Ram Ram (another way of saying hello that is most often used in rural areas), -Another week has gone by already! I cannot believe the time is going by so fast. I will try to update every Sunday if possible, I would like to blog more but I rarely have time to write down my thoughts much less type and post them.
-Not trying to be stereotypical but seriously I would kill for some fried chicken right now, I have now been a vegetarian for two weeks and I am dying of protein/iron withdrawal.
-On Monday there was a nationwide bandh(strike) because the cost of petrol(gas) has gone up way too much. Thus, there were no tempos(bus-ish type thing) to ride to work. This could have put a dent on our plan to go to Valli, a village 1.5 hours away, for a field visit to view some of Jagran's programs in action. However, my boss got the great idea to drive us to the village himself in the back of an ambulance (I almost threw up on my least favorite team member 10 times). Because there was a strike we had to go through several checkpoints on the way to the village and my entire team was ordered to duck because any sight of foreigners would send the strikers into a frenzy. Also, on the way to the village we found out there was a murder in the night in a nearby village and we might not be able to talk to anyone that day because it was such a shock to the community. The ride to Valli was beautiful, btw the ambulances here have windows in the back.
-We made it to the village and after 7 hours of meetings between my boss and his staff (in Hindi), we finally learned that there was no water or electricity in the village that day so we could not stay overnight. I cannot say I was surprised or upset by the news. I had found out there was no water when I attempted to go to the bathroom. I entered the bathroom and was faced with a porcelain hole in the ground, a.k.a a squat toilet. Now mind you that although I had been warned about squat toilets, I had never used one myself. I will just say it was an experience to be remembered but at least I did not fall in. After my ordeal when I tried to flush the hole by twisting a knob on the wall, as I had learned in training (thanks Chicago), no water appeared. Then I tried to wash my hands in the sink, again nothing. Thank god for Wet Ones. The lack of electricity was a little easier to notice as I sat in a sauna of a room for seven hours in the dark.
-On Tuesday, I went to work at Jagran as usual and they said we would try to go back to the village on Wednesday. Tuesday night, I went to a park near Fateh Sagar Lake, this place has beautiful views as you can see from the pictures.
-On Wednesday we went back to the village and were able to stay until Friday night. I didn't bring my camera with me so I will get pics of the stuff I describe here from my team members and post it later. I will now post what I wrote in my journal on my days there.
-07/07/10 "Today was my first real day in the field. Monday we did not stay the night, although on the way home we did stop by the Guni (traditional/herbal medicine men and women of the villages) Ashram (compound). Only the gardener was there but he showed us the guni's herbal medicine gardens and the guni hospital/pharmacy. There is a great view from the top of the Hospital. There is also a great view from here, the roof of Jagran's Valli field office. I have never seen so many stars, the sky literally looks white at night out here. Today we worked primarily in Microfinance and Livelihood programs. We visited 3 Joint Liability Programs in Jaisamond. This village is near Jaisamond Lake, which is the largest man-made lake in Asia. The view from there is also beautiful. One of the men we met used his loan to open a video store. Another man opened two new shops and bought a car. A third client, this time a woman, was basket-weaving as part of a group income- generating activity. Later today, we visited a dairy cooperative, here in Valli, started by Jagran in 1992. All of Jagran's microfinance and Livelihood programs seem to be run excellently and are making dramatic strides in increasing the quality of life for these people. I am so proud to be affiliated with Jagran, there does not seem to be any other NGO in Udaipur district that's has the trust of the people like they do."
-07/08/10 "Today we travelled with the GPS Team. I met two different families and surveyed their properties. We surveyed how big the properties were, what type of soil was on the property, what livestock was on the property, what the occupation of the household members were, and if the children were in school. After talking to villagers it seemed that there main concerns were leveling their land which is very hilly/rocky, lack of potable water, lack of technology in agriculture, and a lack of education. The 3 goals of the GPS project are 1. To make sure the people know the exact location of their land in relation to the rest of the world. 2. To asset map the community for micro-planning purposes. 3. For further development in the village by Jagran. The GPS Project is so amazing but I was literally about to die of heat stroke. It was really informative though, and I learned a lot! My group is still annoying. I mean must everything be sarcasm! Also, I thought sarcasm was supposed to be funny? These kids just say stuff and pray for each other to laugh, but they cant even get that right. Anyway enough about them (by them I am really just talking about one particular member of my team that I don't care for). I miss you guys! I have not seen a black person besides Brittany for two weeks and it is the weirdest thing ever. No playing cards, no chicken, no family, no air conditioning, no partying. What am I doing here? Oh right, Jagran IS amazing. Getting insight into their organization makes me really appreciate what makes a good team and that will be an asset throughout my life. "
-Ok back to the present. On my last day in the field, I visited a guni at her home. This guni's specialty was treating earaches and toothaches . To treat a patient, she pours a mixture of water and this chopped up plant in your ear and then you lie down for five minutes. After that, she turns you over and the liquid comes out of your ear along with about 5 rice grain shaped particles, which she called germs. I saw her do this to five different people and they all were cured. AMAZING! When I first met her she told me that she had looked upon my spirit before, I really don't know what that is supposed to mean but I liked it lol. After we met with her, we went back to the guni ashram to get a proper tour and talk to some more gunis. Jagran is doing so much to revive the use of traditional medicine in India. When we returned to Udaipur on Friday night we had a workshop with the Foundation for Sustainable Development and our speaker was from the ministry of health. We asked him what the place of traditional medicine was in India's current healthcare system but he just blew the question off. That was kind of disheartening.
-Yesterday was Saturday but we still had to work. It was the end of our observation period and we had to decide on a project and get it approved by our boss. We decided that Jagran was doing an EXCELLENT job in microfinance and traditional medicine with the gunis so they did not need our help in those areas. However, the entire time we have been here the watchword in Rajasthan has been WATER. There is just not enough of it. Since 2006 there has been a severe drought in this area, and the monsoons have gotten weaker and weaker every year. Jagran has been trying to implement home herbal gardens in the villages so that even without gunis people can cure themselves of common illnesses like cough, cold, sore throat, and fever. However, the lack of water for basic needs has made the home herbal gardens project fail. We have designed a project which will be a water conservation and management education project that has many health dimensions. Not only will we focus the education on convincing the villagers to use the water they conserve to water their home herbal gardens but we will also include lessons on sanitation and hygiene. This last bit was added to the curriculum because in the village we often saw people bathing in the same water they peed in, drank, and watered crops with.
-Today I visited the monsoon palace with my host family and it was awesome, check out the pics yourself. I got really lucky my host family treats me like one of their own and I like them a lot. We also went to a temple for a celebration with my Auntie's extended family, that was fun to say the least. We prayed to the gods and ate food blessed by the gods at the shrine. The blessed food consisted of coconuts, rose petals, and this sugary ball thing called sera. Might not sound the best but I must have been hungry because it definitely disappeared.
-I have already written too much and am probably leaving a lot of stuff out but thanks for reading and I will try to post again soon. Also, if you're feeling generous you should call my Indian cell phone the number is 011919352188506.
