Unite for Sight - Hyderabad, India

From my friend Yasir. A fun recap of our trip.

Continued again. . . my last for the day. I apologize for this being so segmented, but I can only post a few pictures per entry.

Indian Traffic
It was amazing what you'd see on the street: cars, enormous goods carriers, camels, oxen, bicycles (sometimes loaded with bundles at least 10 feet high), motorcycles, three-wheeled auto-rickshaws, bicycle-rickshaws, cattle, pretty much whatever you can imagine. However, I never did see an elephant. That's my mom sitting in the bicycle rickshaw.

Delhi pics continued. . .

The India Gate
The India Gate is an archway in central New Delhi. I believe it was built by the British, but I'll look it up the guide book when I get home and update this entry when I have internet again. It was surrounded by a beautiful park with a small pond where people can rent paddleboats. There were tons of people picnicking and enjoying their afternoon as we wandered through.






Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's tomb was actually built in the 1600's before the Taj Mahal. It was built by Humayun's wife as a token of her love for him. (The Taj Mahal was built by the next emperor, Akbar, to demonstrate his love for his wife. . . it's all pretty romantic actually.) Humayun's tomb is found in Old Delhi while the Taj Mahal is in Agra, where Akbar moved the capital upon his ascension to the throne.

Life continues as usual. . . chaotically. I returned to Madison from home, and, of course, our cable isn't working which also means we have no internet. So, here I am at Panera, fulfilling all of my online obligations.

My brilliant plan to share my India pictures via blog has not gone smoothly, but I refuse to give up! (Julia and Hillary- These are dedicated to you!)

The Baha'i House of Worship
It is also called the Lotus Temple (for obvious reasons), and it reminds me more than anything else of the Sydney Opera House. The inside was incredibly serene, and any who believe in a higher power are invited to worship there.







Indian Dancing
Mom and I spent an evening watching some traditional Indian dances. I can't for the life of me remember what they are all called, but we had a great time! Everything was brightly colored, graceful, and beautiful. The dancers wore bells on their wrists and ankles (first picture) and created music along with a drummer and vocalist. The third picture is of a dance that reminded me of Uncle Tom's Cabin from The King and I.

2:11 am, 7 August 2006

Hooray! I am finally done traveling. And, of course, my body clock just doesn't know which way is up. So I'm wide awake at 2 am. Not necessarily a bad thing though. . . it's a good uninterrupted time to download my pictures and organize my thoughts from the trip.

I am thrilled to be back in Wisconsin. In the waiting area for our plane from Detroit to Appleton Mom and I sat next to a group of friendly women discussing the best recipe for rhubarb tarts. . . aaah home!

And as promised (finally) here are some pictures from my trip!
Starting with Delhi. . .
Qutb Minar


The Qutb Minar was built in the 1190's by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the Islamic successor of the Mughal empire. The main tower (minar) is 239 feet tall and 46 feet in diameter at the base. At first, Mom and I weren't sure we were going to go see the Qutb Minar, thinking it was "just a tower." However, we met two sisters from Seattle on our tour of Agra who highly recommended that we go, with the statement, "I just couldn't stop looking at it." She was right. It truly is an inspiring structure, and it is made even more so by the stately ruins around it. The pillars in the picture on the left formed the courtyard of the Quwwat-al-Islam mosque. The black metal pillar (shown in the archway with me in front) dates from the 4th century to honour the Hindu god Vishnu. The iron pillar is mysterious because no one knows how it came to rest in its current location, nor how it has remained rust-free for over 1,600 years. Visitors who stretch their arms backwards around in the pillar (in a sort of reverse hug) will supposedly have good fortune, but I couldn't try, since it is now fenced off.

Hmmmm, having trouble adding more pictures to this entry, so continue with the next post. . .

Mom and I are having a fantastic time in Delhi! We have seen almost everything there is to see in the city, and we will finish up the sight-seeing tomorrow. We've been to various monuments, temples, tombs, etc., but descriptions of those can accompany the pictures later on. Yesterday, Mom and I took a tour to Agra, the city with the Taj Majal. It was a fun day with two sisters from Seattle and an older couple from Barcelona. The bus ride was 4 1/2 hours there and then 4 1/2 hours back, but every second was worth it. The Taj Majal is indescribably breath-taking. I have never seen anything to match it. I can't wait to show you all my pictures, but there is no way that they can do it justice.

I hear that it is almost as hot at home as it is here. . . and at least I have air conditioning here (although I still miss 306 Chamberlain Ave!). I'll be rejoining you all in the heat of Wisconsin on Sunday, the 6th. Our plane (hopefully) will get in around noon!

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.