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...