Preschool and VHW

Hello everyone!

Our first week in India has continued to be jam-packed and exciting. On Thursday morning, we rose early once again and headed to our nowfamiliar breakfast of toast, eggs, bananas and some type of sweet Indian dish as well as tea. Directly after this, we headed to the preschool on CRHP’s campus to await the arrival of the 65 children who attend there. The teacher, Meena, lives on campus directly next to our building and we all crowded around her new baby, who was extremely adorable. The children slowly started to trickle in: some came withtheir parents on motorcycles and many unloaded from the large CRHP bus that some of us have been able to ride to the village and pick up the children in. They come from the poor slums of Indiranagar, the village across the street that CRHP has recently started working with. Some of the children were extremely outgoing and excited to see us, and immediately started playing catch, jumping on playground equipment and

hula hooping with us. Others were shy and stayed back, most likely overwhelmed by our presence in their small school. The walls were filled with familiar characters like Winnie the Pooh and The Little Mermaid, and some of the children wore shirts that displayed Angry Birds. While we couldn't communicate with the children in English, they loved playing with us and were fascinated by our cameras. Each picture taken had to be shown to them, and some wanted solo shots.

Once we settled down in a circle inside, Meena led them in several songs in both Marathi and English including one welcoming each of us by name to the class. The children seemed very happy and were extremely well behaved when given directions from their teacher. After Meena took attendance (almost every child was present), they broke into groups to work on puzzles, coloring and other activities. Shortly after, we left the school but not without many warm smiles and goodbyes from the kids. Many of us have seen them on our other visits to Indiranagar to do surveying for a professor here, and they remember us and come say hello.

After this, we went to a series of sessions on child health in rural  India. This was a special opportunity because it was led by one of the village health workers who come to CRHP every Thursday. We learned about several holistic home remedies to some of the common health problems in children like pneumonia and diarrhea, such as steam inhalation and making a lemonade solution for oral dehydration. Shobha then informed us in a more medical session about the types of problems they have seen most in children, with a heavy focus on malnutrition in poor countries. These ran until lunch, where many of us ate quickly and decided to embark on our first trip into town on our own!

We climbed into rickshaws, and the driver brought us to a corner in Jamkhed where we paid him our 20 rupees and then looked around in confusion. Although we had visited once before, this street looked

nothing like what we recognized so we just started walking. After breaking up into smaller groups of four or five, this turned into a great adventure. My group (Shelby, Megan, Anna, Tierney and Lilly) walked in the hot sun for about thirty minutes in what ended up being the wrong direction from the center of town. As soon as we figured this out, we turned around and made the long walk back. It was worth it, however, when we finally got our bearings and were in a farmer’s produce market in the center of Jamkhed with some great photo opportunities. Although the stares are inevitable here, it was pretty cool to be able to say that we had this experience all on our own.  We also found a great clothing shop right next to this where a few of us bought some tops and took pictures on a balcony overlooking the market.

Once back at CRHP, we went right into a session visiting with the village health workers as translated by Shaila, one of the CRHP staff. They took turns telling them about their care for the different vulnerable groups including pregnant women, infants and children. It was fascinating to hear from some women who have worked with CRHP for  over 35 years and done over 800 births in the community, with only a few complications. They demonstrated one of the traditional songs and dances that are performed after the birth of a child, using Professor Tapler as their actress. We also heard the life story of one of the women who had grown up in a Muslim community and become a child bride in a very poor domestic abuse situation and how she had found CRHP and turned her life around by becoming a village health worker. Many of these stories are very inspiring, and after this we also heard from another village health worker about her recent election to mayor of the village.

By that point, it had been a long and exhausting day. We went to dinner (some Indian influenced Chinese food of fried rice and spicy chicken) and many of us headed to bed to sleep, read or work on our reflection journals that were due very soon. A very long but great day!

Chugging Along

On Wednesday morning, we met with Annie and Vishnu (a staff member here at CRHP) to discuss our compost pit project.  We will be helping CRHP jump start a compost pit on campus to be used as a model for other villages.  CRHP has recently begun working in a neighboring village called Indiranager and would like to eventually implement a compost system in their community.  We decided to make an existing area deeper, and in addition had to clean out the areas removing trash and weeds.  It was tough labor considering the "dirt" was mostly large rocks due to the three-year drought going on here.  We all took turns using the Indian version of shovels, which was a lot more difficult than we had expected.  We spent about two and a half hours digging the pit, and then we were all nice and dirty!  For once, the cold showers felt great.

After lunch we had a class discussion about malnutrition.  It was very interesting to hear everyone's opinions and take into account all of the new information we have learned since being here.  When approaching these sensitive issues such as malnutrition or sanitation, there are so many factors to consider, and often times one type of intervention or solution will not be effective from village to village.

We then met with Dr. Prem, a researcher here who is working on collecting data in Indiranager.  He talked to us about different types of observation techniques and what to look for when visiting villages - indicators of health, etc.  We will be going in groups of four to collect baseline observation data to be used later on.  Our groups will be assessing child health, sanitation, and water use/supply.

Continuing our busy day, we met with some CRHP interns and  fellows to discuss their roles and responsibilities.  It was really cool to talk with them in a casual setting about their work here at CRHP.
Many of us are still struggling to understand how the Jamkhed model can be applied in other parts of the world.  It is such an incredible thing happening here in Jamkhed and in so many of the villages working with CRHP.  The staff members here are great resources and such nice people to talk with, constantly offering great advice to us as college students interested in pubic health.

We are finally sleeping through the night and getting used to the craziness of Indian culture.  We are loving every minute of our time here!

First Experiences

Hi Everyone!
On Monday morning after most of us waking up several times throughout the night, it was FINALLY time to get up and go to breakfast. After eating some hard boiled eggs and some oatmeal looking thing we headed off to orientation for CRHP! We learned from the director Shoba about CRHP and the history behind it as well as how the Jamkhed model was developed and used for the villages surrounding Jamkhed. It was super interesting and we were all very excited to get started seeing the model in action in the villages. After that we went to lunch, which is usually the most traditionally Indian meal of the day. Its pretty spicy, even though they claim they tone it down for us westerners. What we were most excited for was our visit to the Jamkhed town where we would get to purchase and have made traditional Indian clothing. Driving into the town, you could see the health problems first hand with the lack of sewage pipes and people lining the streets waiting for rides or just brewing on the streets because they had no where to go. It was crowded, with cars flying every which way and goats, cows, dogs, chickens, and hogs roaming freely around the streets. It was a lot to take in. Once we got inside the store, the madness seemed to cool down until we walked up to the counters. Then, all of a sudden, fabric and shirts were flying onto the table and into our hands. It was a shopping experience that will never be matched or forgotten. Most of us had punjabis made which are a shirt and pant set and a few of us got sarees. We also bought scarves, lots of them. They were so beautiful and at about 2 dollars a scarf, most of us couldn't resist. So don't be surprised if that ends up being your or someone else's gift! Some of us stayed in the town to get our stuff tailored while the other nine of us (Amanda, Kate, Kaitlyn, Lily, Spencer, Kylee, Marie, Megan, and Shelby) squeezed ourselves into a single rickshaw, picture an old fashion clown car and you've pretty much got what we looked like. After that exciting ride, we had time to relax before dinner which was SPAGHETTI! After dinner we went back to our rooms and passed out early, knowing the night would be full of tossing and turning and bathroom breaks.

Tuesday morning, we rose early yet again, had breakfast, and at around 9:00 we got into vans and headed out for a non-CRHP village. It took us about 25 minutes to get there. Once we were there we split up into groups of six, each with a translator from CRHP. It was quite a moving experience. This village had a very noticeable caste system in place, most of us were able to see the homes of members of the middle class and the lower class, the dalits. Everyone in the village was so friendly and welcoming. A family even invited us into their home to have tea. Again, there were farm animals everywhere even a baby dear, the woman said they named him/her Bambi (lolz). While we were at the village we had got the chance to visit a pre-school and a primary school. At the primary school the children sang us two songs, one in Marathi and the other in English! All of a sudden they started singing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" and doing the motions, so we had to join in! It was incredible how well they spoke English  It was then time to leave and head back to CRHP for a debriefing and lunch. The afternoon was also quite busy, we had a panel with members of the CRHP Mobile Health Team (MHT) and we had another session with Shoba where we learned about the caste systems in India. Following the session with Shoba we had our first public health issues in India discussion which was led by Katie. After a wonderful discussion on sanitation, or lack there of, in India, we headed to dinner. Once again, people got to bed pretty early which seems to be trend around here. In case you were wondering there is still one of us who hasn't showered since arriving in India, but we won't disclose any names at this time.

- Kylee and Marie

We are still having some issues adding pictures to the blog, but we are hoping to troubleshoot early tomorrow morning so that we can share some of the photos we have taken thus far!

A young preschooler at the non-CRHP village.

Getting to CRHP

After finally all meeting up at Newark Airport Friday afternoon, we enjoyed the luxury of the reserved room in the Terminal.  We shared our excitement regarding the few weeks ahead and ate our final American meals.  We boarded the plane, leaving the familiar behind and embarking on an incredible adventure.  Most of us were able to sleep on the 14 hour flight, while others spent their time reading and watching movies.  There were two meals served on the flight, both with Indian influences and flavors.  The flight attendants were very kind to us, wishing us well on our way and providing us with water bottles and snacks for the journey ahead.

Upon arriving in Mumbai around 9:30pm local time, we made our way to Customs.  We all got through fairly quickly and some of us had our first experience with Indian toilets  while others waited in longer lines for the "western style" stalls.  Claiming our baggage went fairly smoothly, with only one lost bag, which thankfully arrived at CRHP Tuesday morning.  Luggage in hand, we entered the busy outdoors of Mumbai for the first time.  Many people stared at our group of 17 American women soaking in the sights and sounds of a buzzing  city.  We met up with a representative from CRHP and he led us to the bus lot.  We waited about 30 minutes before attempting to cram into a small bus.  We were told it would be about another 3 hours before a second vehicle would arrive to carry our luggage.  Luckily, we were on our way to Jamkhed by 12:40am.

We were all given the opportunity to become well acquainted in the tight quarters of the "sleeper bus."  We also were exposed for the first time to the craziness of Indian driving patterns.  Even though it was nearly 1:00am, the streets of Mumbai were quite busy with people and animals.  Many people were standing in groups around fires, some were cooking, and many were even sleeping in the road medians.  We all were amazed at the ability of our driver to weave in and out of other vehicles and communicate with others on the road with only his lights and occasional honking patterns.  We stopped a few times for fuel and bathroom breaks, and some of us were able to catch some sleep, but for the most part we remained mesmerized by the Indian roads.

Around 6:30am we began driving on very rural roads as the sun was rising and people were beginning their days.  Women were cooking or cleaning on their porches, and children feeding their animals.  It was very exciting to finally see people in the villages in action.  We arrived to Jamkhed around 8:00am and were greeted by Annie, a recent Elon grad who now works at CRHP as a fellow for one year.  She showed us to our rooms, there are nine of us in one room, and just upstairs there are two rooms of the remaining seven.  We went to breakfast, which was rice, toast, and hard boiled eggs.  Although we were all very tired and could barely remember what day it was, we were so happy to finally be at CRHP.  We had some free time until our orientation at 12:30pm, during which time most people napped or explored the grounds a bit.  After lunch, we were given a brief tour of the campus and met a few staff members.  We discussed some of our scheduled activities, and watched some videos about history of CRHP.

We were all fast asleep by 9:00pm, a first for many of us busy college students, and woke up the next morning feeling well rested, excited and ready to begin our first full day at CRHP.

-Kaitlyn and Katie