Just Another Typical SWOT Day

Below: St. Stephen's Hospital, Delhi

Below: Me, Dr. Jain, Paul, Emma

Am writing in a bit early today because we got a chance at the hospital cafe. It's the three of us...Farah had to go home earlier w/Shalini because she wasn't well (she fainted while we were doing rounds w/Dr. Jain). She IS absolutely fine so no worries. She is at home resting---or atleast we think. Dr. Jain was standing right w/us when it happened so it was really a blessing. We had lunch and came down here to wait for Dr. Jain's clinic in the afternoon...ok gotta run...

Am back...after lunch we ended up going to the cyber cafe briefly which was yet another internet using experience here w/crashing computers and not-working internet (yes that is gramatically incorrect). Around 2:30 we were finally at Dr. Jain's HIV clinic where we sat in as he consulted w/patients. There were many men of many ages but the one case I think we will all remember is a girl around 18 y/o to whom Dr. Jain broke the news that the final set of test results were HIV+ and she had it. She took it pretty well we thought since she already knew she had it and was waiting for the confirmation. She had contracted it from one of the less-familiar ways---when she was younger her parents had taken her to a local practitioner for TB, pneumonia, etc and received injections where she was likely to have contracted it. It was beyond any words I can think of to see Dr. Jain tell her and their conversation that followed as he told her abt the disease...how it works...what to expect...etc etc etc. The best part was hearing him tell her to live life normally-and that it was possible for her to do. At the end of the clinic hours we bid him farewell and came home to find yet some more excitement awaiting us...

Total aside...we all found Dr. Jain to be just fantastic. He showed sincere interest in teaching us and showed full interest in answering all of our questions. He took the time to explain the case of each pt and what exactly was going on (patience---not a virtue possessed by too many doctors). Such a nice person---Emma complimented him on his devotion to his work and he didn't respond...very modest.

Farah who had come home earlier (and is doing just fine) had found a mouse running around the room---lol imagine the chaos that followed. As of now we believe it's gone from the room but who knows what we'll find waiting for us when we're back there :)

Good Times

Today started off very early (too early) at 5 when we woke up to leave at 6:30 so that we would be at the St. Stephen's bus stand to catch the 8 am bus. We got there an hour early so had to hang around bfr the big car (so much for a bus) drove us to our site for the day...the outreach center run by St. Stephen's Hospital in east Delhi which manages to serve approximately 90,000 people in the slums areas that surround the center. The work done there is amazing---services are provided so that the first visit is 10 Rs. and each visit thereafter is a mere 3 Rs. (and prescribed meds are altogether free). The center is staffed by some 75 people including some of whom we met...Dr. John (female doc who has been working at the center for more then the past two decades)...Dr. Ramona (a resident from Indore)...Dr. Robin...and several other community medicine postgraduate docs. Throughout the day we observed the various activities taking place at the center. One of the major concerns within the area is malnutrition among children...it is extremely common to find young children w/pica and insufficient calorie intake.

There is also emphasis on providing women w/the necessary training and/or support to generate income. Women at the center make and package masalas (spices) for income and Dr. Robin also took us to a shop near by that is owned by the center...at the shop upstairs girls are taught how to sew, etc to make kurtis, purses, etc which are then sold downstairs. Beautiful stuff I tell u!!!

As an aside---at the center there is also a daycare center where single and struggling parents (only those who qualify) leave their children for the day. The kids are ABSOLUTELY adorable...heck I wanted Emma to convince Todd into adopting one or two!!! It was so sad to hear that not only were some of these children malnourished but many were also physically abused by their parents. The daycare center serves as a safe-haven for these kids and provides atleast a few hours of happiness...there was one little boy Dr. John told us abt who is abused by his mother. She told us when he first came he never smiled but after spending time at the center he has learned to smile :):):) These are things we only read abt in the books---it was a blessing to have heard the story firsthand.

Today was a little bit more sane so nothing too exciting or dramatic atleast in comparision to the last couple of days. But there are still a few hours to the day left so anything is possible :):):)

Oh btw we're getting a hang of this rickshaw thing---we sorta got lost but after a call w/Shalini we managed to be home just a little while later...my apoligies for not having posted videos or pics. This is not to say we don't have them---we have plenty...it's just hard to get them to the cafe and load them up...so we're waiting for when we get a chance to do so...

Whoa for all of us :):):)

Below: SWOT Team at SAHARA Transgender Center

Below: It rained as soon as we stepped out :(

Below: Five people rickshaw ride---goodtimes :):):)

Well what a day...this morn as we were peacefully talking and waiting to leave in the little front entrance of Bapu Nature a massive lizard flies down from the wall and hits the ground only a little away from us!!! YUCK!!! So the gang headed out today at 7:30 in the morn with Shalini who is our 'guardian'/guide here for our first site visit at St. Stephen's Hospital (the oldest hospital in Delhi---and doing the best work)...where after a video orientation w/the director's secretary John we did rounds w/a very nice Dr. Jain. I don't think I can sit here and describe what we saw and experienced as we walked through the various wards. St. Stephen's is a private missionary run hospital that does some great work. Just so many people and such (absolute) substandard conditions and yet the docs and nurses work so hard and manage. Our system in the US is leagues ahead in terms of technology etc but personally I feel docs/nurses/HCP need to be commended here for managing to provide just as effective if not more effective tx to pts...pts from the slums...pts from very low incomes...pts w/chronic diseases...pts w/whatever u can imagine. Unlike the US it is not uncommon to find pts w/typhoid, polio and TB. What surprised me was seeing multiple pts admitted w/RA...definitely something I didn't think ppl were commonly admitted for. HIV tx here is free but only for the standard protocol retro-virals...for the secondary types pts are still required to pay...except they just cannot afford it and therefore they cannot receive it!!! Viral loads and CD4 counts are quite often done only once a year for HIV+ pts if even that---as one viral load test costs 4000 Rs. (close to a $100). How can they afford that??? We are talking abt individuals who are living in the slums and who just don't have the resources.

That was just the morning. We had a delicious lunch at the hospital staff mess (there was yum fresh mango pickle that Farah and I devoured) and then headed off to the SAHARA Transgender project which is also established in Old Delhi. That again was quite an experience...up till now we had only read about sex-workers and what not in the scholarly articles but to be able to meet them personally and ask questions was just something else...hijra's...MSM...etc...such nice people who are greatly unjusted by society and the ridiculous cultural norms. Just imagine being beat by a cop on the road or even worse selling yourself to a client for 500 Rs. (roughly $10) and going into a room w/him to find that you have to 'serve' five people not one. Rates charged for services (read sex-work) are anywhere between 100 Rs. to 1000 Rs. (which is approx. $2.50-$25). The SAHARA Project is set up in locations across Delhi and each location is designated to provide different services including medical services, health educator counselling and most importantly a safe haven. These individuals (the transgender population) work from the evening to the morning hours...in the day time they often go to these SAHARA centers to hang around w/others...where they have available food...medical care...condoms...peer sessions...what not. Just being there and interacting w/them was SUCH an enlightening experience and I should be writing a lot more on this but just cannot put it into words right now. We have pictures that we will load up later. (We had a little side-drama as Emma was bit by something but luckily nothing too harmful.)

From there we headed out to go home and but of course found a downpour on us as soon as we stepped out...after some waiting and what not the five of us were squeezed into a rickshaw driving home...again can this experience be incomplete w/out some drama??? Abt half-way through our ride home some dude on a scooter touched (sorta hit) the side of our rickshaw but decided to instead blame (read yell foul language) our driver and stalk us for quite some time bfr we finally lost him...Shalini concluded he was insane...and I concluded he must have left home having fought w/his wife or work having fought w/his boss...

And here we are now...and it's still only 5:30 in the evening...who knows what can happen in the next few hours :):):) Such a quiet and peaceful day eh?

Whoa for Emma...Vat for Farah...Something for Me

Below: Bapu Nature

Below: Emma, Shalini, Me---Rickshaw Ride

Two or three days later? How many since we arrived in Delhi? The fact that I am asking this in itself says plenty. I have two blogs written on my laptop but since there is net at the cafe I don't have those blogs w/me. It's been two days but feels like we've done so much and been here much longer. Key points:

-China Airlines is definitely fly-able for the future...
-Don't have shady pictures of yourself in ur US passport in a foreign country
-India is the land of extremes...for EVERYTHING
-It is fantastic to be here in a group as opposed to being alone
-America still has something that makes it look very desirable---esp after being
here---though I love it here too
-Who says wifi is easy to get in Delhi now??? They lied!!!
-Getting ripped off is the only talent we possess here
-'Nahi chaaiye' is the word of the day
-Riding w/Emma on my lap is very possible and completely normal
-Getting stared down everywhere has become second nature---literally!!!
-Getting a cellphone charged up w/a balance took my passport---America's Homeland
security listening???
-Too many more to list which my fried brain cannot remember

Oh and for anyone who cares...my # here is: 011 91 9974165816

Packed

All packed and ready to go---the wait the day before seems the longest-even longer then the months of waiting. So further proving Leo's mssg in "Blood Diamond" I've made sure I have packed all the stuff that we spoiled Americans just cannot live with out :):):) India here comes the SWOT Team!!!