Meetings with no agenda...

Something I have learned while being at Manav Sadhna...meetings with no agenda, heck gatherings that aren't even meant to be meetings tend to be more productive than actual meetings. Today after prayer I met with Sunilbhai and Ramanbhai, the two health coordinators, and just talked about my timeline and how I can work with them and they can work with me. Just casually sitting around chatting we brainstormed more things to get done than you probably do in a well constructed meeting! We talked about doing a dental camp and pediatric camp and having the volunteers provide some basic education while we have everyone together at these events. We also talked about doing a physician appreciation dinner for those who provide services at reduced fees for us. We also discussed doing tuberculosis and other disease awareness campaigns. It was a very productive hour and gave us a chance to interact in a relaxed environment as well as exchange ideas :) I'm thinking about putting together another health presentation that I can give to kids in the various programs when there isn't much going on. I'm considering either doing a hand washing one or one about how to prevent the spread of disease and incorporate hand washing...any ideas are appreciated!

Update :)

Once again, so sorry for the long overdue update! After all of the craziness things are finally getting back to normal around here, and I'm starting to get things rolling. Here is what I have lined up for my last few months in India :)

There is an institute called the Indian Institute of Public Health that is currently housed here in Ahmedabad. They provide classes for physicians in public health along with do research and serve other public health functions in the area. They're fairly new, but their purpose is the same as any other public health institute - research and education primarily. I've gotten in touch with them and at first they thought I had come to get a job with them and told me they'd have something for me in a few months! After I told them that I wanted to volunteer while I was still here, they got back to me telling me that they have a project in mind that is starting in the next few weeks that they could use my help on. I'm not sure of the details yet, but the institute was very professional and I felt right at home when I visited the campus, so I have high hopes that this project will be right up my alley.

There is an organization called the Real Medicine Foundation that does NGO work all over the globe. In India they do work in Madhya Pradesh, a state approximately 6 hours south of Ahmedabad. I haven't gotten to read up too much on what they do, but I know they are involved in HIV/AIDS work with migrant workers among I'm sure a huge slew of other things. Something else they do is bring patients needing advanced medical procedures and care here to Ahmedabad to be treated at the BJ Hospital, where the patients are for the most part treated for free. The RMF organization workers bring the patient and their families here to Ahmedabad for their procedures, but are unable to stay with them for the duration of their visit which often is many weeks. Thus, the organization needs volunteers from Ahmedabad to help out. Basically our role will be to be an advocate for the patient, be a liaison between the patient's and their treating physician(s) and care team and basically be familiar faces to put the families at ease. I'm really excited to get an inside look at the hospitals here while helping out as well! As I mentioned the organization also does HIV/AIDS work - everything from awareness, to testing, to treatment. Anyways, many of their patients are migrant workers and seasonally move from Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat for work. Thus the organization is looking to setup a network here in Gujarat to help these people once they move so they do not stop getting the appropriate treatment. I'm hoping to help setup a network here, find out which NGO's and government help is available etc on the Gujarat side of things so patients can stay linked into care.

I'm going to also start working with the Indian Red Cross, teaching first aid courses to employees who need a one-day first aid crash course as a part of their employment. Currently a physician goes around teaching this class. I'll go around with him a few times, then provide my feedback on how we can improve the course, and then take classes myself. It should be a good way to keep my training fresh and hopefully introduce some new ideas! They are also starting work on an EMT-Basic training course to launch in the next year or so. While I can't help with that, they're hoping I can help setup the syllabus and the coursework since their program will be based on the US Department of Transportation curriculum guidelines.

Last, but not least, I will continue my work at Manav Sadhna, hopefully trying to do some more education based stuff with the kids. While much of my work there does not fully utilize my years of education and training, the kids and families are so full of energy and life they keep you energized and give you perspective on life.

I'm looking forward to getting back to things in full swing again, and blogging regularly again :)