no other “washing machine,” such a concept is very foreign for people without stoves, microwaves, or many of our conveniences. I see pigs wandering about because they are the only “garbage collectors” that come in this area. I pass by a little boy that is walking on gravel and yet has no shoes.
These are the sights I see on a daily basis that keep me grounded and keep me remembering why I am here. I am so thankful for all of you, my family and friends. On this Thanksgiving, I ask you to take a moment and recognize how lucky you are. Sometimes we all forget the lottery we won being born in America. Whatever stresses we may have in life, remember that a roof to sleep under, some food to eat, a little bit of clean water, and a supporting family, are really all that we need. Nevertheless, with some education and basic health care, its amazing how much good can be done for so little. When people can think beyond just eating and sleeping, their lives begin to change. Its amazing to see that happen here.
Much love to all of you from CRHP. And a little plug for all that is done here, visit www.jamkhed.org and you can give online. Happy Holidays, and I look forward to seeing many of you soon!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Cursed Rain
We have had some unhappy developments this week...all due to an unexpected 4 days of thunderstorms. After weeks of pure sunshine, some clouds rolled in and refused to leave. There was even a cyclone warning in Bombay. This is very odd for India in November. Thank you global warming.
1. EVERYTHING IS WET. My floor, my sheets, my towels, everything. Nothing will not dry. My room smells like mildew. I did laundry 3 days ago and I have yet to have a completely dry pair of underwear in the morning. Not the most pleasant experience.
2. I HAVE A PURPLE TOE. So yesterday while I was working with Ravi, Boomer, who is my friend, and the Arole's german shepherd, came in from being outside and like any dog walked around sopping wet. I got up later to go to the bathroom without thinking of the floor. This being India, I had no shoes on. You can tell where this is going. I slipped across the floor and rammed my toe into some drawers. It is very purple and hurts like hell. Luckily, being surrounded by medical staff, I was taken care of. Today I went to get an x-ray and its not fractured. It was the easiest medical experience of my life. In and out of our hospital in about 30 minutes, x-ray and all. This would have taken 5 hours and $500 in the U.S.
3. SNAKES. Apparently do not like when their underground homes get wet and they come outside. A woman saw one outside her room tonight. Anyone that knows me, realizes I am not thrilled with this. I hesitated on coming back to my room at all tonight, and only did so with the company of one of the staff boys who I made walk in front of me all the way home. This is not a good development.
Hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow!
1. EVERYTHING IS WET. My floor, my sheets, my towels, everything. Nothing will not dry. My room smells like mildew. I did laundry 3 days ago and I have yet to have a completely dry pair of underwear in the morning. Not the most pleasant experience.
2. I HAVE A PURPLE TOE. So yesterday while I was working with Ravi, Boomer, who is my friend, and the Arole's german shepherd, came in from being outside and like any dog walked around sopping wet. I got up later to go to the bathroom without thinking of the floor. This being India, I had no shoes on. You can tell where this is going. I slipped across the floor and rammed my toe into some drawers. It is very purple and hurts like hell. Luckily, being surrounded by medical staff, I was taken care of. Today I went to get an x-ray and its not fractured. It was the easiest medical experience of my life. In and out of our hospital in about 30 minutes, x-ray and all. This would have taken 5 hours and $500 in the U.S.
3. SNAKES. Apparently do not like when their underground homes get wet and they come outside. A woman saw one outside her room tonight. Anyone that knows me, realizes I am not thrilled with this. I hesitated on coming back to my room at all tonight, and only did so with the company of one of the staff boys who I made walk in front of me all the way home. This is not a good development.
Hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Village Across the Street
It is hard to believe November is already here. Diwali has come and gone (picture of lights attached) and the nightly firecrackers have become more rare, making evening more peaceful, now just those damn birds to contend with. I feel the days going by fast and often have to think twice to remember what day it is, mostly because the days are the same. I have a good routine going, and while I certainly miss a lot about DC, things are going well here. Work is good, October was report month, so I worked on numerous reports going to donors, and we also had the annual meeting which took some prep work. There are also an increasing number of visitors coming (a good thing!) but that takes a lot of organization, planning, etc. I now give new comers orientation, get them settled, etc. We just had 4 med students arrive this week, nice to have some new (somewhat older) faces around!
Yesterday I had a big, startling reminder of why I am here. It was motivating and heartbreaking at the same time. I went with two of the new med students to the “village” across the street from our campus. I never forget where I am, thanks to the women passing me with jugs of water on their head, people going to and from the hospital, yellow daal for lunch every day, and men staring at me constantly, I know I'm in India. But the India I'm living in isn't necessarily the country most of the rural population lives in...I have a toilet, running water, and more space than most families have.
This is a neighborhood that really didn’t exist before CRHP and has a pretty diverse mix of people living there. Some staff members, as well as migrants that have settled here, there is a range of fairly well-off (by Indian standards) to very poor. It was great to see the good CRHP does in helping to build houses, especially for their staff. They require staff to save a certain amount of money (what amounts to about $200 US) and then they help build a house and try to get them to put off marriage. We saw one guy’s house who works here and had just gotten married two weeks ago, he was 22 and she was 17. Not so much putting off marriage! I met another staff member’s wife who had just had a baby a few weeks ago, he was bundled up in blankets, which is funny because its still in the 80s here!
CRHP did help put in a water well, but unfortunately a politician in the area took the pipeline for himself, now the women walk over to our campus to get their water.
We passed goats, pigs, cows, dogs, and cats throughout our walk. Women cooking over a fire and chopping vegetables, all outside their one or two room houses. Houses that were only one-room and yet had a tv. Kids with no clothes, but parents with a satellite dish.
We met a family that had 6 children. The mother had died and the father had left to “go work.” They were being raised by the grandfather and the oldest daughter, who is 14 and leaves every morning to go work as a farm hand. They live under a tarp, in an area that equates to a square that could not have been more than 5 x 5 feet. It will take CRHP $4,000 to build their house and it is going to be first priority for our fundraising campaign.
We met a woman and her husband. He used to drink a lot and last year he poured kerosene on her and started a fire. She has burns on her arms, neck, and part of her face. Her husband stopped drinking and was standing right next to her.
The truth is really nothing that can be written or even shown by pictures. A very real reminder of all we have in our country. A nagging question of how can so much of the world have so much, when so much of the world has so little? It was a lot of perspective in a short amount of time. But instead of walking away and wondering what I could do, I knew that at least for this time, I was already doing something.
Yesterday I had a big, startling reminder of why I am here. It was motivating and heartbreaking at the same time. I went with two of the new med students to the “village” across the street from our campus. I never forget where I am, thanks to the women passing me with jugs of water on their head, people going to and from the hospital, yellow daal for lunch every day, and men staring at me constantly, I know I'm in India. But the India I'm living in isn't necessarily the country most of the rural population lives in...I have a toilet, running water, and more space than most families have.
This is a neighborhood that really didn’t exist before CRHP and has a pretty diverse mix of people living there. Some staff members, as well as migrants that have settled here, there is a range of fairly well-off (by Indian standards) to very poor. It was great to see the good CRHP does in helping to build houses, especially for their staff. They require staff to save a certain amount of money (what amounts to about $200 US) and then they help build a house and try to get them to put off marriage. We saw one guy’s house who works here and had just gotten married two weeks ago, he was 22 and she was 17. Not so much putting off marriage! I met another staff member’s wife who had just had a baby a few weeks ago, he was bundled up in blankets, which is funny because its still in the 80s here!
CRHP did help put in a water well, but unfortunately a politician in the area took the pipeline for himself, now the women walk over to our campus to get their water.
We passed goats, pigs, cows, dogs, and cats throughout our walk. Women cooking over a fire and chopping vegetables, all outside their one or two room houses. Houses that were only one-room and yet had a tv. Kids with no clothes, but parents with a satellite dish.
We met a family that had 6 children. The mother had died and the father had left to “go work.” They were being raised by the grandfather and the oldest daughter, who is 14 and leaves every morning to go work as a farm hand. They live under a tarp, in an area that equates to a square that could not have been more than 5 x 5 feet. It will take CRHP $4,000 to build their house and it is going to be first priority for our fundraising campaign.
We met a woman and her husband. He used to drink a lot and last year he poured kerosene on her and started a fire. She has burns on her arms, neck, and part of her face. Her husband stopped drinking and was standing right next to her.
The truth is really nothing that can be written or even shown by pictures. A very real reminder of all we have in our country. A nagging question of how can so much of the world have so much, when so much of the world has so little? It was a lot of perspective in a short amount of time. But instead of walking away and wondering what I could do, I knew that at least for this time, I was already doing something.
Monday, November 2, 2009
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