Darjeeling, West Bengal

Our favorite place in Darjeeling...the bakery!

Chowrasta Square

Temple pathway on Observatory Hill

This natural cave also held a temple.

The black bear at the zoo!

What an incredible view from our ride on the cable car!

This little darling became our new friend when her parents asked to take our picture with her.

Himalayas calling....

Though train tracks grace the hillsides for the toy train that runs to Darjeeling, pedestrians and cars also share the winding roads.

After only two days, Katie and I decided to take our time reaching Darjeeling. We found a train leaving from an outlying station of Varanasi which had a foreigners’ quota reserved. We were able to get two great seats (beds) for our 15 hour journey. By this time, Katie and I were pretty tired, so sleeping on the train was not a problem. But, as our train was about 8 hours late (!!!!!) we did miss a bit of sleep. In the morning, Katie and I looked across the aisle to discover a little girl about 4 years old staring at us and giggling! She decided that Katie and she should be best friends, so from then to our stop in New Jalpaiguri, they were (while I continued sleeping!). They watched the movie PK on the girl’s father’s laptop, sang the songs together, and enjoyed crackers and fruit together.

When we arrived, Katie and I found a shared jeep in the parking lot on its way to Darjeeling. We began traversing through the small train depot-centered cities, Siliguri and Jalpaiguri, until the hills began to rise. Squat tea fields popped up around us and the jeep lurched through the turns of the road. This lasted for almost 4 hours. Unfortunately, both Katie and I were too carsick to admire the beautiful sunset blanketing the hillsides. Once we arrived, though, darkness had set in and our driver instructed us as to how to reach our hotel from the taxi stand. After a bit of wandering through winding streets and some help from the locals, we found our lodging, Three V Lodge with a total of four rooms, in a beautiful corner of Darjeeling.

Waking in the morning, we realized our stay in the foothills of the Himalayas would be gorgeous. The view from the hotel balcony stunned us into silence! From there we could see a few snow covered peaks, very near to Mt. Everest, in the distance, along with multiple hills crisscrossing the bases. Colorful houses dotted the sides of the hills and small brownish tracks of roads were barely visible. Quickly, we learned that Darjeeling is a very distinct region of India. Part of the State of West Bengal, many people in Darjeeling desire their own state, called Gorkhaland, remaining part of India but with Nepalese, Tibetan, and Chinese influences in their culture. The people of Darjeeling, we were told, are not like the people of the rest of India—they treat women as equals, desire participation in government, desire free enterprise but also a myriad of social services for citizens and tourists, and eat less spicy food! Personally, I think we may have happened upon a critical issue, the treatment of women in India, at a prime time. With International Women’s Day on March 8 and the government of India banning the BBC documentary about a young girl being raped in 2012, the people of Darjeeling seemed restless, yet hopeful for change. Katie mentioned that walking through Chowrasta square of Darjeeling she saw a demonstration by school children of some prayer flags encouraging human rights. This type of art is common in Darjeeling, attesting to the popular sentiment for change.

Aside from the view and the culture, Katie and I hoped to fill our time with tea. Darjeeling is well known for its tea plantations and has tea flavors specific too it, named after the town. Tea tasting at Nathmull’s tea shop provided us an education in tea. In order of bitterness and bold flavor, we tried white tea, green tea, silver tips, and black tea, each with multiple different qualities. Based on the time the tea is picked, tea farmers term it first, second, third, or autumn “flush,” usually collecting about four flushes per year. The first flush consists only of the tips of the topmost leaves on the tea bushes. Its flavor tastes light and has hints of grass. After that, the tea becomes full leaf and has bolder and bolder flavor.

Also famous in Darjeeling are Observatory Hill and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and Zoological Park. On Observatory Hill, Katie and I walked through a joint Hindu/Buddhist temple. The beautiful temple was adorned with Buddhist prayer flags of primary colors and several incarnations of the Hindu gods held sway in their own personal enclaves. Each god was kept company by a guard and priest who offered blessings in exchange for monetary offerings. In the zoo, we managed to see red pandas, many types of mountain goat (perhaps to have been expected!), a tiger, snow leopards, black and brown leopards, and many types of birds. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, though, proved to be too adventurous for Katie and me. Since we did not plan on trekking or hiking much in Darjeeling, besides what we were required to do to get around, we wandered through the HMI museum with high regard for the mountaineers scaling the dangerous peaks. Displays in the museum consisted of gear used by climbers on treks from as early as the 1920s!

Happy Holi

Happy Holi everyone! Katherine and I are currently traveling during my last week in India. We've been learning what life is like in other parts of this diverse country.

 

Today, Katherine is still recovering from our initial round of sickness a week ago so I had to adventure on my own. I thought I could escape the inevitable paint throwing celebration in the quiet town of Darjeeling but I was wrong. After taking a morning walk skirting the edges of gangs of brightly colored children with hands full of colored powder and quickly dodging down alternative alleys, the boys below caught up with me.

 

 

 

I was trapped between two garden walls. Their eyes lit up when they saw me... One of the smaller boys had mixed his colored powder with water, giving me a slimy green beard. After my continued protests the older boys helped to pry his hands from my face as they moved on to their next victim.

Because now I was marked, other children  joined in the fun splashing me with pinks and yellows! In the end it was great fun. All the locals grinned when they saw my paint colored face and wished me a Happy Holi! The children have a week off school for this celebration so I'm not quite sure when it will be safe to go outside.

 

 

On a more serious note, the town of Darjeeling has really impressed Katherine and I with its commitment to creating a socially aware community. For the Holi celebration a group of school children made posters on many issues women face in development (also one of our Model United Nations topics!). The posters were hung like Nepali prayer flags in the town square so the community could read about human trafficking, domestic violence, and equality.

Maharajbagh Zoo

Today Katie and I went on an adventure to Maharajbagh Zoo in central Nagpur with eight of the smallest students from Nav Jeevan and our kind helper, Asha. After school at 2PM, the children changed their clothes and we rode the school bus to the bus stop. At the bus stop, we boarded the city bus which brought us to the busy heart of Nagpur. Disembarking, Katie, Asha, and I each joined hands with a couple of the children and began our (slow) walk to the entrance, just a few hundred meters from the bus stop.

Once at the gate of the zoo, the children could barely contain their excitement! We were preparing ourselves to see tigers, alligators, and possibly snakes! But, at the gate we were told that the zoo is closed on Mondays so we would not be able to see most of the animals. Though the children felt upset, feelings of happiness quickly replaced the sadness when we realized the zoo's playground still was available for fun.

After slipping, sliding, swinging, and running on the playground, we were able to see both ostriches and alligators that are kept outside the zoo's main cage facilities. Also, the children especially enjoyed a tropical fish exhibit being shown--baby sharks, "nemo," and many more types of marine life swam before our faces.

Before leaving the zoo, each of us tried a sweet ice cream treat to cool off from the intense heat that has been overtaking Nagpur recently with summer drawing near. By the time we boarded the city bus back to our neighborhood of Godhani, 4 out of 8 children fell asleep on the way home (three on Katherine's lap, one on Katie's and one on Asha's!). I am sure the piles of humans we became was a sight to see on the crowded Indian bus. Reflecting on the experience, being in such a crowd could have been disastrous with 8 children under the age of 7! But, the children, thanks to the discipline and respect they have begun to cultivate at Nav Jeevan, behaved incredibly well and each of us laughed and played delightedly.

In closing, Katie and I would like to acknowledge that at the zoo's entrance we also met two nurses vaccinating any children under the age of five against polio. We have heard that the WHO has declared this week in India a time for working to maintain India's status (since last year) as Polio free. This mission also has new importance since Pakistan is still struggling to fully eradicate Polio.





The children at Nav Jeevan, and throughout Nagpur, are assisting in this mission! 

Jungle Medicine: Hemalkasa Lok Biradari Prakalp

Dr. Raju (next to me) and Rama (middle) often worked with the two young anesthetists during surgery.

This weekend, I spent some time in the Maharashtrian jungle's southern Gadchirolli district with over 60 Nagpur Rotary Club physicians and many young Indian medical students. Katie, not being one for blood, stayed at the school to hold down the fort from being invaded by lizards (and of course to help with the children). I was specifically under the direction of Dr. Raju Wilkinson, who I previously mentioned as performing Deepali's surgery, and his post graduate student, Rama. As I was soon to find out though, the doctors all seemed to enjoy sharing their knowledge and expertise with me! We traveled by bus to Hemalkasa where Dr. Prakash Amte, son of Baba Amte who is was a renowned Indian social worker and activist for the tribal peoples in southern Maharashtra, has been carrying out the work his father began. Interestingly, Baba Amte is now considered a type of saint for the work he did during his life, and for the actions and desires he spurred in others. 

Of the four recovery wards, two were inside the hospital and two outside. The two outside did not have beds, so patients slept on the cement floor on sheets.

This young mother had her hands full as both daughters
required surgeries to fix their skin contractures. 

Each year, Nagpur Rotary Club travels to Dr. Prakash's jungle camp, Lok Biradari Prakalp, on roads that are so pocked with holes they look (AND FEEL!) like riding over Swiss cheese. Their goal is to complete many difficult surgeries for members of nearby tribal villages who have no access to medical care.  

Lok Biradari Prakalp feels like a small village! Along with a brand new hospital facility containing three operating rooms with a total of 8 operating tables, Dr. Prakash also maintains a boarding school for tribal children, an enormous garden/farming operation, and a wildlife refuge. One morning, he showed us the animals-- poisonous snakes of all kinds, man-eating leopard and some "tame" leopards, one hyena, gazelles, peacocks (India's national birds), monkeys of course, a sloth bear, porcupines, giant brown squirrels, and some beautiful brown owls, to name a few.  

Dr. Prakash has no fear of the man eating leopard he rescued and has formed a strong bond with him.

Beautiful brown owls showed their 180 degree
vision while I walked around their enclosure.

To say that this area of India is rural is an understatement. Villages are built of sticks, stone, and mud, with the occasional sign of modernity such as an electrical wire or ancient satellite dish dotting the rooftops. But, at the same time, the communities remain vibrant with traditional, colorful Indian clothing and people of all ages going about their lives communally showing their happiness in the way they love one another. As an aside, I was told (near the end of the bus ride...thank you Dr. Raju!) that this jungle harbors many Indian rebels who plot against the Indian government. Fortunately, they are quite happy with the fact that the tribes are receiving medical care and so do not interfere, but welcome, the work at Lok Biradari Prakalp. 

This year, when we arrived after nearly 8 hours of travel, tribal peoples, all waiting for their surgeries, greeted us at the gate of the complex with quizzical stares and waves. After such a long journey we relaxed with some chai before a traditional dinner of rice, dahl, and chipatis, where I learned that one always eats chipatis with the dahl and vegetables first, then finishes off the meal with rice to clean the plate. 

After a night's rest under a mosquito net for which I was extremely thankful, 6AM arrived and our day began. Being in the jungle, we took the opportunity to go for a brisk morning walk before the heat of the day (both from the sun and the surgeries). After breakfast and chai, I found a spare set of scrubs and was instructed to scrub up and sterilize myself for surgery. Immediately, organized chaos ensued and did not cease until the last patient (surgery #109 not including optical procedures) awoke the following day around 6PM. 

While in surgery, I experienced many things. From hydroceles, chyloceles, and hernias of all kinds, to hyperspleenism, skin contractures and grafts, breast fibroids, thyroid tumors, and sebaceous cysts, every surgery was performed by a team of excellent surgeons, nurses, student assistants, and anesthetists. Every surgery was free. My jobs generally included scrubbing up to prepare trays of instruments, mopping up blood during the procedures, and writing surgical notes dictated by the surgeons. Dr. Raju, Rama, and their colleagues each had their own style. For example, watching many hydroceles, each doctor ultimately completed the same thing, an eversion of the sac, but each used different techniques for finding, draining, and turning the sac, before making the stitches necessary to close the sac and the skin. I think this will prove to be one of the most important lessons I learn during my time here--it can (and should) be applied to not only medicine but life in general. Patients, friends, relatives, family members, any people you meet, are not all the same. Each must be treated with diligent compassion and care, but in the end, one develops and cultivates a style unique to herself/himself, so as to do the best work or service possible. 

The women pictured here spent their time at camp preparing the OR instruments and tables and restocking the ever-dwindling supplies. Though they did not speak English and I only know a few Hindi phrases, their joyful attitudes were contagious and made me smile throughout the days!

Some interesting things about my experience in the jungle surgical camp include the fact that even with the new hospital and competent staffing, supplies always seemed to run out. The sterile gowns were so few that each of us working in the operating rooms received only one or two per day. As a mere assistant, I was splattered with blood, hydrocelic fluid, pus, and many other bodily fluids, but then remained in the same gown because there were no others. However, from this, I learned another lesson that seems prevalent in rural medicine: some is better than none. Wearing the gown (with pristine and sterile gloves for every patient or whenever sterilization was broken) was better than not because the gown was still cleaner than our scrubs underneath despite the new additions from previous patients. This lesson seemed to be illustrated too by the fact that many patients presented with situations for which the standard of care requires testing and other measures prior to surgery. However, since these measures in the jungle camp are close to impossible, doctors worked under the conditions found, and success most often prevailed, relieving pain and suffering. One person said to me when I questioned this, "Is not some better than none?" 

Each member of the team was given a certificate of appreciation for their generous service.

We watched the sunset after camp from the dry, "winter" riverbed.

Back at Nav Jeevan, Joy and Katie
waited patiently for my return! :)

Ultimately, time in the jungle proved fruitful for me, but more importantly for our 109+ patients. Each patient will receive the post operative care they require from Dr. Prakash's hospital, regularly staffed by two physicians, along with that provided them while the Rotary Team was there. Congratulations also are due to the Nagpur Rotary Club as they successfully performed the first-ever laproscopic surgery to be performed at Lok Biradari Prakalp this trip! Thank you very much to everyone for their kindness and warm welcome. I hope to join you again sometime. 

Also, a very special thank you goes to the Hillsdale Rotary Club for their encouragement, financial support for this special trip, and work in making valuable international connections! I am very excited to share my experience with you when I return. 

While Katherine is Away...

For my last weekend in Nagpur (Katherine will stay an extra few weeks) I was invited to an Indian wedding by Dr. Prasad while Katherine was at medical camp in the jungle. The bride summed up the wedding better than I ever could. She told me that Indian weddings were a lot like India, "Loud, spicy, and over the top". While we didn't stay for the official wedding ceremony because it would take place at 1am according to the couple's combined astrological signs, here are a few photos from the reception which took place earlier in the evening.

 

Thanks to everyone for inviting me and making this a great evening!

The bride and groom on stage at their wedding hall.

The bride under her wedding canopy.

The groom outside the wedding hall participating in a fertility ceremony.

Gorewada

Since the two German volunteers took a group of boys to Gorewada Lake several weeks ago (right before the Germans had to go back home), the girls begged us to go see the lake as well. After struggling to find a day without activities, it finally worked out that on Tuesday we had a public holiday called Maha Shivratri, so classes were cancelled and we were free to have an adventure.

 

With the day off, we set out on a hot walk to the lake, propelled by good intentions and a need for a refreshing splash in the lake. Ravina was great at keeping moral up, singing songs and chants to keep the other girls marching quickly. She confided in me, "We can do this because Nav Jeevan girls are strong!".

Arriving at the lake.

With a little luck (and a lot of sweat) we found the swimming area. It was good we arrived when we did because a few minutes later children from another hostel showed up with the same intent of catching some relief from the hot day. It was wonderful to see the children enjoying themselves, finding clean water to swim in is often a rare treat in India.

 

We swam on a small river coming from the lake.

I had to sneak past many splashes to get a close photo!

We took two packed auto rickshaws to the hostel so we could make it back for lunch time and take an afternoon nap. Or was it just Katherine and I that took a nap? Regardless, it was an exhausting and fun day had by all!

 

Our Lovely Weekend

Our weekend was quite the adventure. In India, the week preceding Valentines Day is steeped with excitement. First there was hug day, then teddy bear day, rose day, kiss day, ect. It seems like in India there is no small celebration! Needless to say the kids were bursting with excitement when it was finally time for Valentine's Day.

Simran celebrating Valentine's Day!

 

 

To be festive, we planned a sex education class for the 14th to talk about matters of love. It was the first time these female students had sat down and had a formal class on sex education. I'm sure many people in the United States know the challenges of incorporating countless views into the sex education curriculum. It's hard making sure the students have a proper knowledge while not simultaneously offending any groups or cultural opinions.

 

In India there are many of the same challenges when developing a sex education curriculum; however there is also a societal sense of modesty which increases the difficulty of preparing an acceptable presentation. Many schools offer a censored, brief version of sex education that leaves kids wanting more answers. We were shocked to find that in 2014 the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan suggested a ban on sex education in India because it was against Indian values.

 

With these challenges in mind, we delivered a comprehensive yet sensitive version of sex education. If one subject gets attention, it's sex education! The girls listened with rapt attention and asked many serious questions. We were proud to be a part of (what we feel!) is a vital part of their education. We are so glad that Nav Jeevan sees the importance of educating students on this topic. Hopefully, this is knowledge the students can use to protect themselves for the rest of their lives and knowledge that they will pass down to their daughters to insure a healthy and strong community.

 

After school, the children participated in Katherine's craft project, inspired from the website Pinterest. It never ceases to amaze us how the children can take an idea and create so many wonderful additions and interpretations.

 

Repurposing toilet paper rolls to create art.

 

On Sunday, we visited Swaminarayan Temple with our friend Dr. Prasad, an established dentist in Nagpur. The temple was an amazing, intricately carved masterpiece. It was very helpful to have Dr. Prasad to help explain the many stories associated with Hindu gods. His vivid explanations made the temple come to life! We are grateful that he arranged this tour for us.

 

One of the many carved pillars - all of them unique!

 

Afterward we dinned on some of our favorite food here in India, Indian-Chinese food! It might seem like a surprising combination but the result is delicious. Dr. Prasad graciously showed us his temple as well, where we were warmly received. At the temple they gave us fruit because it is a pure food and offered us another meal!

 

On the stairs of Swaminarayan