village trip and last day at the DIC

Sunday was the 'group trip' to the village to learn about India's rural governing system, only instead of the group it was 6 Canadians and the project supervisor. We met the man from the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (who I met on the metro) and loaded into cars. After a crazy drive there (on a two lane highway passing around corners between trucks, and being passed by two cars at once) we went to a few different houses in the village, and weren't too sure what we would be getting out of the day. After being offered chai a dozen times, we met a man who owned a camel which he rented for weddings and other events. He offered to let us ride around on it, which was really fun. I got to hold the reigns and lead the camel around, which was awesome. After that, we were served lunch, which was a huge feast of really good food. Then the ladies of the village sang for us and made us dance with them. After leaving the village, we took the scenic route back and got to see India's natural beauty instead of the incredibly overpopulated Delhi. I can't say I learned much about Panchayati Raj that day, but it was really amazing.
On Monday, Annu and I met with one of the two directors of SPYM to request funding for different supplies for dressing changes. At first, it was very discouraging and sounded as though they were going to tell the DIC not to do dressing changes anymore, and instead to send clients to a hospital. By the end of the meeting, she handed us 1500 rupees to go and buy whatever medical supplies we thought the DIC would need in the next week until they were able to directly supply the DIC with the recommended supplies.
Yesterday we held the session on dressing changes at the DIC. Because of how the last sessions Christina and I did, I thought a fairly informal approach that left lots of room for questions would be best, so I roughly planned what I wanted to talk about. I thought the session would be for the four outreach workers only. However, when we got there, there were about a dozen clients waiting for the session as well. About ten minutes before beginning, Shalini told Annu and I that there were films being made nearby for SPYM. These films were being made by two other participants in the group (Katrina and Medha) and a contracted producing company on topics such as safe injection and abcess prevention. Shalini then told us they wanted to film our session as well. So not only did our audience increase to five times the size, but the session would be filmed as used for SPYM's training throughout northern India. The session lasted about an hour. For each sentence I spoke in English, Annu translated into Hindi beside me. One of the clients volunteered to let us do his dressing change in front of everyone while explaining everything. I think it went really well. Even though I know there is a very small chance sterile dressing changes will be adapted into their routine practice, hopefully it at least makes the process a little less dirty. Overall, I think it was a really good way to end our placement.

coming back soon

I decided to buy a sari because we're planning a farewell party and the dress is 'formal Indian,' and hopefully I'll be able to come back to India for Annu's wedding. The blouse is currently being made at the tailor's down the street, and I'll be able to pick it up on Monday. I also got a few other shirts and kurtas made, averaging about $6 Canadian for fabric and labour (not bad for a custom fit!).

It finally is starting to feel like I'm leaving soon.... Only eleven sleeps left in India!!! I'm trying to make sure I do and see everything on the many checklists I've made since arriving, and I know there are lots of things I will miss, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to coming home. I remember arriving here and thinking everything was SOOO different, and I was always interpreting and analyzing what was going on around me. Now everything seems more or less 'normal' here. I don't think twice when I see an eight year old digging through garbage looking for things that can be sold, a physically challenged man using his arms to move along the sidewalk, or the many children in the marketplaces asking for money. I am really excited to get back into Canada and go through the same process of questioning everything that I did when I got here. There are definitely things I miss and will appreciate more (hot showers lasting more than three minutes, baking food in an oven, being able to drive places without a two hour traffic jam) and I'm sure there will be things that I have trouble adjusting back to.

Savita's village - finally I've been to a marriage!

I had a really great week at the DIC. Christina, the nurse from Guelph/Hamilton who is also volunteering for SPYM, came with me to the drop-in centre to discuss safe injecting and abcess managements with the outreach workers and a few clients. We made plans on how to provide a workshop for the outreach workers on dressing changes (primarily for abcesses) but we are very restricted in resources, so it will be a huge challenge.
I spent Saturday evening and this Sunday morning in Annu's mother's village in Harayana. There was a wedding there which we were invited to, so I was FINALLY able to attend an Indian marriage. It was incredibly different from any wedding I've been too. Even though there were a lot of people there, it didn't seem that crowded because the ceremony is so long, not every guest watches every party of the wedding. Also, as opposed to overflowing with joy, the bride and groom look like they want to crawl under a rock and die... I guess I would too if I was marrying someone I had not yet had a conversation with. As expected, there was an abundance of delicious foods, and it was hard so say no when everyone continued to offer more. Because it was a village and tourists don't really go to villages, many people were surprised to see me there. Kids are always the funniest, but lots of young women showed off their English by asking me their name. We slept at Annu's uncle's (mom's brother) family home, and they were very welcoming. This morning, Annu and I 'helped' (watched) her aunt make breakfast, which was made on a cast iron pan over a wood fire. After breakfast, they showed me the hookah they use to smoke tobacco, which is heated by burning cow/buffalo patties - mmmmm!!!! On the way back, we stopped at a 'bird sanctuary' which was a little low on birds, but still a really nice place to walk around. Annu's dad even pulled off a branch from a tree for me to brush my teeth!

High Commission & EAD

Last Wednesday was our day at the High Commission (Canadian Embassy). The other group was about 2 hours late because they got a flat tire on the way to Delhi. It really felt as though we had entered into Canada for the day. The facility was really nice, with Western architecture and a swimming pool. I had a bit of culture shock seeing so many Caucasians there. For the first hour there, we set up the timeline we had made of pictures from the pre-orientation camp in September to our Indian midproject in Mussoorie. We talked with some of the Canadian employees at the embassy, and found a lot of connections with them (i.e. one man I spoke two had two sons doing their degrees at University of Guelph). Then it was lunchtime, and we all moved downstairs to the restaurant. There was some Indian food (rice, daal, etc) as well as 'Canadian food' (chicken burgers, beef burgers, french fries, lasagna). It was so good to be eating familiar foods. The other Canada World Youth team arrived as we were finishing up our lunch. I think the funniest thing to see was that they (living in a remote village) had all lost weight, and we (living in Delhi where our host families feed us like crazy and then we buy cookies) had all gained weight. The Canadian part of the team was only 4 people big, and compared their program to 'Survivor' since so many people had been kicked out. Lunch was followed by apple crisp and chocolate cake, and we went upstairs for the official part of the day. Each group did a brief presentation on their program so far, and we discussed the challenges and benefits of the program. We learned that because India is no longer consdered a developing country, it is not on CIDA's list of priority countries, and therefore a Canada World Youth program in India looks doubtful past next year. Although the CIDA representative present did not have any direct say over the project funding, she seemed very passionate about encouraging CIDA to continue funding the program.
Last Thursday, I decided to get a haircut, which turned out to be more of an adventure than I would have expected. It's not an easy thing to get your haircut in a foreign language, not to mention the fact that my hair is different than any hair they cut. Although I asked for them to just add layers and not take any of the length, my hair is about 5 inches shorter. Oh well...
Friday was my EAD with Annu, and we went to the Global Open University for the Inauguration of the Panchayati Raj Department. The prochancellor of the university was there, as well as the man from the government's Ministry of Panchayati Raj who I have been communicating with. There were also a few foreign embassadors there to attend the inauguration. It was an interesting insight into the inner workings of the Indian government and parts of the education system. You'll have to ask me about it later when I'm not writing on a public blog.
After the day at the University, the group went to a nearby mall, which was nicer than any mall I've been inside in Canada (the contrast within this country's economy will never cease to shock me). All big brand name stores were there (ie. French Connection) and clothes were at least 10 - 20 times the price as clothes you can buy in the markets. We settled for some 19 rupee (50 cent) gelatto ice cream, and headed for home.
On Saturday, I went with Annu, Barbara, and Aakanksha (another counterpart pair) to Suraj Kund, a craft sale just outside Delhi in Haryana. They have crafts and clothes from all over the country, so I was able to buy typical products from other states. I did a lot of shopping for gifts that day, and bought a lot for myself as well. It was really crowed there, but a very interesting place to be. There were huge colourful carpets and umbrellas hanging everywhere, and all the buildings (i.e shops, food vendors, washrooms) were mud and straw huts.
On Sunday Annu had to work on university applications, so I had a free day to venture out on my own again. I took the bus to SPYM and spent the day with five of the Canadians from the team. We spent most of the day in an autorickshaw because we kept changing our minds about where we wanted to go. I decided to get some dress shirts custom made here, but the tailor others have gone to was in a market that was closed on Sunday.
Today Annu and I are taking leave from our placement to go visit her aunt and go to a market near her house. I plan on buying some fabric to get clothes made, and hopefully check a few more things off my shopping list.

Taj Mahal!

Yesterday, almost the entire group (all but 3 participants and one project supervisor) got on a train in the very early morning to go to Agra for a day of sightseeing. We arrived at around 10am and spent a while bargaining with taxi and rickshaw drivers. In the end, we agreed with a few rickshaw drivers for each person to pay 50 rupees ($1.25) for the entire day of service. We started off by going to a restaurant, which unfortunately turned out to be terrible food (but that’s a first so far in India). Then we went to the Taj Mahal, and I paid 750 rupees to get in. As it was a weekend, there were A LOT of tourists there, but it was still an amazing experience. I think the best part is that I’ve seen so many images of it my whole life, and never thought I would actually see it, but there I was. The group wandered around for almost two hours, taking lots and lots of pictures, and we met back at the rickshaws to head to Agra Fort. On the way there, we stopped at a very high quality marble store, where supposed descendants of those who built the Taj Mahal carve and designed marble table tops, boxes, elephants, etc. with inlayed precious stones. It was interesting to see the process, but the prices for even the smallest pieces were expensive by any standard. After looking around, we continued on our trip to Agra Fort. Agra Fort was another 250 rupees for the foreigners in the group, and so a few of us decided to keep travelling around. We went to Mughal Gardens and walked around for about 10 minutes, then decided it was time to go get food. It took three attempts to find a good restaurant, taking a rickshaw from one to the next, and finally we found a cheap restaurant with possibly the best food I’ve had so far. We met back at the train station at 6pm and headed for home.Today, Annu and I went to the a university which is planning to introduce a Panchayati Raj Department of studies, and has invited us to its inauguration on Friday. We got a tour of the area and finalized plans for Friday. Then they had the driver take us all the way home (a 90 minute trip). Wednesday the group is going to the Canadian Embassy to present our program to the officials there. We will be seeing the other Canada World Youth group that we were with during the pre-orientation camp in September for the first time. They have already lost 5 out of 9 of the Canadian participants! We created a ‘timeline’ of pictures, and two participants from our group will be speaking at the event.