Right now I am chilling on the porch, it's warm but dark. Dinner is ready at 8 but I am full up from lunch which was rice, roti, chick pea curry and a separate lentil curry. I had both and seconds! Unfortunately my stomach can't handle spice and so it's a bit of a toilet affair these days!
Eat.... Drink.... Stomach twinge... The shites. I think this is how it may be for the next few months!! But I really don't mind as it means I can eat what I want yaaaahoo.
Today was a chilled one. I again was sorting medical equitement. Didn't take long. Then I sunbathed. Then had a walk to the nearby village which is about 1k away. I went alone for some me time and to get some sweety treats for the team leaders who had been in soft skill training all day. So walking to a remote Indian village alone in the sun along a busy crazy Indian road need a film crew. Every mode of transport honked at me, my presence nearly caused an RTC, I do not think these people have ever seen a black person before. It was slightly unnerving and with the recent spate of rapes in India I was a little concerned but again my androgyny saves the day. It is automatically assumed that I am a boy.
At one of the smal shag shops a couple of lads asked if I were Turkish? Then kept repeating Nelson Mandela. All one can do is smile. Smile and shake hands and smile and avoid the cows. The cows are literally out to get me, the chickens and the cows have conspired to kill me.
Anyhow I've burst that cherry and feel confident to walk to town again. I gues my only issue which is really more of a self esteem thing as oppose to anything else is my feeling of gender limbo.
I feel kinda rejected by Indian women as I don't fit the Indian female beauty mould and I don't feel totally accepted buy Indian men. The Indian team leaders who I work with definitely have warmed to me, thanks to the bonding session we had yesterday in the car to the most remote village ever. We also had dinner together - a group of boys and myself. Was nice and I definitely feel accepted by them now. Ultimately they respect me cos I'm a doctor but on a personal friend level there is some work to be done but I'm sure after a few weeks itl be less awkward. Although it isn't that awkward but I feel that I am definetly held at an arms length.
So yesterday, I fell in love. I fell in love with the Indian countryside. The CEO wanted to be sure that one of the nun hospitals was suitable as an intermidate transfer hospital if a volunteer was to become well. So I was taken at the crack of dawn to a really remote village out of Mysore in a place called Coorg (I think) this is one of the villages where a group of volunteers are going to be placed and to complete a sustainable development project. The pictures - my latest ones with the children is the village.
It took almost two hours drive to get there and the seanery the wildlife noises were divine. The air was just so clean. These people love in absolute poverty thou. They are farmers with one crops. When the crop is harvested they travel to another farm and work there. These people live very very basic lives. This particular village had no running water and no electricity, no showers (these are some of the projects the teams will be working on).
The closest hospital is about 12k away.
I was driven to the hospital and met by a very don't-mess-with-me nun. Who again was very dismissive of me, and talked to the CEO and NGO representative rather than me despite the fact that I was asking the questions.dont get me wrong I get that essentially people are suspicious of strangers, and I know that my ethnicity, and outward appearance is challenging and I find this challenging but I have insight and I am determined to reset a lot of peoples thinking and challenge societies norms. It is easy to have the attitude that "this is me so accept it" and easy for others to associate such musings as having a self esteem problem but really it's about using what you have to make the world a better place (cheesy). So I'm not cross with the nun at all but I think we should have discussings about social interactions.
The hospital was very very clean. The garden outside was very well kept. The wards were clean. Fortunately for me I have seen rural hospitals in Kenya and so was not surprised re the simplicity and old school equitement. I mean it all worked. I checked the oxygen, ECG machine, pulse ox, they had a chest drain kit, sutures and kits. Beds were clean. Sterile water. Fully stocked pharmacy. X-ray machine. Ultrasound machine. Fully operating theatre. 24/7 electricity. Two on call doctors. I had a list of things that I had to check as per raliegh standards. And this hospital ticked most. So we decided amongst ourselves that this hospital would serve as a interim transfer hospital if need be.
We spent the rest of the day visiting another village and checking out the casualty evacuation route, one village is in the middle of an elephant camp. The villagers have a system for notifying the village if an elephant Is approaching they shout to each other but one of the projects is to have a alarm system put in place.
I'm a bit gutted that yesterday's blog deleted as it was comprehensive and I'm hate that I have to write it again, so I'm not gonna. Sorry .
So next week is busy week!! The volunteers (young people) come. Shizzle my work will be cut out for me!!
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