Anganwadi Inauguration

Today was the inauguration of the Bholu 10 Anganwadi (pre-school) - the one that I went to go help out with construction at last week. The building looks amazing. By the time I got there (5 minutes early) the place was packed with cute little kids dressed in their best clothes (one kid even walked in with the tag still on his shirt!), parents, and Manav Sadhna staff alike. The kids were all lined up nicely and cramped together. The teachers had them sing some songs, a little girl did a dance...it was lots of fun to see them all excited!

Then we heard some speeches - one from a Chunilalbhai, who apparently is a really amazing guy and still working hard following Gandhi's teachings at 94! He gave a nice speech about how the work we are all doing is so important and that we need to recognize that these people that live here in the slums have moved here from villages hoping for a better life, and that it is our efforts that will one day make the dream of there no longer being slums a reality.

Then we all lit some candles, did a prayer...Jayeshbhai, Anarben, and Virenbhai gave a speech about how much hard work the volunteers did, working literally day and night, without regard to food or really anything else. They then said the did not know how to say thank you to all of these volunteers who literally left their lives and homes behind and toiled selflessly for families and kids they had no connection with, no reason to help. So they decided the best thanks they could give is to wholeheartedly bow down to us. So right there, all three of them got on their knees and bowed down in front of all of us. I was speechless. And for those of you who know me you can expect that the waterworks were in process. It was such a selfless, simple, yet profoundly meaningful gesture for these people who themselves have sacrificed so much to help these people bowing down to us for our dedication, which compared to theirs is nothing. I have no words to describe that moment, except to say that it will stay with me forever.

After that everyone had chocolates and then did garba in the street. It was fun to see the little kids having a blast and walking through the slum and seeing the happiness on everyone's faces. There are some pictures from the day here :)

Building an Anganwadi and the World Cup :)

Friday we have our volunteer meetings before prathna. Somehow I wasn't feeling up to going, but I trucked on, get ready, and left. Sure enough when I get there, I see the volunteer coordinator and he looks at me and goes, oh shoot, I knew I forgot something. And I was like hmm, let me guess, volunteer meeting is canceled today?! He's like yeah, and I remembered to call everyone except for you. I'm sitting here thinking well how special of me. So I asked why it was canceled and he said because most of the volunteers were working on the construction of the new anganwadi (pre-school) building since it opens in 3 days and there is a lot left to do so I canceled the meeting. Then I was thinking well, this might not be so bad. So I asked if he could take me with him to the site so I could help. I figured it was a win-win...this way he didn't feel guilty for forgetting me either ;)

There they are making the walls out of plastic bottles. So plastic bottles have been filled with sand, compacted sand, and then the caps super-glued on. Then using cement the bottles will be put on their sides and used to build the wall. It looks really cool and is a very good example of recycling for the kids! So when I got there some bottles were left to be filled with sand but the main work was super-gluing the caps onto the bottles. But I was warned that if you get any of the superglue on your hands, you have to rip it off right away, which will also take some skin off and burn like heck. I responded well is there any other task for me to help with because anything with that strict of a warning, the first thing I will do is superglue my fingers together ;) So then they had me put the superglued bottles in piles next to where they will be used. Man, was it tiring! These bottles were heavy, and there were obstacles everywhere. But I did it, and it was fun to be useful and see all of the work the volunteers are doing to get things ready there! I did manage to get superglue on my hands, some had dribbled down apparently onto the bottle. I decided to let it crust and dry and let it fall off naturally...which actually turned out to work well! I only helped for a couple of hours, but when I went home I crashed! It was really tiring to do manual work especially in the sun! But it was a lot of fun and really cool to see all of the kids in the area trying to sneak a peek at what we were doing - you can tell the community is excited to have this being built!

The World Cup was on Saturday - India v Sri Lanka. This was again a zoo. The streets were literally dead, kids had the flag painted on their faces... Everyone was watching the game. In the second half when India was up to bat, every time they made a run, a single run, everyone would run out of their houses and cheer, even do fireworks. By the end things were out of control - they were using plates and spoons to make "music", half of them weren't even watching the game, just yelling when other people were yelling around the block! I don't like cricket, at all, but even I got interested towards the end. When India won, man was it chaos. The celebrations started way before we actually won, but once it was official, there were fireworks like it was Diwali or Independence Day, everyone was out on the street cheering, making noise. Then everyone got on their bikes or walked to the big intersections, and there I hear everyone just made more noise and cheered, stood up on moving bikes etc. I did not go to see or partake in the chaos, but I hear it was crazy. I swear it felt like we had just won a war or something! But it was great to see everyone united and celebrating something with so differences between young, old, men, women, rich, poor. That's true patriotism!!!

Jamalpur Update

The organization that provides the donations for the Jamalpur site, Flowering Tree, is visiting in April to see things. So we have to compile a yearly report with what we have done this year. So I have been busy at work trying to put that together. It's actually been fun to do and see everything we have done so far, and I have decided to only do one class a day and finish this project over the course of the week instead of try to cram it in, so it hasn't taken over my life too much.

I went to Jamalpur today to work on the monthly report..I'll go work on the yearly report with the staff there next week once I have compiled and need their input to add to it. After putting the report together I went and visited the Muslim Tuition class. The kids are so great there. They all have learned the Gujarati alphabet in only the last 2 months, which is really impressive, and are much more well disciplined. They come to class on time, don't yell and scream out of turn, and even sit on their bottoms now! They were very happy to see me and all tried to impress me with their new demeanor, which I was very happy to see :)

I have also added a folder of all sorts of pictures of me teaching the students...if you want to see, take a look!

Street School Education Curriculum; India vs. Pakistan Match

I spent a couple hours today reviewing my ideas on the Street School Value-Based Education Curriculum that Maheshbhai is putting together. He emailed me a list of 22 values (respect, compassion, waste etc etc) and asked me to come up with activities to do to teach them. I had to think back to elementary school when we used to actually do fun activities...then also did some google searches to think of ideas. I think I got in a good variety - my list is very Western education like - lots of partner/group stuff and lots of crafts and drawing. But I think it provided a contrast to what the teachers here can offer to add so I think we work well together in this brainstorming. We spent 2 hours of me reading and explaining my activities and Maheshbhai translating...it was fun to have him on the other side of that! There was some minor complaining on his part of his hand cramping, how long it will take him to type this etc...I just smiled and told him he's telling the wrong person!

While I was doing this I got a call from my Masi reminding me to not go anywhere...the India vs. Pakistan cricket match is today (the World Cup) so basically everything in closed, and there is (as always) a fear of riots breaking out here in Ahmedabad. She was worried since I wasn't home on time that I went into the city. It seems that there is always a threat of riots in Ahmedabad...they even called in police from other states for today! So crazy...it's like a curfew outside, everyone is at home watching TV. This should be an interesting experience!

Basanti's follow-up visit...sort of

Today was very very tiring! Let me just say that it's not super hot yet, and doesn't even feel too bad, and then you feel sweat trickling from places you did not know you had pores, and you are now conscious of the temperature! This is new for me, but I'm getting used to it...that and showering 3 times a day...you don't even have to use the water heater because the water comes from the roof and it's hot enough on it's own!

So Basanti managed to somehow break a hole in the heel of her cast...it was so it was easier for her to walk...also something she is not supposed to be doing. You can tell she is a bit mischievous. Anyways, it was a long day getting them from the train station, waiting for things to get started at the hospital since it was 8am, going to the outpatient clinic (OPD), cutting in line, which I am morally against, but lugging around a 3 year old with a 2 kg cast I didn't feel so bad. The doctor asked why she broke the cast and that doesn't she understand that without the cast the correction won't get made...I looked at him, speechless, then replied that she is 3 so she doesn't understand anything more than play and fun, and he's like well she should know better. I was trying to not argue, laugh, or punch the guy...wasn't sure which emotion! Then we took her to get a mold made for a scoliosis cast...she was not happy having to lie on the table...her parents were not with us, just her older sister (who was 10) so she was all over upset! After that I got them settled in the ward to wait for the doctor who would change her cast and went home to shower and eat. They called me earlier than expected and said the doctor was ready to change the cast...of course the one time things happen on time. So I rushed back, we had to buy the bandages since the hospital was out (sounded shady but we went with it). The doctor had me help since no one else was there, and Basanti was not happy to let anyone near her, period. It was really easy and I couldn't understand why he was so pompous and arrogant about doing such a simple task (he was really rude to the RMF worker with Basanti before I came about following his instructions and not asking questions). But it got done with lots of plaster on me, but that works, I felt like I was back home, except plaster is better than spit and other such items. We got everyone food, and got them to the station. Basanti knew the minute she was done because her all day pasted frown was all smiles. Amazing how much children know and understand. Knowing I'm helping such poor children get something that is so simple yet will offer them something so great like the ability to walk makes all of the cranky doctors and buckets of sweat worth it!

Delay in Writing and General Health Camp

Sorry again for the delay! I had a week off because my cousin got married - lots of sweating and singing and dancing! - and then I went to Delhi to help my friend shop for her wedding, which was lots and lots of fun. It made me miss home a lot though seeing her and spending time with her family...but I'll be back soon enough!

The morning after I got back we had a general health camp at the community center in the Ramapir no Tekro. It was held on behalf of the Ahmedabad Medical Association. There were lots of doctors there - general, eye, ENT, skin, dental, surgeon, pediatrician. We got there early to setup, and put up lots of banners about preventative healthcare. When people came in they went to the registration table, had to say what they needed to be seen for, and in turn received a "case paper" with the doctor they had to see written on top. If they had multiple complaints, they got a different sheet for each. Then volunteers helped direct people to the right station. After that a volunteer at each station kept an eye in the room the doctor was in and had one person enter the room at a time. After each patient was seen they were directed across the way where medications were dispensed for free that were written by the camp doctors. It was chaotic! No one stayed in line, everyone budged then fought about it, they tried to enter multiple people at a time, and they wouldn't listen when we tried to direct them to the appropriate doctor! It was a zoo! But it was lots of fun and really great to see so many people getting their healthcare needs addressed. The doctors also took their time and seemed to actually enjoy helping these people. I loved seeing the people fight over their turn...it showed me their passion for healthcare...or at least I like to think so ;) My favorite was this girl probably around 10-12 who was getting really upset, crying, yelling, throwing a tantrum at the eye doctor station...everyone thought it was because she got glasses and didn't want them, but it was actually the opposite...she wanted glasses but the eye doctor told her that her vision was fine!! See, some people are as crazy as me when it comes to their health :)

Leprosy Community Visit

I finally got a chance to go back to the Leprosy Community today! Chris, one of the new volunteers, is housed there a few days a week, so lots of new programs are getting kicked off there, which is just what the community needs.

There is a new nutrition program starting there geared towards the elderly that live in the community by themselves. All of these people have leprosy, and thus most all have problems with their feet and hands. All of them beg to make money to eat and pay their house bills. The 23 people in this program all live alone, and are all elderly. Every evening, Monday through Sunday, dinner will be cooked at the community center. All of the 23 will arrive, do a prayer together, and then eat together. This will also help increase utilization of the community center and make this a community event. The donors that are helping fund this project wanted some background information of the people in this program.

First I met with the husband and wife who will be cooking the meals. They were really great - they already have anticipated what problems they may face and are really enthusiastic about getting things started. So next we went around to meet the people that will be in the program. Many of them were not around since they had gone out to beg, but we talked to whoever was home. We told them about the program, asked if they will have any problems participating such as they can''t walk to the community center (for which we will pick them up with a wheelchair), what they think about this program, and then just a brief history on how they ended up at the leper community. All of them said the program was a good idea, but they just hoped they could chew the food, so we passed on that concern. All of the people we talked to had relocated because they got leprosy, which basically outcasted them from society. A few left because they were run out of their home villages; others left because they did not want their families to suffer disgrace because of them. One women left behind her husband and two young children (one 3 years old and one 4 months old) and came to live here. To this date she does not know how her sons are doing or even where they are...so heartbreaking. But the elderly were overall very grateful to have a program that will at least ensure they will get one good meal a day and give them a cushion so if they do not go beg a certain day because they are sick etc, they will still be able to get by. I'm very excited to see this project get going - it's going to provide a big help to those in need.

Last I visited a boy that lives in the community, Guru. Guru's Mom had difficulty during childbirth, which led him to having insufficient oxygen, and thus he suffers from cerebral palsy. The volunteer has been working with him doing traditional therapy to improve his breathing and his condition as much as possible. Guru does not sit, walk, move at all and his breathing can be very difficult at times. But since the volunteer has been working with Guru he is breathing better, is much more alert, active, and responsive, and is even moving around a lot more which is great news! It was amazing to see him. The best part about seeing him was that every time the volunteer laughed, Guru laughed. It was like a natural reaction to him and so heart touching to see!