12:15pm, 30 July 2006

I apologize. . . this is my first post in awhile! However, it is a good thing, because it means my experience here has been much improved. After my last entry, I was able to move from my ghetto lodgings in the middle of nowhere to a very nice guest house in the middle of Hyderabad. Unfortunately, my guest house doesn't have internet, but besides that, it is wonderful. The people are nice; I have air conditioning; there are no ants, mosquitos, or lizards; I have toilet paper and laundry; and most importantly, I have been able to have a social life.

I am currently at an internet cafe, not the first time since I moved to the guest house, but this is the first time I've been able to access my blog. You may have read/heard about the terrorist bombings of the trains in Mumbai. It is a scary thing to have happen, but I still feel fairly safe here. My group does not use much public transportation, and Hyderabad is not as tempting as a terrorist target. However, it did mean that the Indian government tried to block access to blogs dealing with terrorism, terrorist groups, muslim-hate groups, etc, but instead of blocking only those blogs, they blocked ALL access to blogs on certain blogsites (Blogger included). These blocks have now been removed, so I am now able to make entries.

My program is actually finished tomorrow. I have loved India, but my activities through Unite for Sight and the LV Prasad Eye Clinic were not all I had hoped. It was more of a public health experience than a medical program. I am going to be sad to leave India (to go home and start class), but I'm glad that my program is finished. However, I will definitely miss my group members! We have had such a blast here together!

I leave tomorrow night to meet Mom in Delhi. I am so excited to see Mom, and I look forward to getting to do more sight-seeing. I've heard the Taj Majal is unbelievable and that Delhi is a fun place in which to be a tourist. Hopefully our hotel in Delhi will have internet, so I can be a better blogger once I am there.

Only 8 days until I am home!

5:30pm, 10 July 2006

Another day down, 21 more to go until I am done and can meet Mom in Delhi. My group was supposed to spend the morning getting better trained to give eye exams. Currently, we are truly not that much help, so we were excited at the prospect of learning something and becoming helpful and proficient. However, that isn't really how it worked out. We traveled to one of the rural clinics and watched two vision technicians give exams. They taught us a few things, but we spend most of our time getting in the way and giving eachother fundus exams with the ophthalmoscope. Oh well. Maybe I'll learn something new tomorrow.

Our group left the clinic at about one and traveled in the funny taxis here. They are referred to as "autos" and are yellow with black tops like taxis at home, but they are tiny, open on the sides, and have three wheels (two in back, one in front). We squeezed three people per auto and rode a hair-raising 40 minutes to a nice coffee shop called Mocha. I even ate a chicken sandwich. The meals at the little campus where I am staying are all vegetarian, so I was craving some protein. I also had a delicious oreo-brownie milkshake. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon with my group. We started joking about how little actual help we are (we observe alot, but do only a litle). Instead of Unite for Sight (U for S), it is more like Unite for Sightseeing, Unite for Sleep, Unite for Sitting. . . the list goes on.

8:30 am, 9 July 2006

Yesterday we had the morning off (which for me is pretty boring, since I live by myself here). But in the afternoon, we got to go to the inauguration of a new health clinic in the largest slum of Hyderabad. One of the founding physicians was there and spoke which was pretty cool. He spoke in Telugu, an Indian dialect of the area, so I didn't understand a word of his actual speech. (Only one person in our group speaks Telugu, so at least I wasn't alone at sea.) We did get to meet him and speak to him in English to introduce ourselves. It is amazing to think what a huge difference this small, two-room clinic will make in the community. After the speeches, some of the people from the Hyderabad Health and Development Program were handing out little bags of treats. We tried to get the children to form a line, but one of the elderly women from the community told us it would be no use. The children get so little food that will fight for whatever they can get. It is difficult to see their situation and realize how little money it would take to help. $1 = 40 rupees which could feed some of these children for a number of days. However, we obviously can't go around just giving away money. The clinic will improve the health of these people immensely, but there is so much more that could be done if the right channels were set up.

5:00 pm, 6 July 2006

We were supposed to go out today to help with eye screenings in one of the local schools, but apparently the headmaster was sick and canceled. So instead we ended up at a gynecology clinic for women in the rural areas. I don't think we were very much help, but one of the physicians was a fantastic teacher with decent English abilities, so we learned alot about each patient that came in. There was a woman with hypothyroidism and a boy with bilateral direct hernias. These were pretty cool for me, since I have learned so much about them in class.

In the afternoon, we also went to a nearby lake to take pictures. It was gorgeous with a public park and a dam to walk across. Interestingly, you have to pay to enter the parks in India. It was only 5 rupees (the current exchange rate is about 45 rupees to the dollar, so about 2 cents) which is not much for us, but probably is for the local poor communities.

However, the funniest thing that happened to me today was during breakfast. I feel (and probably act) like an idiot pretty much all the time around here, but this was pretty embarrassing. Most Indian food they eat with just their hands, and there are places to wash up right before you eat. So, this morning, I wash my hands and get my cafeteria-esque breakfast which consists of short, thin noodles and a sauce on the side. I'm thinking, ok. . . messy. I dig in with my fingers anyway because I'm trying to respect the culture, but mainly because I don't see any silverware. After I'm about halfway through, one of the cleaning women walks up and hands me a spoon. I don't know where she got it, but I'm sure she had been watching me and laughing hard at that dumb American. I think this was one of those dishes you are supposed to eat with silverware (who knows how many of those dishes I've eaten so far with my fingers and who knows how many people have watched and laughed). Oh well, I'm sure that's not my first mistake, and it definitely won't be my last! At least I can laugh at myself too!

5:15pm, 5 July 2006

Happy belated 4th to everyone! Obviously there was not much celebration here, but my patriotic side was celebrating anyway!

I had a great day yesterday. We traveled to a very poor, slum area of Hyderabad too take surveys of the families. We went door to door asking if any family members had eye problems-- refractive errors, corneal problems, itching, redness, cataract, headaches, etc. I didn't speak the language at all; some of the villagers spoke Hindi while others only spoke the local dialect. I helped by filling out information forms. I would just write down the name, age, gender, and problem and my friend Samad talked to the people and translated for me. When we found those with eye problems, we gave them referral slips and returned to day to do screening and referring for surgery. It was an eye-opening experience. I could never have imagined how these people live without seeing it in person. It was great to interact with the people, and I definitely appreciate everything I have. The children were a ton of fun as well. They were thrilled to see Americans; we were such a novelty. There's a girl named Nora in our group who apparently looks like one of the famous Indian Bollywood movie stars, so they kept asking for her autograph.

The people in my group are incredible! We have a great dynamic, and they have been helping me to get around and figure out the culture. We went to a hookah bar last night for Yasir's birthday. Definitely a new experience for me. I'm not much for smoking hookah, but the food was excellent.

I have pictures, but I am currently at an internet cafe, and I am still trying to find a way to get them from my laptop to the internet.

Again, Happy 4th of July!! I hope I'll be able to write again soon!

4:00 pm, July 1

My day started here at 3 am. My body is incredibly confused, since India is 11 1/2 hours ahead of home. I am almost completely turned around, but I'll adjust eventually. I took a five-hour "nap" yesterday afternoon, and then fell asleep at night around 11 to wake up at 3am. It actually wasn't too bad. I did a sort of mini work- out, took a shower, and then watched The Bodyguard on HBO. I only get about 9 channels, but one of them happens to be HBO India. That and CNN are my only English options. I tried watching some Indian TV, Hindu soap operas, in order to soak up some culture, but I don't think I got much out of it.

I also found out yesterday that I have an unexpected roommate. I returned from emailing/blogging yesterday to a little green and brown lizard on my bedroom wall. I don't mind sharing my room with a little wildlife, he (or she?) is my only companion so far. I am supposed to have a true roommate, but she just arrived today and is spending the next couple of nights with friends. So the lizard and I get to chill together.

We had our first meeting as a group this morning. The other students are awesome. They are incredibly friendly, and I think we'll have a good time together. Eventually, we are supposed to get cell phones supplied by Unite for Sight. Maybe when that happens I will have a social life including more than just a lizard.

I learned a little about LV Prasad Eye Clinic and Institute, the place where I am volunteering. It's a great program. The clinic's goal is to provide the same high quality of care a patient would receive in the USA to all people of India. At least 50% of the clinic's patients are poor or rural and receive their care at no cost. It is also a major center for education, ophthalmology research internationally, and product development/improvement. Because of the research and development done here, donated tissue for corneal transplant may be used for up to four days after harvest, as opposed to only one day which was the situation prior.

Then, this afternoon, we got to go with Jachin (my program coordinator) and another woman from LV Prasad to a local school. They gave a program instructing teachers how to watch for signs of poor eye health and how to give vision screening to their students. We had a great time interacting with the children and the teachers. The shy kids stared at us while the brave ones talked, waved, and shook our hands. I definitely got the most stares, both from students and teachers. I would guess that I am the first white person most of these kids have ever seen. Overall, it was a good day.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and the Indian work week is Monday through Saturday. So I have to figure out what to do with my day off. I am going to try and get out of the LV Prasad complex. Unfortunately, I still know too little about safe transportation, but I really do not want to spend my entire day watching HBO. I am determined to find something more interesting to do.

Oh yeah, one final thought. I mentioned the crazy traffic in my entry yesterday. Today, while we were on the bus the other students were talking about all the honking horns. One of them mentioned how getting honked at the US is taken as a personal affront or a sort of insult. Honking makes people angry. In contrast, getting honked at in India generates a response more like "Thank you for acknowledging my existence." I just found that to be an interesting (and I think true) observation.