vacation!

I sadly left my family in Jodhpur Monday evening on the night train to Jaipur.  It was 3^rd class air-conditioned sleeper (not by choice…it was all that was available).  There were six to a “cabin” and I “slept” in a lower berth surrounded by a family of 5 other Indians.  It was OK and I was able to fall asleep until I was woken up to 2 mice playing in my hair.  UGH! The thought of it still gives me the willies.  I didn’t scream…I just quickly sat up and then stayed sitting up for the next 3 hours singing in my head to my iPod until we arrived.   Just another Indian experience to add to my list.  The conditions of my train travel just added to the sweet relief I felt when I checked into a very nice Taj hotel property in Jaipur.  I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.  Clean rooms, air conditioning, using tap water to brush my teeth, hot showers all blessings from the hotel gods…

Vacation highlights…

In between tours of forts and monuments, I’ve been living the life of a Rajasthani princess with yummy meals, a massage, and laundry service.  In the past 7 days, I’ve explored Jaipur (the pink city and capital of Rajasthan), Udaipur (a quaint-500K pop- lake city and hometown of our venerated guide Shastri ji), Agra (the spectacular Taj Mahal!!!) and now the metropolitan Delhi. 

We have been continued to be blessed as everything-weather to lodging-has been perfect.  We even lucked out to have 2 fabulous guides in 2 different cities that consequently were the guides to President Clinton when he was in India. 

It as been so much fun for me to practice my Hindi and maneuver the trains, auto rickshaws and negotiation required in India.  After a month, I feel totally comfortable.  I continue to process the complexity of India as I’m able to interact with more Indians and have more diverse experiences.  Consistently everyone is so friendly…I have almost as many numbers (of drivers, friends and family of people I’ve met, and my Jodhpur family and peeps) stored in my Indian cell phone as I do in my blackberry at home. 

Bruce leaves Tues and the royal life will end as I meet up with Michael for a more “2^nd class AC” travel style.  Our 1^st stop is Varanasi…the holiest site for Hindus along the Ganges.  I’m really excited about this spiritual journey.

 

last day of internship

Namaste!

Saturday was my last day of my internship.  Overall it’s been a great experience and I’m very sad to leave my Indian colleagues.

I’ve learned a lot while working here...about the NGO sector and the complexity of development work, about village life in Western Rajasthan, cross cultural communication and professional collaboration, and most importantly I’ve learned some more about myself. I’ve definitely learned that I don’t want an “office job” (sitting in a hot quiet office from 9-6 got old) and I feel I gained more patience from this experience. 

I’m still processing how “foreigners” can best help in developing countries… The language barrier (which can be overcome) and cultural differences (which can be understood/appreciated but not really overcome) provide challenges to doing impactful work.  I believe the best way to facilitate meaningful, sustainable change is from within the local community.  More reflection and exploration on this is needed… 

Another funny take away from my time at UNNATI, is that I go ½ way around the world to try something different and I end up creating an Intern Orientation Manual, discussing turn over, and doing some executive coaching (among other things)…all activities I did in my “previous” life with Clear Channel University.  I guess you can take the girl out of executive coaching, but you cant take the executive coaching out of the girl. 

Sunday was a fun day off.  I took Anushree to abacus class and then “ran errands” with my friend Michael.  My host family treated me to a special farewell dinner last night.  It was so nice to sit outside and celebrate our time together.  Anushree slept with me last night.  It’ll be hard for us to part.  We are already planning her trip to America to visit me in 7 years….and I know I’ll be back. 

I’ll be leaving Jodhpur on Tuesday to begin my “holiday” travel. During my 1-month journey, I’ll get to see more of India than most Indians will ever get to see in their lifetime.   I have my 1^st 2 weeks “planned” (as much as anything can be planned in India).  I’ll be visiting Jaipur (the Pink City), Agra (Taj Mahal), Delhi and then Varanasi (the holiest site for Hindus-along the Ganges).  I’m blessed to have good friends as travel partners… Bruce is joining me for the Jaipur, Agra, Delhi portion and then Michael and I will connect for Varanasi and beyond. 

I hope you are all well.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I embark on my journey.  

quick update

Namaste!  Just a quick entry to let you know I’m fully recovered and feeling well. Besides a sore hand from the “jamming” of the IV, I’m at 100%! They haven’t discovered the rolling IV tree here so every time I had to go to the bathroom (which was a lot since I had a fast stomach), they had to remove the IV tubes and then jam it back it in.  We did that probably about 20 times.  Ouch.

I’m back to work and wrapping up my last week of the internship.  I’ll then stay in India for another month to travel and soak up the last bit of my ‘Summer Sabbatical’. 

Last night my host family had a pooja, which is a religious ceremony or blessing at our house.  It was quite an event!  The occasion was to concentrate their home temple. About 40 people came to the 4-hour ceremony and then dinner celebration.  I got to dress in a traditional Rajasthani dress.  There were frantic preparations leading up to the event…tent, chairs, water coolers, and fans were delivered, food was prepared, gifts wrapped for the pundits (priests), etc.  The successful evening ended with the ladies’ shoes off packing up left overs in the kitchen while I had fallen asleep fully dressed with 3 sleeping children on my bed.  I’m so glad I was able to be a part this special event. 

 Hope you are well.

the healing guru?

(It’s a long entry...but hang in there; it’s been an interesting couple of days. Actually, I think this could be the beginning of my 1st screenplay)

It all started Tuesday evening (Guru Purinam), when a fellow intern, Justin and I walked to the Ashram near Unnati. Since it was Guru Day and Purinam (full moon), thousands (we were told 8,000) of followers had come from all over to visit this ashram and be in the presence of this guru-Shri Ram Lal Jai Siyang. It looked like a festival with buses and tents…we were intrigued and wanted to check it out.

Within in minutes of walking in, we were greeted by some of main disciples who worked at the ashram and spoke English. We were ushered into a room to hear the story of the guru…He’s a healing guru. He heals people from cancer, AIDS, diabetes, etc and all you have to do is meditate on his picture repeating your mantra for 15 minutes twice a day and you’ll be healed. The guru is the 13th (or 12th) reincarnation of Krishna (I think) and has many disciples in India and Israel and even from the US…. Dennis Kucinich (the democratic presidental candidate from ohio) and his wife are followers (we saw pictures to prove it!).

All the sudden, there was a lot of commotion and we were told… “He is coming!” We jumped up and all the disciples grasped hands to form a human chain so the guru could enter the meditation hall without being mobbed by his chanting raving fans. He sat on a platform in front of the hall while hundreds crammed in and sat in meditation in front of him. Justin and I were escorted to the front to sit. People around us were crying, moaning, swaying, shaking, and smiling. It was so surreal. After about 15 minutes, they came and got us and told us to wait because the guru would meet us after the sitting. We giggled at the randomness of this all and decided to just go with it and see what would transpire…I was waiting for my 1st “meet and greet” with a guru.

After a while, we were escorted “backstage” and had to walk along a balcony over looking hundreds of followers who were sending us the evil eye wondering “how do those 2 white people get to meet our guru??” After some brief instruction (you may take pictures, the guru is just a normal guy, don’t worry), we were brought into his “bedroom”. The room was the coolest room I had been in since being in India (actually it ended up being the 2nd coolest as my hospital room was the coolest…more on that later). The floor was painted a bright blue and sitting on a white bed was a round old Indian man dressed in white pjs with very thick gold eyeglasses. We touched his feet and sat before him in silence. With the loud AC blowing, the guru asked….

Guru: Where are you from?

Me: America.

Guru: Where in America?

Me: Nashville, TN

Guru: hmmmmm…. Never heard of it. Dennis Kucinich the famous US presidential candidate is my disciple.

Me: I heard….and saw the photos.

Guru: Something in Hindi…. (His disciples told us that the guru wanted to watch us meditate. Close your eyes.)

Justin and I settled in and closed our eyes to the hum of the AC. After a bit, the guru said “bus” (which is “enough” in Hindi-you learn that word as Indians are famous for force feeding their guests) and handed me a book, which was authored by him. I was told to read 2 paragraphs. The reading was about the importance of a mantra and that everyone has they own special, unique mantra that will help them connect with the Divine. The guru then said something in Hindi…that was basically translated to us as “if you come back July 30th to our new followers orientation workshop, the guru will give you your secret individual mantra”. And with that, we touched his feet again, said thank you and were escorted out of the guru’s bedroom.

Truly one of the most unusual experiences of my life. Part spiritual adventure…part comedy sitcom…part pyramid scheme. We were told you can check out the guru on his website www.the-comforter.org and that he even has video on YouTube!

The story continues….

In the middle in the night, I woke up with a fast stomach (Indian term for diarrhea…much nicer way of saying it right?) and was sick all night long. I decided to stay home from work Wednesday to rest and let whatever had taken hold of my body run its course. I couldn’t get really sick…I just met with the healing guru, right?

Unfortunately, I got worse and by 6pm that evening, I was being taken to the doctor and then hospital with a 102 fever. I was in bad shape…intense headache and body pain, blacking out, burning up with fever and my stomach was still “fast”. Walking into the Indian emergency room I felt like I was in a movie. Thank God my friend Michael was with me to share the experience. I was “examined” in the ER and was told I had to be admitted and spend the night. The tears came (only a little). “Wait… I need to call my American Doctor!” I called Bruce and he sweetly coached me thru while I laid on an ER bed with 15 people staring at me with tears in my eyes.

Me: “I’m afraid they’ll give me an IV”

Bruce: “They need to….”

Me: “but I’m in India…its dirty”

Bruce: “But the needle will be clean. Watch them take it out of the package. Kim, think of all the Indian doctors in the US who were trained in India and all the Indian doctors in India who were trained in US. You’ll be fine. You have to do this!”

So…I bravely staggered thru the “waiting room” of lots of brightly colored Indians sitting on the floor, saluted the many statues, wall clocks, and posters of Ganesh (the elephant god who removes obstacles) and began my adventure in the Indian hospital.

Emotional relief came quick as I was brought into the “penthouse suite” of hospital rooms (at least by Indian standards). I had a clean, private room with a little balcony with a western toilet, AC and a fan! Exhale. Understanding every 3rd word… I had great care!!

After over 24 hours in the hospital consisting of 6 bottles of IV fluid (antibiotics and “liquids”), a shot in my bum for pain relief, 10-12 pills, blood work, urine test and special Indian medicine mixed in curd, I was discharged.

Smita (FSD’s Program Coordinator) and Michael tagged teamed babysitting me so I was never alone and always had someone to laugh with…when I finally felt like laughing…and there was much to laugh at.

I was at the expensive hospital that was ranked #1 in Jodhpur in terms of cleanliness. Knocks at the door and in would enter a boy with a broom to sweep my room, another knock and a lady would come in and empty my trash (even though there was nothing in the trash can), another person would come in and clean my bathroom, another knock and another person with a broom. My favorite was when a man with a backpack of chemicals came in and sprayed my tiny room for mosquitoes. Twice a woman came in and said,…”Room clean? Toilet clean? Ok, please sign” and my “keeper” of the moment would have to sign to verify that the room was clean.

The medicine process was that a nurse (most of them were male) would come in with something that looked like a yellow post-it note and hand it to Smita. Smita would read it and then crumble it up in a ball and throw it over my balcony to someone who would go to the pharmacy and then bring it up. The crazy thing was that after about 8 pills and lots of IV fluids, my stomach was still “fast”, so I agreed to Indian medicine, which were physillum (sp?) husks mixed with curd. It tasted horrible but after 2 servings my fast stomach slowed down! (I guess 5,000 years of Ayurvedic medicine has wisdom)

I felt very loved and cared for as my Indian Aunties (Smita and Veena) rubbed my feet and back and snuck in good curd… and while Michael sweetly helped me keep my mind off the pain by letting me babble and with her beautifully critical eye oversaw all needle sticks and made sure that we knew what I was taking and why I was taking it. I even had 3 of my work colleagues from Unnati come and visit me! It was so sweet and funny since none of them can speak English. They just came in and sat on my little sofa and smiled while I chatted. After an awkward 10 minutes, they said “OK”, got up and left. So nice!!

I got home last night around 10pm with the doctors instructions to rest and stay off Indian food for 24 hours. So today I’m home from work (I hate that I’ve had to miss 3 days…I’ve never stayed home from work for 3 days sick back in US) eating bananas, plain, white toast, sipping tea with no milk or sugar (no fun) and forcing down curd to replenish the good bacteria in my tummy. I’m on the road to recovery!

Even though I was very sick, my Indian hospital adventure was a great experience. I was totally dependent on others, which is not something that I’m used to or comfortable with. I learned I had to let go and trust...to ask for help (which is difficult for me to do) and was once again reminded that the Universe provides (as It always does!) I sat for hours looking out my window into the other windows of the hospital and felt connected. Many others were going thru the same experience…sick, afraid, worried and in pain. Just because I couldn’t speak the language or that the standards were unlike what I was used to; I was no different than my fellow Indians. It was an uncomfortable, foreign situation for us all. It turns out that getting sick and the beautiful people who helped me thru it were my true gurus. Thank you for the lessons learned.


PS. Little Anuashree came home from school today with stitches in her chin. She fell and hit her chin on a desk. It seems like after my meeting with the “healing” guru, a black cloud has fallen over our “family”. So much for the healing guru, right?? At least I have someone to play Go Fish with while I’m in recovery! xoxox

July 7th

Washing machines…(and dry cleaning for that matter) are now one of my favorite inventions!!  Yes, I know there have been many other important technological advancements in history, but right now I cant think of anything more satisfying than being able to use a washing machine.   I finally have my Indian clothes (after 2 weeks of frustration) and am now systemically ruining each garment with the bucket washing technique.  It’s a comedy of errors… my wet red top brushes against and thus stains my blue top, I drop my white kutah in the Rajasthan red clay while trying to hang it up on the line and then a random burst of wind comes and knocks my clean clothes off the line onto the dirt so I have to rewash.  Ugh.  God bless whoever invented the washing machine!  (I saw a nice one at the store the other day for 6500 Rupees or about $140)

Other exciting happenings…

July 7 is a very auspicious day here in India (and I guess for Hindus all over the world).  Besides being my beautiful friend Erika’s birthday…It’s “Guru Day” and to make it even more special…it’s a Full Moon!  The holiday is basically a “teacher appreciation” day where people pay respect to their teachers and their teacher’s teachers for sharing their knowledge.  Pujas are performed, shrines are decorated and at my mothers school they are having an assembly for the children to honor the teachers.  Another part of the celebration is that you purchase special stacks of grass and then make a wish as you feed them to the cows….and I'm told your wish will come true!  So in honor of Guru Day, remember all of your teachers and be thankful for the lessons they have taught you.  (Also make a wish as you feed any cows… or eat them!)

 

 

 

 

Field Visit

This weekend I went on my 1^st field visit.  It was quite an adventure!  Started off on Friday morning on the back of a motorcycle (definitely one of the craziest things I’ve ever done) to meet up with my team.  Then 6 of us crammed into a Jeep and bounced and swerved (most of the roads were only 1 lane so it’s a game of chicken every time you come upon another car, truck, motorcycle, rickshaw, cow or camel) for about 4 hours to the outskirts of Barmier.  It was truly a road trip stopping often for roadside snacks, “cool” drinks and chai while they told stories in Hindi and laughed a lot.  I laughed a lot as well…its funny that how when others laugh it makes you laugh even though you have no idea what they are laughing about.   I had a wonderful translator, Surabhi, a 20-year-old Emory student who lived in India until she was 10.  She was so valuable and after the weekend together and 8 hours of car time we became fast friends.

The purpose of this field visit was to conduct a needs assessment of four (4) Self Help Groups (SHGs) for upcoming livelihood training.  A Self Help Group or SHG, is a very popular development strategy in India to empower women.  Many have been started by the Government and NGOs. Basically a SHG consists of a minimum of 10 women who each contribute a set monthly amount to the group.  The SHG can then collectively go to banks or other lenders to get loans at about 12% interest.  The SHGs use the money for various things such as emergency savings in case someone gets sick, material for daughters wedding, to buy a four grinder or to use as seed money for income generating projects such as goat trading, owning a small shop, sewing business, etc.  It has also been found that the SHGs provide a community or support group for these women to learn about their rights, learn from each other and overall build self-confidence. 

UNNATI is getting ready to do a workshop to help build the capacity of these SHGs focusing on livelihood training; so the objective or our visit was to assess current financial and social status of the SHGs, document current income generating practices (livelihood) and explore possible new livelihood options. This information will be used to create customized training based on the needs of the SHG. 

The villages that we visited were about 400 km away from Jodhpur near  Barmer… about 80 km (or 40 miles) away from the Pakistan border.  It was vast desert.  We stayed in an “urban” village centrally located between the 2 rural villages each about 40 km from our home base. We’d travel to the village community centers and wait for the parade of women to come…dressed in rainbow colors with lots of “jewels” and their beautiful, strong faces covered in veil.  I witnessed chaotic conversations as Rheka and Surabhi masterfully facilitated the discussions and we gathered our data. 

We learned…

·      That of the 4 SHGs we surveyed over ½ of the members are below poverty line (BPL).  According the World Bank BPL is for those who make less than 1 US dollar a day.  The Indian Government provides subsidy for BPL individuals.  Most of the women were unclear about benefits and how to access.

·      The women contribute 20 or 50 Rupees a month into the SGH (approx .50-$1.05) and have taken out loans of between 60-90,000 rupees per SHG.

·      The women do not understand the terms of the loan.  They have not been paying interest throughout the loan, so the interest will come due after the principal has been paid off. (not good)

·      Most of the women have not used the loans from the SHGs on income generating activities.  They need awareness and knowledge of sound livelihood options.

·      2 SHGs have been having success in goat trading.  They can buy a goat for 1,200 Rps ($30).  They buy 1 male and several females.  Goats tend to have multiple births (twin goats) so their investment grows quickly.  They get 1 kilo of milk from the goats a day and then sell the males to Muslim traders for meat who bring a truck into their village (no transportation costs).

From this information, we will design a training to address the lending process, BPL benefits, the practice of internal lending and possible livelihood options of goat trading and sewing.  My idea is to have the women who have had success in goat trading teach the others how to do it.  They understand the goat trading business way better than we do and I think they will receive great benefit from being the experts leading their peers.  We’ll see how it works out…

Other highlights of this trip… The driver locked the keys in the jeep and my long arms came I handy as I was able to reach down and unlock the door from a cracked window.  We got a flat tire.  And…we slept on the outside on the roof! It’s a common practice in the urban villages to sleep on the roofs ‘cause it’s cooler.  It was magical to be going to sleep and then waking up outside among all the villagers.  I loved the adventure.  It was truly different than any business trip I’ve ever taken (although my chais are expensable). Thanks for following along!!

Party!

Last night was a big night it was the annual UNNATI staff party! I wanted to skip it or just make the obligatory stop by, but in the end, I am so glad I stayed and got into it as I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

At 7 pm, UNNATI staff members and their families (including in laws) all came dressed in their Indian finest. (Remember the entire party was in Hindi so I had no idea what was going on or what was going to happen next. I just went with it…)

The program included a series of competitions-individual and family, a talent show, games and lots of laughing. We played charades, pin the bindi on the woman (I’m serious!), a form of hot potato where whoever was caught with “it” had to sing or dance, had a speech competition (I couldn’t play), and more. The talent show consisted of little children singing, a young girl doing a traditional dance with a bowl of fire on her head and lots and lots of re-enactments of Hindi music videos while store bought cookies, ruffles potato chips and orange Fanta was passed around. It was awesome!

Around 10:30 we went into the mess hall to eat dinner. Babies were asleep on shoulders and toddlers asleep on the floor to be woken and propped up for the staff/family photo after dinner. Everyone left together around 11:30pm (note tomorrow is a work and school day) with huge smiles on their faces.

No bonuses were given out, no gifts exchanged, no speeches made, no awards awarded and no alcohol served...it was just a fun time to PLAY and to share your family with your work family (Although I don’t think they’d ever think of their colleagues as family. Family has a powerful place in the Indian culture.)

It was such a special night and a cool experience to have NO idea what was going on…not worrying about what’s coming next or making a fool of myself (I got that over with when I tried to introduce myself in Hindi). I had no context. No expectations. Nothing to compare it to or judge it against. I was totally in the moment…and it was really, really fun!!


PS. My next post will be on Monday as I'm going out in the field the next 2 days.  Happy 4th of July!  Enjoy some watermelon and fireworks for me!!