Thursday, September 08, 2005

niramaya means good health

I bet you're all wondering how it worked out with the bus system. Well, I went over to the bus stop near Mahatma Gandhi Market (the shopping area near me) and waited for the number 8 bus. 8 in Hindi looks like an vertically inverted L (in case you ever need that info). And so came the bus, completely packed with people hanging out from all directions. Whether or not the bus has come to a stop is a non-issue here because if you wait for it to stop, you may as well wave goodbye to all the bus riders staring at you. I took a taxi. Yes I know, I'm a sell out but I dont care. I'll experience the bus and train rides along with the roommates, besides that, for personal traveling, i prefer taxis. I calculated how much more I would be spending if I take a taxi to and from work everyday and it comes out to being 17+ dollars more (for the month) than taking the bus. In indian rupees its quite significant but since I'm still in conversion mode, I'm perfectly happy spending an extra 724 rupees (1 dollar = 43 rupees). If I had come for longer, I would be riding the bus like the rest of the volunteers.

I arrived at work a little earlier than expected. The taxi ride was only 8 minutes compared to the 45 minute bus ride that I had allocated time for. People tend to start work later here in India, so even if it was 10 am, no one was at the office. I sat on the steps of the Krishna building near Hind Mata Theater for a good 50 minutes before anyone came by. My salwar kamiz (indian outfit) was completely soaked from the ridiculous heat. I spent majority of the morning observing aka quietly sitting around waiting to be acknowledged. I learned more about Niramaya and how they serve the underprivileged women and children of the four major slums of Mumbai. Niramaya runs an outreach program at each slum through a doctor dedicated to each area. Health workers - who are not medical professionals - go door to door to each slum dwelling to speak with the families about their medical needs. Its primarily the health workers who build the relationships with the community and the doctor comes into the picture when the people need treatment. Niramaya also holds educational sessions for women and children on a variety of topics, some of which include nutritional cooking demonstrations since majority of their patients are malnourished children. HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in these slums as people tend to get their immediate problem resolved but never address the actual issue of how they are getting infected or sick. I learned that being homosexual is actually illegal in India; this law was established during the British colonization. Different NGOs have tried to repeal the law but the Indian government merely said that the society in India is not ready for this change and acceptance. The doctor that I'm working with in the office (who also serves as the office project manager) was very candid about the gay community and how its perceptions are managed here. I was a bit in shock at how open he was with his language.

The afternoon was very educational for me. Niramaya is aiming to push a new program for HIV/AIDs education materials as well as condom distribution in slums. A few months ago, they had applied for a grant from a local organization. Today was their interview with the organization and as long as all goes well, they should get the grant! So you can imagine how nervous and excited everyone in the office was! Three individuals from the potential sponsor, AVERT, came to discuss the financial info, structure of the organization, and the combined goals of the two groups. After all of that was discussed, they headed over to the clinic in the Baiganwadi for a site visit.

In the evening, we had our first "Reflection" session with the associate director of AVSAR. It was nice to sit around and discuss my first day and to hear about the other volunteers experiences. Its very reassuring to know that everyone is going through the same thing. The support that AVSAR provides is something that makes this whole experience gel much more easily. I think I would feel lost without it.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

9/09/2005 1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

9/09/2005 1:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, Emaan, such interesting stories... but it sounds like you're definitely learning a lot. I'm sure it makes you apppreciate your life here in the US a lot more. I'll bet you can't wait for Fort Wayne!

9/09/2005 11:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I feel like I'm living vicariously through you. I like all this education, keep it coming!

9/13/2005 8:08 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home