JOY

Everything is going very well. We have officially been here in Raiganj for a week now. I have had many wonderful experiences this past week. It’s tough to even know what to write about because there are so many stories! But I will share a few highlights with you.

On Monday I learned more about the new health project I will be assisting with in the next few months. As I learn more detail, I will inform you. I have also been doing some more documentation work of the data they have received about children ages 0-5 in all 3 districts of West Bengal. This information is very important to analyze before implementing our next program. Another project I have been working on is a project proposal for the repair of a dispensary in a nearby village called Altapur. I have recruited Scott for a little assistance on that one.

Scott (aka English Master) has been busy trying to develop lesson plans. He teaches two English classes five days a week. One class is in the morning (7:30-9:30) and one is in the evening (5:30 – 7:30). He has no background in teaching so it has been quite a challenge. I have enjoyed co-teaching and helping him create his lesson plans. Through health education, I had to teach some classes for different programs so I have a small amount of experience, but still not very much. I do really love teaching though; I find it extremely rewarding. The biggest challenge has been the fact that all the students are at very different levels in their spoken English abilities. To not lose the beginners but to still challenge the advanced is an extremely difficult task. Instructions and grammar are very difficult to explain without knowing any Bengali, but we’re doing our best. Andrea is working in the Community Based Disaster Preparedness department. She goes off to do fieldwork quite often so I haven’t actually seen her as much the last few days. I really like that each of us have our own individual daily tasks and activities, because we also get to have many other experiences together and it is exciting to hear each other’s stories.

Today Scott and I assisted the MC sisters in distributing free medicines to the community. Every Saturday the MC sisters come to SWI and set up a table with a bunch of health remedies. They have vitamins, ibuprofen, cough suppressants, antacids, creams…and so on. Hundreds and hundreds of people line up with their little ones and describe their illness or infection and the sisters basically diagnose and determine what treatment they need. Majority of the time they would show the sisters something on their skin like a rash or infection of some kind. Because we don’t have the background and ability that they do, we assisted with scooping the creams for scabies and ringworm. Majority of the people who were in line needed some, so we gave the requested amount in the tiny containers or plastic square they gave us. Occasionally we helped with pouring cough medicines and other liquids. It was a great experience though; I’m glad we were able to help out.

Last Tuesday when we visited the parish in Altapur, we sat with the sisters for a little while and had coffee and snacks. Then the children brought each one of us a flower! And then…best of all…. a performance!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, it was soooooo adorable! I tried to video some of it. We were there on the day of a festival so the children didn’t have school. Father said that if they would have known we were coming they would have been dressed up for the performance! They had choreographed dances that they all sang along to. They even had a couple solo routines. I remember my cheeks hurting from smiling so much!!! After their performance, Father looked and me and said why don’t you say a little something to the children, like a little about yourself? I was like uh…well…ok. I just gave a short introduction for all 3 of us and then told them how much we enjoyed their dance and also thanked them and told them to keep studying hard in school. The translations in Bengali were much longer, I think perhaps Father added a few more things here and there…who knows. Haha. The kids were so adorable. They were beaming with so much joy and they all ran up to shake our hands, ALL of them!

We also went to the market this past week with Manasi (the one I mentioned before - the chief health coordinator I work with). We bought some flip-flops (slippers they call them here) and she went and bought Indian dress for us to wear. We didn’t go with her then because she wouldn’t have been able to get such good deals. So yes, now Andrea and I look like as Father says, “true Indian princesses”. Haha. I don’t know about that! The material is very lightweight and they are very loose fitting. Many of the fabrics here are very pretty. I still feel a little silly in it though, perhaps after a couple weeks I’ll be used to it. It’s nice to blend in a little (even though as soon as someone looks at our skin or hair color they get confused).

Last night I had a little bonding night with two of the other younger women here. Their names are Sanchari and Jonaki. I shared some American candy with them and then we had some girl talk. :)It was a fun bonding time. I brought some American candy to share with them and also some photos I brought from home of my friends and family and perhaps a significant other…haha. They really enjoyed looking at them. I also got to hear about their families and friends.

Next week (and perhaps the following) I will be unable to blog because Andrea and I are going to stay at a parish in Boilagon. We will be staying with a woman named Sister Anisha. We met her already; she is very nice and we hear very motherly. :) She is a nurse and she also runs a Community Health program in the villages there. Father said this would really give us a taste of India – more the village life. Compared to all the poverty we are seeing here, our living conditions here at SWI and DDC is extremely luxurious. It will be an interesting experience. I guess we will be staying the floor below the children in the hostel, so I’m really looking forward to spending more time with the kids. I’m sure that will be really fun. Apparently the village is only about a 15-minute walk from here. Father and Scott will come to have dinner with us next Sunday and he said if we are enjoying ourselves and we want to stay, we can stay another week, and if we want to come back to DDC we can do that as well. So, I guess we’ll see how it goes…!

Don’t forget I check my e-mail…I love to hear what’s happening at home too you know!