Hello All,
Pictures of my experience at the Para village are now available online. Please check http://picasaweb.google.com/harbir.is for them. One of the album is for some sari's made by the local villagers. These are very high quality items that take approximately 1 year to make. They are made of silk and hand embroidered. The best part is that they are fair trade and help sustain these persons. I am certain that if they were purchased in the US, they would be very expensive. I will upload more pictures of them, if anyone is interested in getting one, they are $100 and I will purchase them for you.
I will update more tommorrow!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Overview of the Village Experience
Hello from the other side! Today, we have returned from the village back to the bustling city. What a transition from the gently blowing wind, chirping birds, and grazing cows to incessent car horns and a stifling combination of air, dust, and smoke!
The experience was unbelievable and one that will take me a few days to process. Slowly, I will begin to inform you all of my adventures. For now, here is a brief overview of what I did.
For the first week of the trip, my brother and I conducted surveys regarding mother and child health. We went out around 6:30 in the morning (after waking up outside with the sun rising!) and returned around 8:30 - 9. Two local friends accompanied us to aid with the transition into the community as well as assist in translation. We returned early because around 9 or so the sun began to shine and the heat became unbearable. The days scorched at temperatures about 110 Farenheit. As such, we stayed inside and slept. The latter generated the least heat and even then we profusely perspired.
Around 4 or 5 pm, the heat died down and we set out again to the village. We took bikes out to areas 4-5 km away and conducted surveys for an hour or 2. Around 7 - 7:30 we returned home. One of the staff members brought us dinner after which we went to bed around 10 or 11 pm. The next day we repeated the cycle.
I've got to run now, but more details in the days to come! Hope all is well!
The experience was unbelievable and one that will take me a few days to process. Slowly, I will begin to inform you all of my adventures. For now, here is a brief overview of what I did.
For the first week of the trip, my brother and I conducted surveys regarding mother and child health. We went out around 6:30 in the morning (after waking up outside with the sun rising!) and returned around 8:30 - 9. Two local friends accompanied us to aid with the transition into the community as well as assist in translation. We returned early because around 9 or so the sun began to shine and the heat became unbearable. The days scorched at temperatures about 110 Farenheit. As such, we stayed inside and slept. The latter generated the least heat and even then we profusely perspired.
Around 4 or 5 pm, the heat died down and we set out again to the village. We took bikes out to areas 4-5 km away and conducted surveys for an hour or 2. Around 7 - 7:30 we returned home. One of the staff members brought us dinner after which we went to bed around 10 or 11 pm. The next day we repeated the cycle.
I've got to run now, but more details in the days to come! Hope all is well!
Friday, June 1, 2007
Future Plans
There is much to be conveyed, however, I do not have much time. On Sunday, my brother and I will head toward Purulia, a remote village in West Bengal. There, we will be doing similar research. We will be there for two weeks and internet access is unlikely. So, please check back in that time for updates.
I am very excited about this leg of the journey as it is a very rare experience. I am certain it will have a significant impact on me. I look forward to communicating with you. Please leave any thoughts you might have.
I am very excited about this leg of the journey as it is a very rare experience. I am certain it will have a significant impact on me. I look forward to communicating with you. Please leave any thoughts you might have.
Work in Kolkata
Over the past week, my brother and I have begun work in the slums of Kolkata. The unpleasant weather makes the work difficult and we barely spend two hours outside doing it. Nonetheless, the research is going along well. We are conducting surveys exploring the relationship between maternal education and child health.
One of the difficulties in doing this work is establishing rapport with these persons. At a certain level, I can sympathize with them and communicate. But, I cannot begin to empathize with their lives. Their lifestyle is completely foreign to me - as am I to them. Given these differences, we must devote significant effort to communicate. The problem is partly alleviated by the assistance of a local health worker who accompanies us. She works within the community and is familiar with the residents. As such, they trust her and are willing to open up.
Nonetheless, I have discovered a few differences between our (residents and myself) conceptions of illness and I must probe to ensure that we are not misinterpreting one another.
This makes the job a bit tedious, though it remains gratifying. The data we gather is likely to have a positive impact on the lives of these persons. The organization with which we are working . . . Nanritam is very devoted to their work.
All the associates of the NGO are inspired by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveknanda. For those of you who are not familiar, I encourage you to explore their teachings. In fact, Kolkata has a large following of these teachers and their impact seems to be very positive.
One of the difficulties in doing this work is establishing rapport with these persons. At a certain level, I can sympathize with them and communicate. But, I cannot begin to empathize with their lives. Their lifestyle is completely foreign to me - as am I to them. Given these differences, we must devote significant effort to communicate. The problem is partly alleviated by the assistance of a local health worker who accompanies us. She works within the community and is familiar with the residents. As such, they trust her and are willing to open up.
Nonetheless, I have discovered a few differences between our (residents and myself) conceptions of illness and I must probe to ensure that we are not misinterpreting one another.
This makes the job a bit tedious, though it remains gratifying. The data we gather is likely to have a positive impact on the lives of these persons. The organization with which we are working . . . Nanritam is very devoted to their work.
All the associates of the NGO are inspired by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveknanda. For those of you who are not familiar, I encourage you to explore their teachings. In fact, Kolkata has a large following of these teachers and their impact seems to be very positive.
Travel in Sikkim
Hello. I apologize for not updating this in the past two weeks, but it has been unexpectedly difficult for me to find both internet access and the time to write.
The first week of our trip, my brother and I did a bit of travellng. We went into the state of Sikkim, which is situated in the Himalayas, bordered by Bhutan, China, Tibet, and Nepal. The trip was both relaxing and hectic. I needed the time to decompress after finishing school, but the non-stop travel (we left by overnight train the night we arrived to India and continued moving throughout the state every 2-3 days) left us a bit worn out.
The serene and quaint nature of Sikkim, however, gently lifted the stress off my shoulders. At first it was a bit foreign, as I forgot how it felt to DO NOTHING, but soon after, I was content spending my days looking at the Himalayas from deck of my hotel room.
The first leg of the trip, we went to Gangtok. There we did a bit of touring, but by the end of three days, we were quite tired. The first day, we saw Ganesh Tok and Hanuman Tok. View was particularly spectacular from Ganesh tok. I will post some images when the opportunity arises. We were able to the Kanchangega, the third highest mountain in the Himalayas from there. Gangtok was a busy town and Rishi found its mildly metropolic nature agreeable.
As such, when we went to remote Rabongla (where the nearest store was 20 km away), Rishi was not satisified. We spent two nights there. During the day, we did a bit of hiking about. The view from the hotel would have been spectacular, however, it was cloudy both days. Nonetheless, the seclusion from all was needed (there was not even cell phone signal!).
The final portion of our trip was in Pelling, where we spent 3 days. Despite its small size, Pelling is stratified vertically along a mountain slope, into three sections. This unique segmentation makes for a reasonable hike - especially because our hotel was in lower Pelling and all the sites were in upper Pelling. The hotel in Pellling was particularly nice and we spent a good amount of time simply lounging about. There was not a whole lot to do over three days, so I did what I haven't done in quite some time . . . watch TV!
The end of the trip, however, was a bit exciting. We nearly missed the train back to Kolkata! Since I cannot read Hindi, I kept asking persons regarding where the correct train was. Turns out there were two trains to Kolkata and everyone directed me to the wrong one. At the last minute, I overheard the correct train number and raced to the appropriate location. Because our seats were not confirmed, there was a bit of confusion in finding the correct one. At the end, I had to hop on a moving train, only to encounter that someone else was sitting in my seat . . .
The first week of our trip, my brother and I did a bit of travellng. We went into the state of Sikkim, which is situated in the Himalayas, bordered by Bhutan, China, Tibet, and Nepal. The trip was both relaxing and hectic. I needed the time to decompress after finishing school, but the non-stop travel (we left by overnight train the night we arrived to India and continued moving throughout the state every 2-3 days) left us a bit worn out.
The serene and quaint nature of Sikkim, however, gently lifted the stress off my shoulders. At first it was a bit foreign, as I forgot how it felt to DO NOTHING, but soon after, I was content spending my days looking at the Himalayas from deck of my hotel room.
The first leg of the trip, we went to Gangtok. There we did a bit of touring, but by the end of three days, we were quite tired. The first day, we saw Ganesh Tok and Hanuman Tok. View was particularly spectacular from Ganesh tok. I will post some images when the opportunity arises. We were able to the Kanchangega, the third highest mountain in the Himalayas from there. Gangtok was a busy town and Rishi found its mildly metropolic nature agreeable.
As such, when we went to remote Rabongla (where the nearest store was 20 km away), Rishi was not satisified. We spent two nights there. During the day, we did a bit of hiking about. The view from the hotel would have been spectacular, however, it was cloudy both days. Nonetheless, the seclusion from all was needed (there was not even cell phone signal!).
The final portion of our trip was in Pelling, where we spent 3 days. Despite its small size, Pelling is stratified vertically along a mountain slope, into three sections. This unique segmentation makes for a reasonable hike - especially because our hotel was in lower Pelling and all the sites were in upper Pelling. The hotel in Pellling was particularly nice and we spent a good amount of time simply lounging about. There was not a whole lot to do over three days, so I did what I haven't done in quite some time . . . watch TV!
The end of the trip, however, was a bit exciting. We nearly missed the train back to Kolkata! Since I cannot read Hindi, I kept asking persons regarding where the correct train was. Turns out there were two trains to Kolkata and everyone directed me to the wrong one. At the last minute, I overheard the correct train number and raced to the appropriate location. Because our seats were not confirmed, there was a bit of confusion in finding the correct one. At the end, I had to hop on a moving train, only to encounter that someone else was sitting in my seat . . .
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Pre-Trip Introduction
Hello all. As many of you know, I am doing research in Kolkata, India, exploring the life of a physician working in underserved areas. I intend present a live journal of my research and experiences so that you may enjoy, review, and comment on it. Please offer any questions or concerns on the information I present. Your insights would be appreciated and they may guide me in exploring new angles. I look forward to corresponding with you from abroad!
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