On Saturday, we had an HIV counseling workshop for most of the day. The workshop was at Sahara, which is an NGO that works with injecting drug users, HIV patients, addiction cases, and battered women. At the end of the workshop we did a bit of role-play, where we got to be the counselors and test our new skills on a few past patients. I volunteered, and of course, got the most difficult case they could think of. He was impossible, argumentative, and thoroughly enjoyed taking a piss out of me. I immediately realized how hard the counselors working at Sahara really have it. When we talk about counseling in the US, it’s usually for things like depression or drug problems. But at Sahara, their kind of counseling is in a league of its own. Try counseling someone who has no family, a serious heroine problem, is HIV +, lives in the underbelly of the slum without a rupee to his name, and dwells in a world where life is cheap and the government doesn’t care…. An entirely different kind of counseling.
After the counseling workshop we went to Khan Market, which is one of the ritzier markets in Delhi. We looked around for a bit, at items that were far too expensive, and ate my new favorite treats- Momos and Papri Chawt. After, we ventured over to this medical art exhibit, where our coordinator’s sister in-law was showcasing her new works. The art was fantastic! Colorful, provocative, and intellectual, the exhibition was a real treat. We then went to “Big Chill”, a restaurant started by an American expat, and filled with delicious American diner food. It was a taste of home in the middle of New Delhi! Natalie and I indulged in a fudge brownie topped with cookie dough ice cream, and I nearly melted…
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Episode 14
On Wednesday we worked in a drop-in center for injecting drug users. We went to the underbelly of Old Delhi, where drug users swarm to score their loot and use. We saw how Sahara was implementing their “harm reduction” program, which focused on needle-exchange, counseling, and oral-substitutes for rehabilitation. It was quite sad, as Sahara use to do much much more for this community, but due to a lack of funds, they have had to severely cut back their program to merely “harm reduction”.
Thursday was definitely another eye opening day as we were working with street children. The street kids live in the slums and squatter settlements, have no parents, and generally beg or pickpocket in order to survive. We went with the Sahara outreach staff to one of the freeway overhangs, where underneath, the street kids congregate. I noticed that every single one of the kids had this wad of cloth held up to their nose, and quickly found out that all of them were sniffing some variation of glue, paint thinner, and nail polish remover. They were all completely strung out… We talked to one of them and asked him a few questions. He did not know his age and after showing him a picture of himself, he didn’t even recognize his own face. We asked him where his parents were, and he pointed to a dark corner where a huddle of adults were sitting doing smack. I guess that would explain it…
We then went to one of the centers for these street kids, where many of them would come to play and act like real kids instead of on the street begging for their drug addict parents. Many of the kids had been abandoned or had run away from their abusive parents. There was one girl who sat huddled in a corner, and after asking about her, I found out that she had run away to the center to avoid being sold into prostitution by her father. She looked no more than 12 years old…
We played with the kids for a few hours, tossing a ball around, doing things that kids their age should be doing! They were all so sweet and absolutely loved having their picture taken. The minute a camera comes out, they all jump around, trying to push the others out of the shot. After playing with the kids for a while, a woman came into the center screaming at the volunteers. Apparently she was upset that her kid was in the center playing and not begging on the street for money. She then accused the center of using the children for child labor and spouted some pretty unnerving things. I hope to go back to the center and work with the kids for a while. It was really fun interacting with them and they could even understand some of my Hindi!
Thursday was definitely another eye opening day as we were working with street children. The street kids live in the slums and squatter settlements, have no parents, and generally beg or pickpocket in order to survive. We went with the Sahara outreach staff to one of the freeway overhangs, where underneath, the street kids congregate. I noticed that every single one of the kids had this wad of cloth held up to their nose, and quickly found out that all of them were sniffing some variation of glue, paint thinner, and nail polish remover. They were all completely strung out… We talked to one of them and asked him a few questions. He did not know his age and after showing him a picture of himself, he didn’t even recognize his own face. We asked him where his parents were, and he pointed to a dark corner where a huddle of adults were sitting doing smack. I guess that would explain it…
We then went to one of the centers for these street kids, where many of them would come to play and act like real kids instead of on the street begging for their drug addict parents. Many of the kids had been abandoned or had run away from their abusive parents. There was one girl who sat huddled in a corner, and after asking about her, I found out that she had run away to the center to avoid being sold into prostitution by her father. She looked no more than 12 years old…
We played with the kids for a few hours, tossing a ball around, doing things that kids their age should be doing! They were all so sweet and absolutely loved having their picture taken. The minute a camera comes out, they all jump around, trying to push the others out of the shot. After playing with the kids for a while, a woman came into the center screaming at the volunteers. Apparently she was upset that her kid was in the center playing and not begging on the street for money. She then accused the center of using the children for child labor and spouted some pretty unnerving things. I hope to go back to the center and work with the kids for a while. It was really fun interacting with them and they could even understand some of my Hindi!
Episode 13
On Monday and Tuesday we went to Michael’s Care Home, which is a center for HIV+ patients to receive care and counseling. We spend most of the time with the HIV specialist and he gave us a detailed lecture on HIV in India. We learned all about the different drugs they are using, how long they have been available, and what the government is doing about HIV. We also shadowed the doc and spoke with a few of the patients and heard their stories. Most of them were truckers, and one in particular told us how AIDS had already killed three of his friends. It was really nice to speak with the patients about their treatment and hear about the stigma and discrimination that they face. After watching the doctor, it became very apparent that as a doctor dealing with HIV patients, you cant just be a medical practitioner, but you have to be a healer, repairing all kinds of emotional and physical wounds that manifest from the disease.
On Tuesday afternoon, after leaving Michael’s Care Home, we visited one of the worst slums I have seen yet. We started our visit at what they call “Chicken Street”, where the slum dwellers collect scrap chicken skin, eyes, and carcasses to boil down into something they sell for dirt-cheap. This chicken “meat” is used in cheap street food like kebabs and momos. Needless to say, I will be sticking to veg momos for the rest of my stay… As we walked into the slum, the smell of rotting carcasses filled my nostrils, and I came very close to passing out. Numerous little children came to greet us, treading over the mountains of chicken skin and feathers (barefoot of course), while their parents manually shredded the chicken bits and threw them into pot. I couldn’t believe that people actually live like this. The structures were much dirtier and smaller than the ones we had seen before, and the sewers were essentially open trenches that ran throughout the tiny passageways. This was by far the most difficult site yet, the scent and image of this place is seared forever into my brain.
On Tuesday afternoon, after leaving Michael’s Care Home, we visited one of the worst slums I have seen yet. We started our visit at what they call “Chicken Street”, where the slum dwellers collect scrap chicken skin, eyes, and carcasses to boil down into something they sell for dirt-cheap. This chicken “meat” is used in cheap street food like kebabs and momos. Needless to say, I will be sticking to veg momos for the rest of my stay… As we walked into the slum, the smell of rotting carcasses filled my nostrils, and I came very close to passing out. Numerous little children came to greet us, treading over the mountains of chicken skin and feathers (barefoot of course), while their parents manually shredded the chicken bits and threw them into pot. I couldn’t believe that people actually live like this. The structures were much dirtier and smaller than the ones we had seen before, and the sewers were essentially open trenches that ran throughout the tiny passageways. This was by far the most difficult site yet, the scent and image of this place is seared forever into my brain.
Episode 12
On Sunday, we decided to do some serious site seeing. We started by going to the government sector and seeing the Parliament buildings, president’s house, and the India gate. It was definitely interesting to see how much the government spends on itself, and how little it spends on everyone else. At the suggestion of our coordinator, we decided to check out the Mughal gardens, which is the president’s private garden and is closed to the general public minus a few days out of the year. Sunday happened to be one of those opportune days… Or so we thought. After being ripped off by an auto, we finally found the Mughal gardens, and the line was nearly a mile long. The hoards of school children and families swamped the entrance, and proceeded with the usual style of Indian queuing, (aka mob). Luckily, one of the coordinator’s from another program was with us for the day, and was well versed in this skill and quickly ushered us through the front of the line. The gardens were a bit disappointing and the massive crowds didn’t help. To make matters worse, it was one of those days where I felt quite out of place. People stare constantly, its something I’ve had to get use to. At home, I am not tall, but in India, I am a giant and taller than most men. My pasty white skin and freakish height makes me stick out like a sore thumb. I generally just look down and find my happy place, but on this day, entire busses filled with school kids decided to point me out yelling “hello! How are you?”, laughing hysterically. Nonetheless, I was ready to leave the Mughal Gardens…
We then went to the National Museum and then to Gandhi Smriti, the site where Gandhi was murdered and now serves as a memorial. It was a lovely memorial and I really enjoyed reading the hallways filled with his quotes and philosophy. There was one that sticks out in my mind and goes as follows:
Those who own money now, are asked to behave like trustees holding their riches on behalf of the poor. You may say that trusteeship is a legal fiction. But if people meditate over it constantly and try to act up to it, then life on earth would be governed by far more love than it is at present. Absolute trusteeship is an abstraction like Euclid’s definition of a point, and is equally unattainable. But if we strive for it, we shall be able to go further in realizing state of equality on earth than by any other method
-MK Gandhi
A quote I continue to ponder….
We then went to the National Museum and then to Gandhi Smriti, the site where Gandhi was murdered and now serves as a memorial. It was a lovely memorial and I really enjoyed reading the hallways filled with his quotes and philosophy. There was one that sticks out in my mind and goes as follows:
Those who own money now, are asked to behave like trustees holding their riches on behalf of the poor. You may say that trusteeship is a legal fiction. But if people meditate over it constantly and try to act up to it, then life on earth would be governed by far more love than it is at present. Absolute trusteeship is an abstraction like Euclid’s definition of a point, and is equally unattainable. But if we strive for it, we shall be able to go further in realizing state of equality on earth than by any other method
-MK Gandhi
A quote I continue to ponder….
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Episode 10
On Wednesday evening, I started feeling a little uneasy after our rural visit. That uneasiness quickly evolved into that famous Indian sickness that strikes down most travelers at some point. I finally got what everyone warned me about... They say Montezuma’s revenge is bad, but let me tell you, Mother India is far more revengeful. After a horrible night of paying my dues to the porcelain god, I woke up exhausted and fluidless. My wonderful auntie and uncle (what you call your host family in India) took great care of me all day on Thursday, and truly made me feel as if I was their own. I really hated having to stay home, but it was nice to finally have a quiet moment to digest all that had happened in the last 2 weeks. Quiet moments are few and far between here, but once you finally get one, you begin to realize the immensity of this experience. I'm sure there will be other quiet moments, where what I think just happened meets reality, and crystallizes into a beloved memory.
I woke up on Friday feeling MUCH better, and was ready to embark on yet another interesting day. First, we visited one of the urban slums in Chandigarh to evaluate one of the women’s reproductive health programs. Sadly, the program was most definitely not working… The program set out to improve maternal and infant health, push for institutional deliveries, and provide pre and ante natal care. After speaking with a number of pregnant women, we found out that many of the women were not having institutional deliveries and had little to no knowledge of reproductive health care. Yet, the most alarming thing was that not a single woman knew about family planning methods. A program meant for reproductive health, and not a single woman knew about family planning. It was really quite tragic to see hundreds of little children running around, playing in trash, with no shoes or pants, no one watching them, and putting whatever they could find in their mouths. Many of the mothers had six or so children, and were yet again pregnant because the six of their children were girls and they were not going to stop until they got a boy. Another tragic reality… 4,5,6 little children with barely enough to eat, no chance of education, and born into a slum with very little hope for the future. What does prenatal or infant care matter if you don’t have family planning? Here was a day where you saw the crux of the perpetuation of poverty and the sad realities of gender inequity.
After the slum visit, we met with the director of the NGO, who really put everything in perspective. He was very aware that some of his programs were not working and told us the main constraint to their improvement, the government. He was a really inspirational person, had this great critical eye, and an uncanny ability to see the bigger picture. I really enjoyed our visit with him.
We then hopped on a train and began our trek back to Delhi. I awoke from a fairly deep nap on the train to the hustle and shouting of about 10 young boys ages 8-16. They had these enormous bags over their shoulders and were scouring the train for any left cookies, water bottles, tea packets, and of course belongings forgotten passengers. If you happen to be one of those unlucky people to leave a purse or cell phone on the train, consider it gone... The street kids live at the train station, and like vultures wait for most of the passengers to get off so they can pick up any left over loot and sell it on the streets. A rude awakening… Welcome back to Delhi. Yet for all its madness, I was glad to be back. Like any other city, Delhi has a pulse, a character; it’s a big playground that I am eager to continue exploring.
I woke up on Friday feeling MUCH better, and was ready to embark on yet another interesting day. First, we visited one of the urban slums in Chandigarh to evaluate one of the women’s reproductive health programs. Sadly, the program was most definitely not working… The program set out to improve maternal and infant health, push for institutional deliveries, and provide pre and ante natal care. After speaking with a number of pregnant women, we found out that many of the women were not having institutional deliveries and had little to no knowledge of reproductive health care. Yet, the most alarming thing was that not a single woman knew about family planning methods. A program meant for reproductive health, and not a single woman knew about family planning. It was really quite tragic to see hundreds of little children running around, playing in trash, with no shoes or pants, no one watching them, and putting whatever they could find in their mouths. Many of the mothers had six or so children, and were yet again pregnant because the six of their children were girls and they were not going to stop until they got a boy. Another tragic reality… 4,5,6 little children with barely enough to eat, no chance of education, and born into a slum with very little hope for the future. What does prenatal or infant care matter if you don’t have family planning? Here was a day where you saw the crux of the perpetuation of poverty and the sad realities of gender inequity.
After the slum visit, we met with the director of the NGO, who really put everything in perspective. He was very aware that some of his programs were not working and told us the main constraint to their improvement, the government. He was a really inspirational person, had this great critical eye, and an uncanny ability to see the bigger picture. I really enjoyed our visit with him.
We then hopped on a train and began our trek back to Delhi. I awoke from a fairly deep nap on the train to the hustle and shouting of about 10 young boys ages 8-16. They had these enormous bags over their shoulders and were scouring the train for any left cookies, water bottles, tea packets, and of course belongings forgotten passengers. If you happen to be one of those unlucky people to leave a purse or cell phone on the train, consider it gone... The street kids live at the train station, and like vultures wait for most of the passengers to get off so they can pick up any left over loot and sell it on the streets. A rude awakening… Welcome back to Delhi. Yet for all its madness, I was glad to be back. Like any other city, Delhi has a pulse, a character; it’s a big playground that I am eager to continue exploring.
Episode 9
On Tuesday, we went and visited one of the truck stops in a very poor area. In India, truck routes are key to the spread of HIV/AIDS. While at the truck stop, we visited one of the centers for female sex workers and had a long conversation with a few of the sex workers as well as some of the peer advisers who work for the NGO. SWACH has set up these centers in order to educate a few sex workers in HIV, STI’s, and safe sex practices so that they may be educators for other sex workers in the area. It was a fascinating day as we got to hear their stories and listen to their struggles. Many of the women live in the slums, were widows and had no other means of providing for their children. After spending a few hours with them, their stories and lives become personal, they are real people with issues that we couldn't even imagine at home. I really enjoyed speaking with them and getting to know a few of them.
On Wednesday we went to one of the very rural areas, where we saw the different programs that SWACH had for adolescents and rural health. The most interesting part was seeing the struggle that these health workers face in the rural areas, where resources and education are lacking. The same systems and programs that work in urban areas can in no way function in some of these rural parts. Providing a meaningful and sustainable health program in these areas takes ingenuity, determination, and an open mind. Again, my respect for those working in this field grew immensely. While in the village, we visited one of the adolescent peer educator meetings, where youngsters would come to learn about a wide variety of issues and would pass the information on to other children in the village. Today’s Topic- Global Warming…. It was so odd coming from a place where we drive polluting cars, waste uncanny amounts of water, and dump countless chemicals into oceans, rivers, and fertile lands. And here I was, listening to these 15 or so teenagers talking about what their village can do to curb global warming. A village who has very few cars and is forced by necessity to use its resources wisely, how can this village help prevent the climate change that people like me have caused. Another one of those irreplaceable reality checks....
On Wednesday we went to one of the very rural areas, where we saw the different programs that SWACH had for adolescents and rural health. The most interesting part was seeing the struggle that these health workers face in the rural areas, where resources and education are lacking. The same systems and programs that work in urban areas can in no way function in some of these rural parts. Providing a meaningful and sustainable health program in these areas takes ingenuity, determination, and an open mind. Again, my respect for those working in this field grew immensely. While in the village, we visited one of the adolescent peer educator meetings, where youngsters would come to learn about a wide variety of issues and would pass the information on to other children in the village. Today’s Topic- Global Warming…. It was so odd coming from a place where we drive polluting cars, waste uncanny amounts of water, and dump countless chemicals into oceans, rivers, and fertile lands. And here I was, listening to these 15 or so teenagers talking about what their village can do to curb global warming. A village who has very few cars and is forced by necessity to use its resources wisely, how can this village help prevent the climate change that people like me have caused. Another one of those irreplaceable reality checks....
Episode 8
On Monday we set out for Chandigarh, which is about a 4 hr train ride from Delhi. It was such a nice surprise when we arrived, as Chandigarh is much cleaner and a bit more modern than Delhi. The air is much less polluted and does not have that distinct odor, the roads are far less congested, and the houses and buildings are quite modern. Although I love Delhi’s character, Chandigarh was a very nice break. For the rest of the day we met with our NGO, Survival for Women and Children’s Health (SWACH), and they gave us a presentation on the different programs that they are running.
Later in the afternoon, we went to the Chandigarh Rock Garden, which at first appeared to literally be just that, a bunch of rocks in a garden. But in fact it was quite neat. The artist made all of the sculptures from trash and waste, such as old plates, used charcoal, old electrical sockets, and even discarded bangles. There were numerous sculptures of animals and people as well as a number of architectural works. A very crafty way of using trash…
We then retired to our guest house, where we met our host family. Our host family also runs their own NGO, providing education to slum children, and they are quite possibly the nicest people you could imagine. They have 2 children and a large house, where they rent out the rest of the rooms to students or young professionals at an affordable price. But most of all they bring you in as part of their family. They have made us feel so welcome, and their work in education is truly inspiring.
Later in the afternoon, we went to the Chandigarh Rock Garden, which at first appeared to literally be just that, a bunch of rocks in a garden. But in fact it was quite neat. The artist made all of the sculptures from trash and waste, such as old plates, used charcoal, old electrical sockets, and even discarded bangles. There were numerous sculptures of animals and people as well as a number of architectural works. A very crafty way of using trash…
We then retired to our guest house, where we met our host family. Our host family also runs their own NGO, providing education to slum children, and they are quite possibly the nicest people you could imagine. They have 2 children and a large house, where they rent out the rest of the rooms to students or young professionals at an affordable price. But most of all they bring you in as part of their family. They have made us feel so welcome, and their work in education is truly inspiring.
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