The One Where We Wrap Things Up

Today is our last day. Mohamad and Nilu are leaving tonight, and Yaseen and Irmina are joining their families. It’s hard to believe we’ve spent every waking moment together for the last 4 weeks. Yesterday the TIP joined us here in Hyderabad and we all went out for dinner. We played Taboo when we got back, and it was SO fun. It was great getting to catch up with them again and to hear about everything they’ve been doing for the past few weeks.

This morning we went back to Sweekar-Upkaar to visit the children. We got to sit in on a few small classes and work with teaching the mentally handicapped kids how to read and write. There was a student there who fell in love with Nilu, and asked me to take a picture of them together. So sweet :) Anyway afterwards we all went and got lunch, then headed back to the hotel. Saying goodbye was really odd, since we haven’t been apart from each other for more than a few hours this whole trip. I guess it didn’t feel like we were saying bye, hopefully all of us will have some sort of reunion sometime in the future.

As for the Hyderabad Medical Program… I am so glad my parents let me come. I’ve seen and learned about so many things that will stay with me forever, and the experiences we’ve had and bonds we’ve made are irreplaceable. I haven’t even left yet, and I miss it already.

The One Where We Trek To East Godavari

We are in East Godavari!! I think we’ve all been dreading the trip to East Godavari since the beginning of this trip, maybe because Altaf tried to terrorize us by telling us stories about an uncomfortable journey and limited plumbing. It made for some great jokes for the past couple weeks, but when the time came for us to pile into the van I think we were all a bit terrified. Car-sickness is the one thing I can’t handle, and especially when we’re all crammed into a small space...

It actually wasn’t too bad at all—sure, we almost got killed multiple times on the road here, and it was kind of a cozy fit in the van, but we made it in one piece. We left Hyderabad early yesterday, stopped for breakfast, then went on our way. We stopped about 4 hours in for a short break at someone’s house on the way, and also stopped at one of the Project Reed mosques. We met some people from the surrounding village, and got to see some of their homes and living conditions. It’s interesting, the people here are born Muslim but because there is no Muslim influence they’ve been following the Hindu religion. We kept driving and reached Eluru around 10 pm. We stayed at a pretty fancypants hotel in Eluru, except for the giant grasshopper that kept hopping onto our bed. This morning we drove out to where the medical camp was supposed to be held. A group of doctors and some other people (including Ameenah, Dr. Maimuna and Mesbah bhai) came to offer free checkups and meds to the people of this village. I assisted one of the doctors with taking blood pressure while they did preliminary checkups on women who were coming in. After working for a few hours we took a break for lunch, then our group headed back to Hyderabad.

The One Where We Saw Babies In Jars

We spent the last two days learning about Deccan Medical School with Dr. Maimuna. She is the head of the Microbiology department at the medical school and she gave us a tour of the campus as well as the associated hospitals. One of the things I enjoyed the most from the medical school is the anatomy museum they have—literally rows and rows of jars with babies in them. As unorthodox as this seems to us, babies are apparently more available than adult cadavers are. They even dissect babies in class more than adult cadavers, and keep them in buckets of formaldehyde. It seems so unsanitary and creepy, but it was totally normal for them. We sat in on a lecture and caused quite an uproar because our group of boys and girls all sat together. We met a few med students who are actually from the US but have come here for school, so it was really interesting getting to speak to them. Dr. Maimuna took us to a rural hospital that the med students do rotations at, and then a bigger hospital they are associated with (Princess Esra Hospital). At Princess Esra we were allowed to scrub in and watch a hysterectomy, which was a little bit terrifying because the surgeon was being REALLY mean to her residents.

We also visited an HIV testing center and learned about the methods of testing they use and the steps for treatment for HIV positive patients. There was a poster for an HIV marriage bureau that I think is totally inappropriate, but maybe it works there.

Back at the med school, their president was really trying to get us to recruit people from the US to bring back here for med school haha. We also got a look at their dorms, and they were really nice! Not nice enough to get to me to go to India for med school, though. Teehee.

The One Where We Met Some Truly Amazing People

Today we visited Sweekar-Upkaar School for the Mentally Handicapped. We got to meet with Dr. Rao, the founder and Chairman of the Sweekar-Upkaar-Aashray-Suraksha. This man is amazing—he started Sweekar-Upkaar in his garage 13 years ago, and now it has flourished to a significantly established organization. Not only do they have a school for mentally handicapped children, but they have a rehab center for alcoholics, as well as a rehab center for the physically handicapped. All the people we met who work here with the handicapped are very special people, because it takes a lot of patience to do the work they do, and they don’t even get compensated very well. We got a very extensive tour of the facilities, but weren’t able to visit any of the classes since the kids were gone today because of a holiday. We also got a chance to visit with some patients at the alcohol rehab center—this was very interesting, because their stories were all so different. There was one man who used to get drunk and beat his wife all the time, yet she was there with him at the rehab center, staying with him and supporting him. He told us how drinking became a competition or a social obligation, and it led to severe alcoholism. I’m glad we got to see these perspectives today, it really makes me realize how much I have to be thankful for.

The One Where We Have A Day Off

Today is our first free day! Ameenah decided to take us to see the Qutb Shahi tombs. There are 7 identical tombs for the 7 Qutb Shahi leaders. It was a nice place, but it was sad to see how unkempt everything was. There seems to be no one taking care of the actual tombs, and people write all over the walls. Afterwards we went to lunch at 4 Seasons, a really nice restaurant. We wanted to go to Golkonda Fort, but apparently there was a Hindu Festival going on there so Ameenah didn’t want us to go. We went back to her house and rested for awhile, then went to an awards ceremony for the Nashta School. The Nashta School (Breakfast School) is a school established for child laborers to attend; they go in the morning before they have to go to work, hence the name. It was really endearing to see all the children there, they went absolutely insane when they saw us taking pictures of them, and were vying for our attention the entire time. So cute!! After the awards ceremony we went to Syed Aneesuddin’s home for dinner. He is the CEO of Sahayata Trust here in Hyderabad. The food was amazing, and his family was so nice :( It was a really busy day off, but I’m glad we got to fit so much in!

The One Where We Throw A Baby Shower

My favorite thing about mornings in India: the chai. And the experimental breakfast, we’ve tried all kinds of crazy food for breakfast off our hotel menu… I’d have to say the egg puffs were my least favorite.

We woke up early so we could make it to Lifespring on time today. Sai is usually the determining factor though, since he usually shows up half an hour after we ask him to. When we got there, we started setting everything up. A few days ago we decorated the lobby area, and it looks s cute! One of the things I love about Lifespring is how friendly they try to make the hospitals look… everything is pink and purple, and there are pictures of babies everywhere. They told us they call the pregnant women “customers” instead of “patients”, since pregnancy is not a disease :) Anyway Yaseen and I were in charge of the photo booth, we took pictures of all the women with their families and wrote their contact information down so the outreach workers could give them the picture. There was also a health information table, free checkups from the physician who was there that day, and free meds. We really got a kick out of the vitamin supplement they were handing out that was called Absolut.

The event was very successful, there was a huge turnout and everything went smoothly. For the ceremony, each woman was given a banana, milk, bangles, and flowers for their hair. Afterwards some of them even wanted to take pictures with us :) There was a reporter who showed up from the Telugu newspaper Inaru (sp?), and he took a picture of us volunteers with the staff there. Even though we had to work really hard this past week, we grew attached to area and the Lifespring staff, especially Sudha, Mahesh and Reddy. The people of Hyderabad are so kind-hearted, I can’t say I’ve met anyone yet who hasn’t treated us with the utmost kindness. Well, except the guy we get our SIM cards recharged from. He’s a grump.

It’s Nilu’s birthday, so after the festival we went and watched Kambakht Ishq at Prasad’s IMAX, and then had dinner at Pizza Hut. The Pizza Hut here is ridiculously fancy, and the food is AMAZING. Halal toppings <3

The One Where We Try Not To Breathe

Altaf left this morning, and Dr. Adnan Akhter came to take his place as coordinator. We went to Mahavir hospital, where we met with TB patients and learned about the DOTS program. This was actually very interesting, and it was good to have Adnan with us since he’s an immunologist—he was able to fill us in on a lot of details about TB as we went along. No one in the hospital was wearing masks except us; according to the doctor we met with they were all immune to it! We watched as she met with patients and told them they have TB… it’s amazing how much stigma is involved with being sick here in India. When people get TB symptoms they don’t tell anyone because they don’t want to be isolated from their families/communities, and then they end up spreading the disease to the people around them. TB is already incredibly contagious, and the fact that people aren’t treating it makes the whole country a TB warzone. The DOTS program (Direct Observation Therapy) enforces people with TB to take their medication, by watching them take it at the specific DOTS centers around the city. It’s a really good idea, since no matter what you prescribe, what it comes down to is whether the patient takes the medication or not. After Mahavir Hospital we went back to Lifespring and did some work there, tomorrow’s the festival!

The One Where We Pass The Black Monkey

We’ve spent the last few days working with Lifespring Hospitals. Lifespring builds their hospitals in rural areas and offers relatively cheap services for normal delivery, C-section, hysterectomies, and tubectomies. On Friday they’ll be putting on a Sreemantham Festival at the new branch of Lifespring Hospitals that opened in Boduppal (a little town right outside of Hyderabad) 2 weeks ago. The Sreemantham Festival is a sort of baby shower that is held for women who are 6, 7 or 8 months pregnant. They will be given little gifts as part of the ceremony, but the main reason for the one we’re having on Friday is to promote prenatal checkups and hospitals births for the women of Boduppal. Lifespring is very organized; for the past few days we’ve been going out and making house visits with their outreach workers, as well as visiting immunization stations and children’s schools to recruit women for our festival. Nilu and I have been working on making a nutrition poster and brochure for the women at the festival, and all of us have been helping out with making posters/publicizing/getting everything ready for the festival! Boduppal is really far away and our driver, Sai, drives like a psychopath... but it's okay, every ride is an adventure. We always pass this gargantuan black monkey statue on the way to/from Boduppal with a ridiculous expression on its face, and I swear it makes us laugh every time :)

The One Where We Have Hyderabadi Biryani For The First Time

We’re in Hyderabad! We flew in last night, and today we start our work here. We met Ameenah today, our IMRC rep who will be working with us here in India. She took us to Princess Durru Shehvar Hospital in old Hyderabad. It didn’t seem like anything too special when we visited, but we got a tour of the hospital and got to sit down and talk to some of the doctors and people on the administrative board. It was actually really interesting, they explained the basic healthcare structure in India and how their hospital functions differently than government hospitals do. They also told us about Hyderabad being the diabetes capital of the world, which was ironic because we were sitting around eating biryani and gulab jamun. Hyderabadi biryani = <3. I guess it makes sense, though, since people don’t really get exercise here, and they eat really rich food. Most of the people here are also genetically predisposed to having diabetes. The doctors we spoke to were awesome; my favorite is Dr. Aslam, who told us he averages 100-115 patients a day! Dr. Wase Qawi, an anesthesiologist, averages about 15 surgeries a day. The system here is very practical—spend minimal time with each patient so you can see more patients every day. It’s their method of efficiency, and it seems to be working just fine.

The One Where We Visited The Most Beautiful Tomb in the World

Agra! The 5 hour drive to Agra went by a lot faster than I thought it would. We all had a lot of fun on the bus, and stopped at an awesome rest stop called “Maharaja Motel”. By the time we could see the “Welcome to Agra” signs I think we were all pretty much itching to get off the bus. The humidity was ridiculous and the sun was blinding, especially since we showed up around noon. For a few minutes, though, it didn’t even matter—we walked through the gate to the Taj Mahal and everything else pretty much melted away as we stood there and admired it. So much beauty! My favorite part of all these monuments we’ve seen is the intricacy of the designs that are put into them, it really highlights the labor and attention to detail that went into constructing them. After the Taj Mahal we went to Agra Fort, which was just as, if not more, amazing. The weather and lighting was better at this time, so the walk around the fort was really beautiful. I wish this day didn’t have to end, I would probably be perfectly fine setting up camp in Agra Fort :)

The One Where We Climbed The Minaret

We spent all of today sightseeing in Delhi. After breakfast, we got picked up by the TIP group in a huge bus that had TOURIST written on it. Our first stop was Lal Qila (Red Fort). There was a man selling fake mustaches and beards outside, and he let me take a picture of him! I have a hard time imagining who would buy fake facial hair from him, but whatever. The fort was very open on the inside, a lot of courtyards and smaller buildings. After the fort we headed over to Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque in India. We had to climb up a flight of stairs to get inside, and we weren’t allowed to wear shoes inside. We were all pretty much running to find shade, since the ground felt like it was on fire. We prayed in the women’s area, and then a man came and showed us all these cool things they have stored at the mosque: a manuscript written by Hassan (RA) on deerskin, Prophet Mohammad (SAW)’s sandal, one of his beard hairs (there are only 3 in the entire world), and a stone with his footprint in it, which was supposed to be after Isra/Miraj, when his feet would leave an imprint on stone. Afterwards we met with the guys and a bunch of us decided to climb up to the top of one of the minarets. This turned out to be quite a challenge, since we had to climb up 130 steep steps in complete darkness, and there were more of us than there was space in the minaret, so it was cramped/hot/ridiculous. The view from the top was amazing though, we could see all of Delhi! After we came down we all met up at Kareem’s, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Chandni Chowk (walking distance from Jama Masjid). It was SO HOT outside, and we were famished, and this was our first Indian meal together. You can probably imagine how amazing the food was :)

After food we went to see Humayun’s tomb. Most of tried to pass as locals when we were buying tickets to get in, but it only worked for a few of us. I was not one of them :( Anyway this was a pretty big site, and we went from building to building and saw many tombs, most of them belonging to past emperors and one belonging to Humayun’s wife, Hamida Begum. The biggest structure was set apart from the ones we visited, and this was where Humayun’s tomb was. The building was built from red sandstone, and actually the Taj Mahal’s architecture was inspired by the structure of Humayun’s tomb.

Our last stop was the Qutub Minar, which I personally found the most beautiful from all the monuments we saw today. We all went home absolutely exhausted, but looking forward to our drive to Agra tomorrow!