A Change of Scenery

This past week has been an incredible roller coaster ride of emotions and  experiences. The semester ended quite suddenly and all of the OMG crew suddenly found ourselves saying goodbye as we all disperse in different directions for the next little while. It wasn't until the few minutes after the last two people left the flat that it hit me hard that I would be on my own for the next 2 weeks exploring the country and for the first time traveling without friends.

I left Pune on a 15 hour bus ride to Nagpur. My first few days in Nagpur were really tough mentally. The city is much smaller than Pune, but I don't think many foreigners come here so I was the centre of a large amount of attention at any time I was walking down the street. The city is still quite developed but poverty is still very apparent especially in the old part of the city. It took me a few days to finally get used to being on my own again. Traveling solo can be an extremely rewarding experience, but the low days can be really difficult.

The reason for coming to Nagpur as I mentioned in a previous post was to volunteer with a local NGO here that sponsors roughly 800 children and provides diabetic care to children who otherwise could not afford it. I was working for a professor last year who sponsors one of the kids in the photos below. He is also conducting some important research on diabetes management in a resource poor context. Families of the children are being interviewed here and the hope is to use this research as a basis to understand if their management practices in a resource poor setting are making a positive impact in the health of children. If the results are positive, hopefully initiatives similar to this one can be developed in other areas of India and also in countries around the world. I am here to help with the collection of data and also to help with organizing a database for all the kids and sponsors. The NGO here is doing fantastic work and is very inspiring to see the difference they are making to the lives of many children.

I timed my visit here to ensure I was here for the day where the children that are sponsored come in for their insulin and to be interviewed by the staff here. I got to meet over 30 children and their families as well and to get some insight into the problems they are facing and how the NGO is helping. The first child that came in was having health problems because he wasn't taking his insulin regularly. The reason was not because of access but rather because if he takes it at school the boys tease him and basically don't invite him to eat lunch or play with them. It was really difficult to see because you could tell how the stigma of Diabetes was affecting this little boys life and his confidence.

Another boy came in, and I thought he was 8 or 9, but he was actually 20. Because of malnutrition and since he did not have access to insulin as a child, his growth was stunted and now he faces severe challenges in society with his appearance.
However, there were many kids that came in that were in extremely good health, and succeeding in school in large part because of their ability to get insulin for free at the clinic, and because they come in for check ups 4 times a year. The staff here really is amazing, not only are they providing the insulin, but they use these interview days to try and promote education for their children rather than keeping their daughters at home to clean and cook, because the parents will not always be there to support them. Also, having the parents all come in on the same day allows the staff to show parents that other children are succeeding, getting married, and living normal lives despite having T1D, and that their children can succeed as well.

Today is National Diabetes Day, and the NGO held an event for all families that are part of the program. I ended up being a special guest at the event alongside Andrea, an adventure cyclist from Switzerland who biked from Europe to India and is raising money for Diabetes. It was an incredible evening and getting to meet and play with a bunch of the kids was an unforgettable experience. Many of the children were extremely adorable, and I ended up practicing how to write our names in Marathi and English, which basically meant them laughing at my horrible attempts to write my name in Marathi.

On the weekend I flew to Delhi to write exams for the foreign service. Being in Delhi was almost like a dream. It was completely different than the cities I have visited over the last few months in the South, mostly because I had to stay in one of the nicer areas near the Embassies where my exam was held. Taking the metro and wandering the streets near Connaught place in New Delhi made me feel like I was in Europe rather than India. But every few minutes or so I would be brought back to reality with men asking to be my friend and in general trying to harass me in some way. Overall, even though it was a quick trip to Delhi, it was great to see new things and explore a different city and to get a taste for the North where I will be spending most of December traveling with Erin.

At the clinic

Andrea, Director of the NGO, Me

Teaching me Marathi

Rock stars!