INDIA: Week 1

Hi Everyone,

It's been a week since I've been in India now so I figured I'd fill you in on what I've been up to so far...

Lodging

The guest house we're staying in is actually really nice. It's located in a nicer suburb in southern Delhi and we are within walking distance from a bunch of restaurants, coffee shops, markets, etc. The guest house is basically a three bedroom, three bathroom apartment and no one else is staying here right now so we have the whole place to ourselves. We have a toilet, a shower, AC, cable TV, wireless internet, a washing machine and filtered water (here, these are luxuries, especially compared to where we are working all day).

Weather

I would pretty much describe the weather as as close to unbearable as you can get. Basically the minute you step outside you instantly start sweating. Despite the heat, I've actually started wearing a tank top under my shirt to soak up all the sweat. We're literally drenched in sweat every day we come home. It's really attractive. I've actually given up on wearing sunscreen because I sweat it all off within about 10 minutes and I'm never dry to be able to reapply it.

Slums

Everyday we take an auto rickshaw (a three wheel car that's made for three people to sit in the back, but usually they're carrying 10) into the area of slums we are working in. It's about a 15-20 minute ride, sometimes 45 when the driver pretends he knows where you want to go and then you soon realize he doesn't. The areas we're working in are some of the worse conditions I have ever seen in all my travels to developing countries, and the sad part is these are some of the better off slums in Delhi. On our rickshaw rides we've seen many other slums where people are literally just living under tents they've made with sticks and blankets, these people at least have buildings to live in.

The sanitation conditions in the area we're working are extremely poor. Keens were probably the best purchase I've ever made. They have dirt roads and there is garbage EVERYWHERE, all over the road, in the open sewer that runs down the road and in front of all the homes, there are even mini trash mountains that wild pigs hang out in. Besides the trash, there is also a lot of feces all over the road, mostly because there are a bunch of cows that just wander around. I have never seen so many flies in my life. I know many of you on this email have been to developing countries and have experienced the annoying amount of flies in some places, but I guarantee you, you haven't seen anything like this. There are certain areas where I literally don't open my mouth. Some of the main health issues that people are facing in these areas are diarrhea and malaria which aren't surprising considering the intense heat and the appalling water sanitation conditions. My water bottle is probably one of the most important things I brought with me and I've learned very quickly how to conserve the water in it.

What am I doing here?

We're still working on a final plan/schedule but basically we'll be conducting some health assessment surveys, organizing a female youth group and teaching them about the government schemes in place as well as some basic health information, and training community health workers.

Gender Resource Center (GRC)

Most of our time this week has been spent working with the area GRC. GRC's have been established by the government as a place for the below poverty population to receive information on and access to health care, education, vocational training, etc. The GRC we work at in Jasola Village has primary education classes for children who have either had to drop out of school or are unable to attend for some other reason, tailoring and cutting as well as beautician courses for women to learn skills and be able to boost their families income, and informational meetings on certain health issues affecting the population. There are also "health camps" or "clinic days" where doctors from certain specialties (ob-gyn, nutritionists, etc.) come either once a month or bi-monthly to offer treatment and care to anyone who may need it. On Thursday they held a gyno clinic where they turned the table we eat lunch at into an examination table and put up a small partition to create some "privacy". The doctor was there for about 2 hours and saw around 45 patients.