The young ones are coming...

Worked like a mother today.  Currently chilling at the medic desk, everybody has gone out for a night in Mysore. I've decided to stay back as I have to be up and ready by 6-7 for a trip to some of the village hospitals.  It transpires that some of the hospital reports may not be accurate and some may not be safe or accessible enough to be interim evacuation sites for an unwell volunteer.  Myself and the CEO of the company here in Mysore are of to visit the ones we are not sure of and inspect the resources ourselves. (Please note that all services are paid for).

My fellow medic nurse Bridget noted on her hospital visit that  Indian politeness means that rather than say, "no we haven't got that". She noticed that the hospital doctors would say, yes - not in a deceitful way but in a wanting to please way. Unfortunately not having oxygen, but saying that you do, isn't really safe and so with our hospital rec list I will be ticking boxes and ensuring that equipment works. It's gonna be a long day but I'm flattered to have the responsibility and am greatful that I am kinda just following protocol too. So that's where I am at right now. 

Normally at field base we have a cook (the South Indian  famous cook suresh) he cooks us basic curry. When the guys are out on their project sites they cook thier own food (from provided staples as part of the growing up experience) however at field base it is important to make sure that they are fed so they are cooked for here.  Despite the food being the tastiest that I have ever ever had, Indians like to have curry for breakfast. The first two days of this was like Wowza and yum. However my stomach has revolted, it cannot take rice at 8 am and so I bought some cereal from the supermarket which advertised itself as "wheat and strawberries".  I opened it this morning and it is the most sorry, cardboard flavour flaccid cereal that I have ever had and had rasins instead of strawberries!!!!! Yuck 

So right now I am eating a meal of eggs and potatoe.  Our ground mans who doesn't speak a word of English but is smiley and replies in Hindi despite not understanding stood over my shoulder and watched me cook the whole meal.  Bless him, he helped out by stirring the potatoes and we had a full blown conversation and I didn't understand anything he was saying and vice versa.  The only thing we both understand is the Indian head nod.

Proper comedy.

I am eating more carbs than I have eaten in my whole entire live. Rice, roti and curry. Seriously delicious. I'm made up but to compensate for the indulgence I'm running every day. I was craving a bounty bar today and had one, it was delicious but I really am not craving sweet things.  It's nice. And man I love rice, sooooooo all good.

today was a nice, I awoke at 6 for another run despite broken sleep. 

I was chased by the lad that lives next door. The family is so poor, and weirdly the girl looks so healthy and the boy really malnourished but very smiley. They are always glad to see me. A pack of feral dogs were ahead of me at one pint of the run and all I could think off was RABIES, especially after reading up on it yesterday I didn't know that even a lick onto broken skin or the lips can transmit the disease. ERGH.  They seemed not at interested in me so all good.

The chickens however proper squak, I just wanna grab one, break it's neck and have it for me tea. Despite our chicken being moved to another farm, a whole new family from god knows where have taken up resistance at FB and these mothers cock a do dol doo at any god forsaken time in the day and I swear they come right up to my tent, right up to the head bit and squak on purpose. One even came up to me as I was doing sit ups in the sun. Bloody noisy mares.

Last night I heard a rattle outside my tent.  I was utterly convinced that there was a snake trying to get me.  I did try and explain away the rattle but nothing other than a snake could make that sound. I lay awake for ages. Stiff as a board.  One of my colleagues told me that there are snakes that rattle around here but the venom doesn't kill (phew).  I am consumed by snakage. Literally my senses are so heightend at night and it doesn't help that the wildlife is so noisey!!!

So the medical boxes are packed. LONG TING. But done. We still have the cars to do and ensure the drugs cupboard is cool and then make sure that the medic room is ready for when the teams deploy.

Speaking of deployment the young ones touch base next week on the 4th. This means I will have 150 medical interviews to do. My god. 150 report cards to fill. 

It's gonna be like dr Ronxs drop in. I'm excited to meet them.

Today I had a rather interesting conversation with some of the team leader girls.  They have all finished university and are very well read. Some how gender became topic of conversation.  One of the girls did her dissertation on a theory she was exploring in regards to the place of intellectual or professional white women in other cultures. That wasn't the title but it was something like that. I listened to her explaining how she had interviewed some ex pat military women in Afghanistan explored their roles in that society. She described how the women told her that they were seen as not as low as the afghan women but not respected as much as men. They described being listened, and respected for being white and western but never really en par with men.

  The conversation then turned into a talk about feminism and this same girl was explaining to the other girls that even in groups that are "united" (ie feminists) there are divisions. - Same same bit different.

Obviously to myself this isn't new but to be surrounded by girls exploring and discussing such topics was lovely. They were fiercely proud to be women and are strong team leaders, I am really excites to see how they develop over the next 10 weeks.  

So real time it's 19.53 here in Mysore.

I've got to organise myself for tomo. 

This time last week I was en route to getting wasted in London. Now I'm here on India!! 

Beautiful India. 

Public health notice

Soooo I thought that I may have avoided an upset tummy, alas no.  30 mins later with uber painful cramps - I emerged from the sick bay loo. I have been washing my hands religiously - seriously all the time, my hands are dry from the hand wash. I only drink purified water, I brush with purified water, I wash fruit with purified water.  We use a dip system to wash plates, first the plates are washed in water with soap, then diped into a bucket of clean water, then into a bucket of bleachy water then into a bucket of clean water, only then can you either use the plate or store it away. I religiously follow this system.  As I type this it is 21.49 at night and I am in bed holding my cramps stomach. Blooooooooody ouch. And I can't be bothered to move from under the mossie net to get some buscopsn.

I have moved tents and now share with a female Indian administrator, her college has left to see the dermatologist.

This administrator will be moving to a flat in the city when the young volunteers come on the 4th February and I will have a whole tent to myself. I wish that I was allowed to have friends to stay, this experience is so worthwhile, and a very tiny bit if me wishes I was sharing this experience with someone in real time!

So I fell asleep after the writing the above and had a whole night of snake themed nightmares. (I am currently on the loo - yup) Last night you know I said that I was convinced that I heard a snake and felt a thump to the floor, well examining my mossie net for holes I noticed two linear slits on the side facing my head.  I was sleeping in the tent alone before moving and was kinda afraid of all the wildlife noises and missed every bodies snoring so slept with my head torch on. I reckon the snake was attracted to the light. I had a discussion with one of the bosses over coffee and she is not convinced it was a snake but says it could be. I reckon it was attracted to my head lamp, slithered in via some hole and tried to bite my head through the net. Cheeky thing.

Hit the net and thudded to the floor.

There is absolutely nothing that. Oils explain the slits at all. Yikes.

I think snakes are gonna be the theme of my nightmares from hence forth.

We went over snake bite management yesterday over a case vac run through,

Nice to know all snakes in India are poisonous. 

So a case vac is an evacuation of a casualty from a site remote from field base , co ordinated by a team at field base.

I have the field base medic phone and someone else has the emergency phone.

The team leaders at their various locations know who they can call and during their two day trip would have established case vac routes to the nearest hospital. One will always involve the field base bravo (car) but that may not be the quickest. The quickest may be a locals car. The car is checked and field base will pay for any repair, this is if the car would be the quickest form of transport to a hospital.

Anyhow the case vac is a highly structured procedure but had rarely been used, as most called in case vacs usually are down graded to a med rep with is a medical report and the patient can be managed by the team leader at the remote site (ie sprains). Sometimes the patient comes to field base for hydration or a once over by field base medic (me) but there have been pretty much no case vacs, nethertheless the procedure must be practised.

Once the volunteers come on the 4th we will be having 12 practises, I have to get this right!!!! (That's 150 people yikes)

I stopped writing this and picked it up after a day around Mysore!

Myself, one of the admin girls and a field base volunteer had a wonder around town.

Mysore is overwhelmingly bigggggg!

I know that it isn't the biggest town/ city in India but for me it was an adventure.

Indian people are entrepreneurs!!!! Everybody is selling something and takes great pride in it.

You can buy anything in India, from iPhone 5s to medications.  No ID is needed for anything. If you have the cash, you get what you want. 

You aren't allowed to take bags into shopping malls and your recipt is checked when you leave!!

We had an amazing veg curry in down town Mysore. I was the only black person in this very traditional eatery surrounded by eating Indians.  I got stares and smiles and a lot of love.  Indian people do not like to say no or rarely say that they don't understand. So this man came up to our table and said hello to me, he looked very important and held himself well (actually most Indian men do) I said hello. He said hello again. I presumed be was the boss and said, "you are boss? This is delicious thank you". My colleagues were giggling as the man nodded his head and said "yes ma'am yes ma'am, we shook hands and left".

I said to the table that I thought he was nice and they laughed and replied "he is a waiter".  Oops

The food I had in this restaurant was absolutely bloody delicious. My god. And the amount of food, all veg all very tasty.  Off course I ate with my hands, forks are dead to me. And so sooooo cheap.

We visited a bank, traumatic.  Busy, full of people with big wedges of cash all trying to deposit it. Disorderd queuing. Hot.

I waited outside.

Outside, I noticed that I was in the western district of town. Lots of hippy looking people, with slight pompous. Admittedly I am in proper expedition adventurer clothing. I look like a tourist, I smell like a tourist and my berghaus day sack outs me all the time. So earlier that day I approached this white girl about my age in the supermarket because I wanted  to find some cereal (I cant have curry for breakfast again) and the look she have me after looking me up and down would have curdled milk. Yikes. Then again as I was crossing the road this big old white man (in a lovely linen two piece may I add) just crossed my path bumped into me as if I didn't exist. Meh city.

I've decided that I do not want to visit any western places anymore, I'm gonna keep it Indian and traddional.  We had a look in a yoga cafe, again too western, with people sitting with laptops and not talking to each other and not even a hello despite me smiling. I possibly may be a bit much for some folk so I totally understand the rebuffle lol.

What else, oh yeah I saw I a guy get knocked of his motorbike by a tut tut, he was alright. No helmet. Wasn't indicating. Bike alright thou. I wasn't allowed to leave the car to help him :(

India's road are bloody scary. No one stops for anything. Except cows. Cows get right of way all the time. People swerve to avoid cows but no swerving to avoid people!!! Few traffic lights. Man alive. 

Oh the hospital, it was pretty standard I wasn't that impressed but was happy that any unwell volunteers would be evacuated somewhere self. It did however have a cath lab. (Where people who are having heart attacked caused by fat lumps in the arteries around the heart, have the artery reopened) this was impressive.  There was a CT scanner and a radiologist. Now the ED had just four bed. There was a fully kitted ITU and even Physio. Dya know what I was impressed actually but it is american funded so I guess I kinda wanted to visit some more rural hospitals.

Right now I'm surrounded by team leaders all writing up their reports. 

Il post some pictures of Mysore!

I think that I am gonna use this blog as a daily diary. It may get a bit boring for you despite things being highly exciting for me - I spent last night reading up on tropical diseases and looking at pictures of fulminant disease states, this made me happy.

I can't be specific about the people I see re names and conditions, but il try my best.

It's funny how the sun changes your body cycles.  I'm waking up at sun rise 6.45 and jogging ???? Falling asleep at 10ish. Eating good curry - man the curry is good. I've taken a likening to powdered milk despite liquid milk being available. I feel like I'm cleaning my soul, life is so simple here. Washing with cold water just isn't a bother, not having to wear make up is a relief. I wear the same clothes and it's ok. My hair is wild but seems healthier in the sun. The sun is a medicine man. 

Bit too tired to spell check the above but gonna answer some of ya facet questions in the next post.

The beauty of androgyny

I'm sitting in the "discussion room" at Colombia Asia Hospital. Mysore. 

I am waiting to be shown around by the chief executives assistant. 

The chief exec didn't have much time for me, he was polite and welcoming - he shook my hand after I extended it. Not much eye contact and a fascination with the hair. We exchanged pleasantries, he proudly proclaimed that the hospital is state funded and then excused himself as he had to see patients.

I am pretty much use to being dismissed by people, men in particular - my boyish young frame and cockney twang does not conjure  up much confidence amongst older folk.  I realise that there is a cultural element to his behaviour but I still thought asking me questions about myself and what grade I am etc would have been part of the convo -a basic level of respect is all I ask for.  Anyway he has left the room and I feel like I am in containment, surrounded by glass walls, in an airtight room.  The Indian public can see me and I can see them, we stare at each other, children are confused.

Despite this trip being planned,  I kinda think that it is slightly rude that I am waiting, but this could be my western impatience rearing it's ugly head.

So I wait.

Poor sleep last night. I was alone in the tent and dreamt of snakes (a lovely assistant has just told me "five minutes ma'am". So all good)

Anyway snakes, I swear I heard hissing at around two am, and I am pretty sure that I heard the thud of a snake launching itself at me.  And then during this morning run I was convinced that snakes were gonna throw themselves at me and I would die.  No such thing happened but I am tired.

This morning was a morning of errands. I was assigned a driver who dropped me off at various points in Mysore City to get bits and bobs.

First some laundry. (The bosses get theirs done for them), then off to the printers, now the hospital, then the pharmacy to pick up medications lacking from the medical boxes, then to pick up Paul the big big boss.

I am getting quite good at this traveller malarkey, navigating through Mysore was initially scary but my androgyny serves me well, until people look down and see my painted toes nails.  People speak English and were very good at pointing out places to me, I call every one sir or ma'am and shake everyone's hand.  I do appreciate that I must look effing strange so I do have to make attempts to soften the dr Ronx blow.

It's bloody hot.  Nice . I am tanned and am no longer wearing foundation, so Fridays rush around london was a waste of time!!!

I have taken many pictures of down town Mysore and will post them later.

And il update you on my tour of the american hospital!

I am not allowed to take pictures :(   

Literally feel like I've always been here

Tuesday 2pm the team leaders and the other medic are on PPV project planning visit, for two days.  So I have my tent to myself, and the site is pretty quiet.  The team leaders are on two day visits to their allocated project sites to plan the sustainable project, get to know the area, locals etc.  they will return in two days and report back to the deputies.  This also gives them a chance to learn how to work communication - comms. There are protocol driven mandatory reports that need to be made to field base via mobile phone, using radio talk.  One is a med rec, in the morning and evening.  This is where they report to me any medical issues - it is a highly structured and organised affair.  I am on call here at field base with the medic phone.  I have to have the phone by me 24/7. If I'm not contactable there is. Medic 2 phone (nurse) and then the emergency phone, then the deputies phones then the project leads phone, then the various London phones. 

We are rota on call sessions.  Bridget the nurse - medic 2 is out visiting the hospitals near the project sites and ensuring the doctors know of Raleigh just in case we have to temporary admit someone.  

If some one were to fall ill the team leader of that project would call me for advice.  Each time has a medical box full of the essentials, I have an emergency bag with more advanced kit.  They ring me to ask for permission to administer ANY drug.  And every drug used is logged - Drugs being analgesia, epi pens, creams.  Pretty basic stuff but it all must be documented and rung in first.  If I deem the person unwell then they may be evacuated back to the sick room here, or taken to the local hospital where they will be seen by doctors, I follow on and ensure that whatever treatment they receive  I am informed and it follows protocol.  There is a senior doctor in London oncall at all times for advise too (to support me)

The hospital Raleigh likes to use is a private one in Bangalore but usually patients are seen in the local one first (if appropriate) .

Today is a pretty chilled day! I woke up at 6 as the team leaders were off to their project sites and so I saw them off with the deputies (permanent English paid staff).  Ran 5k (Nike run works here!) had a flipping cold bucket bath and then our 9 am team meeting. 

Lunch was served by our celebrity chef -  suresh (honestly he is a celeb)

I'm eating with my hands, Rice and curry - bloody yum. Better than any curry in London.

I'm also head nodding like an Indian. Lol

Had a conversation with a female Indian in regards to beauty.  She was in tears yesterday because her alopecia was reoccurring. She has beautiful thick long black hair but noticed patches over the last few days and is DISTRAUGHT.  She believes that she is no longer beautiful and thinks that we are all staring at her. Boy she cried.  She reports that her parents love her but are disappointed that despite being wealthy she feels the need to work, they say that she should stay at home and be natural. She is a vegetarian and her parents do not use products , everything is natural, they say she has spots and alopecia because she uses chemicals and creams.

All I could do was listen to her,  she has a dermatologist and is able to fly home today and see them, but she was deeply upset.  I let her speak hugged her and went to bed.

Today she was subdued, not eating and sad.  

It saddens me that she was this upset, her perceived ugliness was not true! And the fact that she choose to work for an charity rather than languish at home is commendable.

So being big sis DR ronx, I went into her room and lay with her in bed, side by side and she cried and told me her fears. 

India is full of beautiful women, the village women are stunning, they wear no make up and although in simple they look fabulous, with big white teeth and dark eyes.  With this in mind any imperfection is I guess seen as ugly.  I am covered in imperfections and not fitting the Indian mould I guess talking to me was pretty easy for her - I am also not the object of any mans desire here and so there is not any tensions on that front between the Indian women and myself.  My lanky androgyny is a win win.

I'm sad for her but also know that she is lucky to be able to afford a dermatologist, I am also grateful that there is something in me that she trusted enough to confide in.

Day 2 and I'm already gonna miss this place when I leave.  Or is it day 3?

Ps I've eaten chicken cos we have a good cook, and I've seen the chicken run about before I ate it.  Two I'm drinking more coffee then ever.  I haven't had any sweets thou, no snacks, just three meals and water - lots of water.

Lastly black people should wear screen. 

Bit late sorry and a bit short sorry

It's 03.38 on Monday 27th of jan, I'm writing this in bed in my tent. 

I can't sleep. 

Bridget (ITU nurse) is snoring like a  mofo in the bed next to me. Nikita - in house manager is also snoring like a  mofo in the bed down from me and for some reason I keep picturing velociraptors trying to get into the tent.

So that's where I am at.  

It's day one and I am so pleased to be here.  I arrived a week or so late because of work and interviews, but have slotted into the team so easily. 

Saturday mornings commute  to Heathrow was traumatic, I missed travelling with Homerton nurse Lisa (who was going to NYC on the same day) because I worried about missing the plane and so set off super early. I thought that I had over packed and after walking 2 mins from my house to Kentish town station, I had strained all my chest muscles and had pleuritic chest pain.  All made worse by the raging hangover caused by some Homerton receptionists ..... As an aside, thanking everyone who made it too my party thing.  Big up the the two Chris 's for accommodating me and the noise.  Was lovely, and I know that I say thank you ALOT, but I really do mean it - in the absence of family, friends who put up with me and my maddnes deserve a medal.  Love u guys more than I can ever comfortably articulate or show.

So I'm at k town station trying to pay for a one way and alas, a flash back, my debit card is in the pin pad of KFC, Dalston.  No panic though I have another.

The train ride was uneventful, I was sleeeeeeepy and quite famished actually but made it to bag check queue, by now I was bent double - the rucksack was killing me (but I did find space for a couple a duty free clinque products. Word.)

The queue, jeeeeeeeeeez, I though Africans packed a lot, my god, some of the Indians in the queue had massssssssssssive boxes, card board boxes.  Enough to fit in a Sml Indian family......

I suddenly felt really silly with my berghaus trek bag. And bwoy, did these Indian people stare at me!!!! I did look disheveled though, embarrassingly colonial with my multi pocket Gillet and hiking boots.  Everybody else was in traditional clothing or denim. I literally screamed Gap-year.

Bag dropped, now for security and not the first time this trip I braced my self for the 'boy or girl?' question and then having to explain that my metal pronged Afro comb was not a weapon of mass destruction but of course a comb.  I cannnnnnot be the only person in the world who carries an Afro comb in hand luggage.  Every airport I have ever travelled through I have had to demonstrate its purpose (I must admit that it doesn't help that it's handle is a black power fist lol) and I did come close to losing it in Australia (of all places) 

So made it through security, got my duty free goods and boarded.

As the only high top, could be a boy could be a girl, black person on the whole plane and the last to board (booked a seat so took me time) walking down the Isle was just short of doing a fashion week catwalk. 

 Silence and stares. 

But as I am learning Indian people are extremely polite.  They will stare, but are never ever rude, they are totally dedicated to pleasing and go the extra mile to help.

As an aside I was totally concerned that I might be the butt of racism here, I was consumed by worries of rejection due to my gender, race, background. 

Totally unfounded.  

Is there something about London/ the western world that turns people, what ever there background into meanies? Xenophobic hateful meanies?

I have had nothing but absolute love from the Indians here so far.  At times I have felt like a celebrity! (Hopefully not in a privileged entitled way - eek) 

There also seems to be a fascination with my hair, In the car to Mysore mall, one of the Indian boys asked if he could touch my hair, I said yes (why the hell not? Who am I gonna impress here). He patted my hair and then suddenly 5 hands out of nowhere were stroking my head.  Yikes.

So, the plane journey was pretty uneventful, I had curry for each meal and did this thing where I watch somebody else's tv screen. Literally dono why I do it, every long haul.  Strange. 

Oh actually something did happen, before we even started moving, one of the overhead hangers opened and a box of toblerone fell into an Indian girls head, she was about my age and cried. OF COURSE, I came to her rescue and literally did nothing but reassure her, I'm beginning to realise how esteemed Drs are held in Indian society.  As soon as I introduced my self her mother almost breathed a sigh of relieve (and grinned and waved at me intermittently through the journey). The lady sitting in front of me turned round and announced that she was lucky to be sitting next to "the DR". 

Oh dear.

Mumbai, crazzzzzzzzzy.  People EVERYWHERE.  Hot, noisey.  I need a wee.  So I go to the disabled toilet.  I take my time, freshen up, comb the fro. Knock knock. 

Outside,  not one but two people waiting to use the toilet, both in wheelchairs.  The shame.

I'm pretty proud with myself, Mumbai airport - not easy.  The american women who threw an almighty hissy fit in the middle of baggage collect because her cases were scratched made my day.  Literally stared at by everyone, I don't think the Indian people actually understood the emotion, and for shame for that women, true western behaviour.

The domestic flight was again uneventful, by now I was knacked.  I joked with a British Indian that my bag could be anywhere as I trusted the airport staff when they threw it on a conveyor belt and ushered me onto a coach which drive 2km to the plane.

But I got my bag!!! And after a panicked 45 mins wait for the Raleigh staff to get me, I was in the car being driven to Mysore.

GALS IN INDIA !

I love it. I feel good vibes.

The sun was blazing, as we approached field base I woke up to, a greeting from some fresh volunteers.  I was utterly knacked, dishevelled, sweaty and half asleep and bless them, they took me to the shower and left me to a bucket bath. 

A bucket bath my friends is as it sounds but ya don't get in the bucket, a bucket is filled with warm water (cold) and you lather up standing over it, using ya hands (cup) to scoop water onto ya body.  It's efficient and really makes u clean with what you have got.

I brushed my teeth with bottled water, got dressed, and joined the team.

The team, so Raleigh is a project that promotes personal development in young people by placing them in sustainable development projects in poor communities around the world.

It is highly organised. I am the doctor at field base but am working with Bridget an ITU nurse who is highly trained, with years of experience in teaching, emergency care etc etc.

I have a lot to learn from her, and am glad for her presence.

A lot of the medical stuff is very strictly protocol driven. What's common is common.

My duty these weeks, is a lot of first aid teaching. A lot of hygiene teaching. 

On field base now are around 12 25ish year old who are team leaders and have been here for two weeks being prepped on their roles which will be to lead groups of late teenagers who come next next. Il explain more has this happens.

Bridget and my job is multi fold, we ensure that the team leaders remember their first aid (they have all been taught in England)

We go through hygiene hand washing etc

We restock the medic kits

If someone gets Ill we follow protocol and liase with London to decide if they need to come back to base, a hospital or need a few days in field base looked after by us.

A have a list of other duties but it's my first evening, so as I do them I will report.

The support is great.  There are four veteran uk Raleigh staff here who have worked here for Raleigh for years. The house has wifi. I have a desk! Woop!

Il have more time to write later as the other medics and the team leaders are going 

To the expedition sites tomo to do a survey and set up before the 150 young ones come next week.  We will have a practise case vac and medi vac.  Il practise being on duty and liaising with the teams via radio.  Exciting!!!

I've just had lunch and actually I am being spoilt here on field base, our cook is apparently a South Asian celebrity chef! I just had roti and veg curry DELICIOUS!

Il start jogging tomo at 6.30 sharp, the weather will be getting hotter and I'm drinking water by the liter. 

The people here are amazing. Life is good, I cannot believe that I will be here for another three months!!!