Work Life So Far

Friday was my first day of work at Deep Griha. There were three other new volunteers and the four of us basically got a tour of the whole place and the slum community on Tadiwala Road, but I still want to go explore the community more. In the mornings, I generally go to Sassoon Hospital, the government run hospital in Pune, to help out with the ART treatment. My job is essentially to give the patients their CD4 report when they come in. It gets to be a bit boring, but at least I have patient contact. It's incredible how many people are lined up for ART treatment daily. There must be at least 40-50 each day.
Here's some pictures from Sassoon. The first one is of my roommate.


We usually get back to Tadiwala around lunchtime and eat lunch with the DISHA (Deep Griha's Integrated Service for HIV/AIDS) ladies. My work at Deep is mostly involved with DISHA, as is most people who are volunteering here. It is probably the most successful, most funded, and most elaborate program at the organization. The terrace is completely dedicated to clients who have tested positive. I spend most of my time with the clients there, and the rest in the office one floor below.
Yesterday, we went to Sahara, a hospice for HIV positive patients who essentially have no one to care for them. The hospice started out as a palliative care center, but they have now expanded to rehabilitation as well. One of the patients passed away while we were there. He had been so severely ill that he was taken to the hospital the day before. But because the family didn't want to have to pay for the treatment, they had him discharged and brought back to Sahara that day. He died shortly after. A patient in the slums of Tadiwala also passed away yesterday. One of the volunteers, Morgan, who has been here since about February, said that it was so sad to see the stigma that was still there. The brother and sister of the man who passed away, rather than mourning the loss of their brother, were telling the doctors to cover him with plastic so that they wouldn't catch HIV/AIDS. They had just been waiting for the man to die. It is so ridiculous how prevalent the stigma still is, even amongst family members. Here are some pictures from Sahara.




My research is also going pretty well, although I haven't begun data collection yet. I met with Dr. Sangre at Sassoon Hospital, and she told me I could get about 300 patients worth of data on the day of the clinic. Unfortunately the next clinic day will be in August, so I'll have to have some patience. In the meantime, I hope I can interview some doctors in the area to gain insight on their point of view about how their patients approach epilepsy and the treatment of it.

Arrival in Pune

It seems that I can never begin a trip smoothly. We left Baroda on Wednesday morning at 6am. Perhaps it wasn’t brightest idea to pull an all-nighter before a 13-hour drive to Pune. It was definitely worth it to stay awake with cousin/ sister once again. Groggy-eyed, I left the house, forgetting the packet of money that would be my lifeline in Pune. Don’t worry, I already patted myself on the back. To add to the worry about money, I ate something on the way that really upset my stomach. I couldn’t really eat anything much after that. And of course, my luck would have it that the motion sickness that hadn’t bothered me for years decided to make an appearance that day.
And yet, my sleepy, nauseated, worried, headachy state disappeared as we passed through the gorgeous hills. The drive was really amazing. While I definitely was asleep for much of it, as we went through the ghats of Khandala and Lonavla, all I could do was sit and stare out my window, jaw dropped and eyes wide. Sigh. I love India.
We arrived in Pune at around 7:30pm and checked into a hotel. After getting my cell phone (), we went to dinner on Main Street/ MG Road and then drove around Pune and checked out the place that I’d be staying at just to familiarize ourselves with the area. The next day, I met Pinky Aunty, one of Mamu’s old friends, and her family. I will always be amazed at the hospitality of people in India. It is just unbelievable. Mamu, Gowhar Mamu, and Saud then dropped me at Koreagon Gardens, where everyone involved with Deep Griha was celebrating the 32 anniversary of the organization. It was somewhat of a strange way to first be introduced to everyone, but at the same time, it was a great way to almost everyone who was either staffed or volunteered with Deep Griha. The party was mostly thank you speeches and awards for everyone followed by about 4-5 hours of singing and dance performances by the staff and volunteers. All the girls at the House did a really cute dance to the song Mahi Ve. We finally reached home at about 6pm.


My roommate, Malgosia, is great, but unfortunately she’s leaving next Saturday. She and one other girl are first year medical students from Canada. Most of the volunteers are from a Scotland or the UK, although there are a few from Canada and the US. Most students come through a program called Link, Development in Action, as couples, or independently. Everyone really is just great.

Last night in Baroda

It's 2:15am, and here I am, working on a secondary application on my last night in Baroda. Oh how I love the pre-med life. Four more hours until I leave for Pune though! On that note, I should get some sleep.

The Third Pilgrimage

Today I ate an entire meal, so much that I couldn't even finish, for 60 cents. I love India. Third Sunday in a row, our family went on picnic to the same place. It really has become a weekly pilgrimage of sorts, and yet I will never bore of it. It's different every time, even though we really have gone to the same exact places. Today, we went after the rains had fallen, and all of the dry, barren landscape we had seen just last week was green and lush. Our picnic spot from the first of these trips was completely filled with water. It was the most amazing weather to be out in nature. Speaking of being out in nature, I can fully call myself an Indian, as today, nature called, and I went.