I keep meaning to write here but end up working on other things, and then it's midnight and I have to go to bed! Right now it's only 11pm so I guess I have an hour! Things have been pretty busy here. Sunday was a good chill day, went for a walk around Bhandra (the area we are staying in) then went to a free yoga class near our apartment. The yoga studio is a 5-10 min walk from our place and is super nice. Monday morning Tania, myself and a couple of the girls who are helping out on the health project (organizing charts) met to figure what our plan would be for the next couple weeks. After getting that sorted, it was work time! I spent the day working on creating forms for Vikas (who I am training) to use for interview questions when he sees someone who is sick (ie on of the students) etc. Oh yeah, Monday was a holiday, Ede, and we were strongly advised not to leave our houses unless we wanted to see some serious animal carnage. Basically all the great big goats that were all over the city, in our neighborhood, innocently hanging out, where all killed (as in on the street), sacrificed, and then butchered to be eaten. I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but the smell of dead meat is seriously the worst smell ever here. I can handle smells pretty well, but the smell of the meat makes me instantly feel like gagging. The meat market is the worst place to walk by just because of the smell. Sooo, when we finally ventured out of the apartment to go to yoga in serious need of fresh air and exercise, the smell was pretty intense in a few places (more so then normal).

Tuesday was the first actually day out of the apartment to work. I spent the day at Khar school going through the medical files and making a list of all the kids needing follow-up assessments (from the last time they were seen in April), helping Tania transfer the form I made, onto an excel form (easier to use, I don't have the program, and she's good at it), and sorting out a big bag of medications that had been donated to them from somewhere in Spain! And of course, more yoga in the evening. It's good for the body and soul! And more importantly, they have air conditioning there!!

Today I went to the hospital with Tania in the morning to meet Kokila. Kokila is one of the students at the school in Khar. She was badly burned by propane about a month ago. She ended up with over 50% of her body burned (you can read her story at: http://oneinternationalinformation.blogspot.com/). The skin grafts have taken really well and everything seems to be healing great. The plan is for her to come home on Friday as long as everything continues to go well. The big issue will be keeping everything clean and rats away (there is a ridiculous amount of rats everywhere. The kids all have rat bites regularly).

So we are trying to plan for ways to keep things clean and manageable for her (even using the bathroom will be an issue as they just have squat toilets). This afternoon was spent doing follow-up assessments on kids. Most pretty basic, just doing quick check-ups. One kid with something really bad going on with his eyes (Tania was able to get an appointment for him tomorrow with the specialist so hopefully it's not to fix whatever it is and keep him from going blind), and some not nice looking ears.

Today was also Vikas' first day EVER doing/seeing anything medical related. A bit overwhelming for him has he told me later he has never even seen someone have their temperature checked... Thankfully he is smart and super keen and excited to do this job!

Tomorrow will be an all day intensive working with Vikas to get him familiar with everything!

It's midnight now, so I need to go to bed!!

Back to Mumbai

I arrived back in Mumbai yesterday afternoon, after my flight being delayed for almost 2hrs (not sure why). Also, almost missed the flight when we were finally able to start boarding as they changed the gate last minute. I think it may have been announced but I couldn't understand or really hear any of the announcements.

Anyhow, I did eventually make it to Mumbai. I was met at the airport by one of the other volunteers here. She is here working on a project for her Degree in Public Health. Our taxi ride back to the volunteer residence was quite fast! It was kind of like being in a movie during a high speed car chase. The taxi driver was on a mission, swerving around vehicles, squeezing in between them... but we got here unharmed, so all good!

Monday is a muslim holiday here. I can't remember exactly what it is for, but it involves alot of slaughtering and sacrificing of goats. So, Monday will be a good day to stay inside until mid afternoonish!

Monday we (the health team people) will meet and set up a plan for the next couple of weeks. One of the girls that attends Khar school here was burned quite badly by propane about a month ago. She is most likely being discharged from the hospital on Tuesday so Tania and I will need to figure out (talk to the dr etc) what her dressing changes will be like and how we can help her family best keep them from getting infected.

So, otherwise it is hot here. It was 33c yesterday when I flew in, and our apartment doesn't have air conditioning so it makes it really hot!

There are 4 other volunteers here right now. The volunteer residence is small but clean and the other girls are all really nice, so should be good.

Off to Mumbai

Today is my last day in Kolkata. The last few days I have been feeling pretty cruddy so nothing really exciting going on! After making myself eat last night and choking down some nasty tasting electrolytes(even though I was far from feeling like eating), it did the trick and am feeling much better today. That being said, I think I will be living on veg. fried rice for the next couple days...

Anyhow, I fly to Mumbai tomorrow morning and will be there for the next 10 days. Kolkata's been great (minus the last few days). The past 2 weeks have gone by super fast, and at the same time it feels like I've been here forever!

Today walking home from the Dispensary the timing seemed to be a bit off for us! First we were held up (only for a few mins) twice as we happened to be heading home at prayer time, so the street was blocked by people praying. Then when we passed them, a few minutes later had to wait as a huge herd of goats passed us in the street! Love it!!

Anyhow, like I said I don't really have anything interesting to talk about as I'm pretty sure nobody wants to hear the details of my last 3 days of stomach upset!! Mumbai will bring many more interesting stories I'm sure!

A New Day

Yesterday I had every intention of writing a post, but by the end of the afternoon I was to tired and annoyed to write anything that would have been semi-positive.
My day started out with an alright walk to Mother House to volunteer. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that any non-indian women here get stared at all the time (as in as soon as you step out of the door of your hotel) and not just stared at, but turn around, walk backwards to stare at you. Not only that, but the men will deliberately attempt to brush you or grope you (as in veer across the street to touch you. Not exaggerating).
So, in the morning with the usual stares (usually not harmful, but annoying) on the walk, on guy on his bike who rode past me staring at me and turning so he could keep staring even after he passed me, stopped and kept staring until I got closer then again started pedaling staring at me. To the point that I was hoping he would crash his bike, because I would have laughed and kept walking past him, maybe stared at him laughing (yep, it was bringing out the beast in me yesterday)! Normally I just ignore it and dodge the men trying to touch me, but yesterday it was really getting to me!
It was super busy at the dispensary yesterday as everyone who hadn't shown up all last week due to the celebrations, came yesterday, so when we left around 1pm the room was still full of people for the sisters to see. On top of it I was really tired, so even more tired by the end of the day.
We met a couple of the other girls who are volunteering and went with them for lunch. Leaving lunch a well dressed man walked pasted me and reached out and grabbed my ass.... not just a brush by touch but reached out and grabbed. Then on the 45min walk back to our hotels the streets were packed as all the kids were just getting out of school, people finishing work etc. So had to dodge more people then normal. So, by the late afternoon I was done.
A nap and a shower later felt much better and met up with Maria for dinner. We had a nice dinner and a good laugh about how hassled we get and how our "husbands" always seem to be MIA!
Anyhow, enough ranting. Today again am super tired so decided not to volunteer today as I really don't want to get sick since I still have a couple more weeks to go of volunteering. So had a bit of a sleep in and quiet morning. Will meet up with Maria later and go walk around some more.
Oh, I don't think I wrote about Sunday. Sunday afternoon we went on a walk to all the sights where Mother Theresa was when she first started her work here in Calcutta. It was really interesting and nice to see all the places. It started at 2:30 and we didn't finish until after 7pm. Then after promptly getting lost on our way back, hiring a motor rickshaw, who was going to charge us 80Rs (we were quite far from where we needed to be) then decided to pick up a few more people on the way so when we got a bit upset about he finally only charged us 24Rs instead!
Anyhow, things are good and I am going to find someplace quietish to read for a bit I think.

Today is our day day 2 off! The volunteers at the dispensary get every Thursday and Sunday off as that is when the dispensary is closed! This afternoon we are going on a walk to the sites Mother Theresa went to! It's a pilgrimage/prayer for the sisters and but the volunteers can participate and just go for the walk or join in the prayer. Should be good to see all the sites!
Yesterday we piled into the back of a truck (big truck) with boxes of blankets, medications, cooking oil, and biscuits and drove an hour to a village on the outskirts of Kolkata. The sisters go to this village every Saturday to provide medications, and minor treatments as there is no hospital in the area. The people walk from 3 different villages to line up. They get there at 5am in hopes of being seen.
We set up in a church courtyard and they close the gates at 10am so they are able to finish the day at a reasonable time. Yesterday wasn't to bad due to it being the last day of Diwali celebrations.
I was working with Sister Margaret (the head Sister) to hand out medications for moms and babes. Everyone wants something for cough and fever, then diarrhea. Alot of the babies are very tiny and malnourished. But there are a few that are very healthy!!
In the village they have no clean water. The church we were at used to have a water pump, but something happened and the brothers who run it have not been able to maintain the pump. Sooo, they get their water from a green, scungey pond where they also bath, wash their clothes, and grow fish in to sell. Needless to say, alot of stomach problems due to it.
I think there was about 400 people who came yesterday. Normally they can see upwards of 1000 people. The sisters also hand out cooking oil as the families cannot afford to buy oil. The oil helps with adding much needed fats to their diet. Also biscuits and glucose are handed out for the same reasons as many of the children need food more then anything else. The blankets that get handed out are for the small children and babies as it is starting to get colder at night and by December it is quite cool at night apparently and many of the babies/young children end up dying in their sleep during the night as they have very few, if any clothes.
We are so lucky in developed countries, and most of us don't even realize it!
I have one more week here in Kolkata then off to Mumbai!

Day After

Ok, first a couple important things:

1. I keep forgetting to mention that my guest house is directly across the (very narrow) street from a muslim mosque. So at 4am every morning I am blasted awake by prayers over a loud speaker...

2. So far I have managed to avoid getting really sick. A few small episodes of stomach cramps and mild diarrhea but nothing major.

3. I have pictures but the internet is pretty slow here so will upload them as soon as I can. Most likely not until I get to Australia the middle of November.

4. I think that's about it. Aside from not getting much sleep, things are good!

So yesterday being Kali Puja (the Diwali festival here in Kolkata) the streets were pretty busy last night. Well, more it was fireworks, firecrackers, drumming, and music (some good, some not so good) all night and into this morning. Mark took my friend Maria (whom I volunteer with) and I on a tour around to a bunch of different sights. We went to the Krishna temple, which is the largest temple here in Kolkata and is made all of marble. The various gods are dressed in hundreds of diamonds (the temple is surrounded by security guards) and very ornate.
After we walked around through the streets looking at all the lights, candles and flowers decorating everything. Mark then took us to his families house where we met his parents and sister. His mom gave us each a plate of Bengali sweets which she and his sister made. Most of them are pretty much pure sugar. Super sweet. They are served with puffed rice which is actually really good and not sweet (well, some of it is)!
Then Maria and I jumped into a cab, Mark explaining to us how to know how much to pay (you have to double whatever the meter says) and making sure we were planning on going straight back to our hotels. He was a bit worried we might want to go to the Disco (club) which really isn't very safe for foreign women.

The trip back to the hotel was uneventful. Trying to sleep last night was not the easiest due the the fireworks and drums and music going all night and into this morning added onto my 4am wake up prayers. So needless to say, a little tired today.
I woke up this morning with a bit of an upset stomach but it seems to have settled. Maria on the other hand is not feeling well at all this morning. She has been up since 6am with a very upset stomach. We are thinking the homemade sweets are to blame :( A combination of way to much sugar and who knows what else!!

Had some sad news today. My sister-in-law (soon to be sister-in-law) had a miscarriage the other day. She hemorrhaged quite badly and is in the hospital right now. My brother said the bleeding has stopped so that is very good. They are both pretty heartbroken as they were really excited about having a baby. :(

Anyhow, I really need to do some laundry today as I am on my last clean clothes. Will do my laundry and head out to walk about this afternoon.

Diwali

Happy Diwali! The streets are semi-quiet here today but will pick up in a couple hours for Diwali celebrations... Everything is being decorated and there is music playing along the streets (more like blaring). I can't remember the name of the Goddess but she is quite feared here by Hindu's. One of the Sisters at Mother Theresa House explained the story behind the Goddess to us today. So the abbreviated story is that she is decorated with the heads of all her lovers she murdered. Her foot is her husband whom she stepped on when he tried to stop her from leaving to kill a lover. Her face she is sticking her tongue out as she did this when she realized she had stepped on/killed her husband. She has 4 arms as can reach in many directions. Very abbreviated...
Anyhow, today was general medicine day at the dispensary. Basically, people showed up and told the sisters what was bothering them and then we just found whatever medication to give them for the problem. There are boxes of meds for stomach, fever, pain, liver, cough, etc. So, if someone had stomach problems then you just find something for the stomach (pariet, panto, tums, whatever). It's a bit weird to just give whatever when you are used to having to assess people in depth and then decide what the best option is for them! Oh and the best is the numerous "digestives" or "all in one" meds... there are medications that with one pill it is for your Heart failure, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and liver disease!! Fantastic!
Also, gave a few injections for pain (volteran).
We were finished pretty early (as only those who are muslim showed up today due to Diwali) so we had a tour of the children's house to see all the different wings- newborns, older babies, toddlers, and children with physical and mental disabilities.
This afternoon spent a couple hours walking around with one of the other volunteers, a nurse from Portugal.
Tomorrow is a day off for volunteers so will go do some sightseeing and try to wash some laundry!!