My homestay family in Bangalore

I was just thinking today that I've been posting a lot about the various places that I've been to in India but have not posted anything about some of the most fabulous people in India that I've met - my homestay family!

My homestay mother's name is Anju and my homestay father's name is Sudarshan/Uncle/Sudi. They run a little cafe in a theatre that has the most amazing food. Anju's philosophy of cooking is to cook from the heart and to cook organic healthy homestyle food! Here's a short article about her cafe that explains it better than I can:

http://bangalore.metblogs.com/archives/2007/07/anju_at_ranga_shankara.phtml

Anju and Sudi are both very very warm and friendly people. In fact, we've been joking around ever since Julia (my roommate) and I arrived at their house. For example, one day, Anju didn't come back to sleep for the evening. I asked Sudi where she was and he told me that she was off on vacation in another part of India for the week. Of course, surprise surprise, the next day when I got back to the cafe after school, there was Anju as usual working! Apparently, she had just gone to her brother's birthday celebration (which was in the same area of Bangalore, in fact), had talked until 3am and decided to spend the night there. Of course, Julia and I gave Sudi "the look" when we saw him later. :)

With Anju and Sudi, we've gone for ice-cream, attended a wedding reception and even went to a family lunch with them! I had been warned in Switzerland that we would have no ice-cream in India or China, but wow, the ice-cream place that we went to was simply unbelievable. I think that it's definitely one of the best (if not THE BEST) ice-cream place that I've been to in my life so far. It's name is Corner House. I ordered a "Brown Bomb" which was essentially TONS of fudge on top of chocolate ice-cream on top of a very warm brownie swimming in fudge. Mmm...I was in chocolate heaven! Definitely by far one of my greatest dining experiences in India so far!

On Monday when we return to Bangalore after our vacation, our entire study abroad program will be having a farewell dinner with all the homestay families. Anju has agreed to dress Julia and me up in beautiful saris/sarees. I cannot wait to see what I look like!

Mini-Vacation: Pondicherry

Following our case study, my group decided to go on a mini-vacation on Pondicherry. It was absolutely magical. It was so nice to be away from the noise and honking of cars in Bangalore and just to have peace and quiet and a laidback pace of life for a few days. We stayed at Pondicherry for two nights and one full day and mainly visited the Ashram, shopped in a traditional handicrafts fair, spent a good amount of time at the beach and ate amazing food, including "forbidden" foods such as steak and fish!!

A few snapshots of Pondicherry:

• Sunrise at Pondicherry - Woke up at 5:45am and strolled over to the beach to witness an absolutely breathtaking sunrise. Colors changed from black --> gray --> dark blue --> red/orange --> brilliant rays of sun peaking out from behind white clouds against a blue sky --> glaring brilliant (and hot!) sunshine. Words will do no justice and will therefore leave you all in suspense until I can show you photos when I get back. :)
• French colonial influence on Pondicherry - colonial colors of buildings, such as tan, cream, and blue. Also, many European-styled balconies. Lots of French words everywhere. Many places were bilingual in French and the local language.
• The Flute-Seller - I'd never seen one person carry so many flutes in my life! The flute-seller that I saw had flutes lined up in circles similar to the sides of a cup and was carrying them on his back. However, the craziest thing was that within this "cup" of flutes were more flutes inside, and even more flutes inside this inner "cup." Of course, while carrying all of this, the flute-seller was also playing a flute to advertise his goods. I am so amazed by the strength and skill of the local crafts sellers in India.
• A scene on the beach - After a very refreshing shower, I went to sit at the beach and just enjoy the moment. I remember... the sounds of a flute floating over the sand from the flute-seller, the beating of the waves on the shore and the cool breeze on my face and in my hair, the gentle tones and chatter of the people around me, kids' shouts from the playground behind me, the melodic voices of the people trying to sell fresh flowers, candies or other products... A very sensually-stimulating and relaxing experience.

Case Study - Navadarshanam, Tamil Nadu

Navadarshanam was the second place that we visited for our case study. Navadarshanam is a community that is dedicated to seeking alternate methods of living to the modern way of life. Their main philosophy is to live sustainably with minimum exploitation of nature and humans. Furthermore, the people believe in a life force that exists in all living things. Thus, if we let things be, this life force has the potential to rejuvenate itself. This philosophy was reflected in the community's attempt to regenerate the forest in Navadarshanam through a policy of minimum intervention as well as their attitude towards health. For example, even though community members may be sick, they try to let their own bodies heal themselves and only seek the help of healthcare systems if there is no improvement. When we were at Navadarshanam, one of the people had a sore throat and was meditating in silence for three days to give his body a chance to rest and heal itself. This has really made me think about how reliant many people are in the world on healthcare. In particular, in the US, the overprescription of drugs has been a serious problem. Just a thought, but perhaps a fostering of this alternate mentality could be a solution to this problem.

Interesing things about Navadarshanam:

• To get fuel for cooking, methane gas is used. Methane gas is "made" by mixing cow dung with water. The methane gas is pumped to the kitchen and the remaining slurry is pumped out to the fields as fertilization. Alternate layers of slurry and biomass put onto fields for optimal fertilizer that can regenerate itself.
• Polyculture instead of monoculture is used, meaning that multiple plants are planted together instead of only having one crop, as is often the case in the growing of cash crops. By having polyculture, plants can complement each other in terms of the nutrients that they take out and put back into the soil and help each other to grow healthily.
• Navadarshanam has a very interesting aura or energy about it. Once we arrived, I immediately felt fresh and rejuvenated. Everything was so green, so healthy and so full of life. I'm starting to really believe in some of the healing powers of nature that I've heard about in the past and used to be skeptical about.
• The food at Navadarshanam is incredibly tasty and healthy. It's amazing how you can truly "taste" the freshness and nutritional value in the food that we had. All the stomach problems that I had had for the past couple of days were gone while at Navadarshanam. Perhaps this is an indicator of how great the connection between health and food is, and how much control we have over health simply through our diet.

Case Study - Tribal Health Initiatives, Sittilingi Valley, Tamil Nadu

For the past couple of weeks, we've been learning about various types of data collection methods, such as different types of interviews, group discussions, focus groups and observation. To give us a chance to put all that we've learned into practice, we do a case study in each country. For my case study in India, six people were in my group and we went to the Tribal Health Initiatives and Navadarshanam in Tamil Nadu,

Tribal Health Initiatives (THI) is an incredibly inspiring place. THI was started by a couple, Dr. Lalitha and Dr. Regi, in India and their vision is to promote health for the tribal community in the Sittilingi Valley in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Dr. Lalitha (Tha for short) and Dr. Regi spent some time researching various places in India that had little access to healthcare because they knew that they wanted to provide healthcare to those who needed it most. When they decided on Sittlingi Valley, they actually spent a year living in and learning about the area and the tribal community there. I found their story truly incredibly, especially when I heard about their struggles to gain acceptance amongst the tribals and eventually to empowering the local tribal community. For example, they trained women in the tribal community to become auxiliary nurses. The initial batch of women that they trained actually weren't accepted in their villages because the women were 18 or 19 year old girls. Dr. Lalitha and Dr. Regi therefore tried a second time by trained women who were chosen by their communities and were respected in their villages. This was a great success and this second batch of auxiliary nurses have been changing many of the once fatal practices amongst tribals. Meanwhile, Dr. Lalitha and Dr. Regi utilized the first batch of nurses that they trained as a workforce in the hospital that they have set up in the area!

We had the amazing chance to talk to Dr. Lalitha, some of the doctors working at the hospital with her as well as to the auxiliary nurses! It just happened to be that our visit to Sittlingi Valley coincided with the auxiliary nurses monthly training day at THI. At first, it was awkward talking to the auxiliary nurses because of the language barrier. However, both sides opened up to each other when we sang "Lean On Me" to them and in return, they performed their tribal dances and songs. When they asked us for another song, we taught them to do the Hokey Pokey!!! The nurses laughed so hard when we got to the part where you put your "booty" in and put your "booty" out! After all that action, conversation flowed much more smoothly.

Some thoughts about THI:

• Absolutely LOVED seeing the doctor on rounds. I was surprised at how Western the medicine administered was. For example, there were assigned scrub nurses for surgeries and everyone had a role similar to the way that it is in allopathic medicine. However, at the same time, there were moments that made me realize the inequality of resources and wealth in the world. For example, when the ambulance/van arrived, the patient was not carried into the hospital in a stretcher but was instead carried in a piece of cloth and wrapped up inside.
• Was touched to tears when I watched the introductory video to THI. For those of you who are interested, it is called "The Sittilingi Experiment" and I will be bringing a copy of it back home with me to share with you all. A particularly memorable part of the video was when Dr. Regi said that if you listen to and teach the local people, the local people have the capacity to rise and take care of themselves. It was just so inspiring for me to see other people who have a similar vision as my own actually realize their visions/dreams!
• The auxiliary nurses all agreed that healthcare has improved in their communities. For example, through THI and their efforts, birth practices such as unsanitary ways of cutting the umbilical cord, and keeping the mother from breastfeeding her child for the first first days, and not letting the mother eat for five days after delivery, have all stopped. There are now so many more healthy children born in the villages around THI and to see the impact that one couple can have on a community.
• Sustainability is so important and can be achieved in more ways than we can imagine. For example, I used to think that medical waste would always be a problem and that it would require costly special waste disposal methods. In particulary, since medical waste often contains contaminated human material on it, I thought that there would be no way to cut down on medical waste since most things would have to be disposable. However, at THI, things such as masks are made out of cotton. These masks can be washed with detergent for sterilization and reused. This has revolutionalized the way that I think about medical waste and about waste in general and I am much more conscious of the waste that I generate now and how it will be treated later.
• I have realized the importance of involving the community in this type of project and to keep an open mind. As Dr. Lalitha said, one of her most rewarding experiences was unlearning all the knowledge that her education and upbringing had taught her and to learn from the tribals with an open heart and mind.

Overall, definitely a life-changing experience. Right now, I am definitely considering the possibility of working in a rural area in China where language will hopefully be less of a barrier and to do similar work that Dr. Lalitha and Dr. Regi have done.

1 Feb 2008 - Traditional Market Visit

I simply love visiting traditional places and learning about how people typically live in a place. I was therefore very excited to be able to visit a traditional market. Everyone on the program was divided into groups and we were given a list of items to purchase at the market. The list of items was interestingly in Hindi to make it more difficult for us. On the bus ride to the market, we solicited the help of a fellow passenger to help us translate all the items on the list into English before we began our adventure. It was quite a cultural experience. Some of the items that we had to purchase included traditional Indian spices, a lungi (a garment for men that resembles a skirt that is often worn during work, such as in the fields), dye used for Vindi (I'm not sure if I am spelling this right but I'm referring the dye used in the middle of Hindu women's foreheads), as well as interestingly, a condom. We had one of our travelling faculty with us who spoke Hindi and we assigned him the task of getting the condom. It was simply hilarious when he played along with us and to the embarassment of the shopkeeper, asked the shopkeeper what flavors of condoms he sold. A very memorable experience indeed both for our group and for the entire class when we retold the story during our traditional market visit debriefing.

6 Feb 2008 - Panel discussion - Where do I go when I am sick?

This was a panel discussion from various low-income groups including a farmer, security guard and domestic helper. I was very touched by their struggles with the healthcare system and how often the quality of care that people received depended on how much they could pay. For example, one woman spoke about her husband's experience. She was not able to pay the nurse upfront for her services and instead said that she would pay at the end of her husband's treatment. As a result, the nurse inserted IV needles into her husband's arm more roughly than usual, and the woman's husband ended up with very swollen arms and hands. It makes me very sad that while there are inevitably certain additional obstacles that poor people undoubtedly have to face due to their financial situation, people working in the healthcare system still make these people's lives harder simply through their attitudes towards them. When I think of the healthcare system in the United States and its great emphasis on empathy and compassion, I wonder how these healthcare workers developed their uncaring attitudes. Was it because their emotions were dulled over time or was there simply no focus on the need to develop a correct attitude in their heathcare education?

31 Jan 2008 - Bangalore Medical College Victoria Hospital

Very interesting experience. I was very excited to have a chance to see doctors perform routine examinations on pregnant women. We even saw one doctor examine a women who wanted an abortion. One of the doctors even asked me if I wanted to try to perform the examination on the patient myself. I unfortunately declined as our group was leaving the examination room but I was struck by how different the concept of privacy is between the United States and places such as India. In particular, it was interesting that both the patients and doctors carried on as usual with their clinical visit in a maternity ward in the presence of our group, especially since we had one boy with us.

As I expected given the similar colonial history of Hong Kong and India, the medical school education system here is similar to that in Hong Kong, with students going into medical school to get their MBBS degree straight after high school. This has made me think more deeply about the effect of globalization and colonization in the world.

Week 4 Day 2: Bangalore, India - Update on past few weeks

I need to apologize for not updating my blog for the past couple of weeks. For around two weeks, my stomach was giving me problems, resulting in symptoms such as nausea and vomiting in the morning. I think that my stomach was just adjusting to Indian food, so I ended up fasting on fruits for a while. I am happy to say though that I believe that I have now fully recovered. My appetite has returned and I am very glad to be able to enjoy good old Indian food again. :)

During my two weeks of feeling ill, we actually were exposed to quite a few interesting experiences. Here is a list of some of our lectures/field visits this week to give you a taste of what I've been learning about:

Coordinator Lectures:

• Food, culture and traditions and their relationship with home based remedies (Bhargavi S. Rao)
• Water management in Bangalore and its relation to public health (Bhargavi S. Rao)
• Right to water in the context of the politics of provisioning of services, privitization and risks to public health (Leo Saldanha)

Guest Lectures

• An overview of the structure of governance and roles of central, state and local governments in health care management and delivery (Dr. Subbarayan Prasanna, formerly professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Dean at Indian Institute of Management)
• Health care practices in India (Dr. Shirdi Prasad Tekur, community health specialist and pediatrician)
• Issues and concerns of women's movements in India and historical overview (Ms. Madhu Bhushan, Women's Activist Group Vimochana)
• Status of public health and health care delivery systems in Karnataka - policy, budget, expenditures and challenges (Dr. H. Sudarshan)
• Issues around access to formal legal system to women (Rekha, Women's Activist Group, Hengasara Hakkina Sangha)
• Faith healing and people's practies in alternative health remedies (Dr. Shirdi Prasad Tekur)
• AIDS and HIV in Karnataka - situation and response (Asha Ramaih, Karnataka Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Bangalore)
• The 3rd gender- transgender desirse, displacement contexts and the question of their human rights (Interaction with activist group on sexual minorities - Sangama)

Panel Discussion

• Where do I go when I am sick? Panel of participants from various low income groups including a farmer, security guard, and domestic help

Field Visits

• Bangalore Medical College Victoria Hospital
• Traditional Market
• Slum neighborhood - appreciating access to water dynamics in low income neighborhoods
• Visit to water and sewage treatment plant and interaction with officials of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board