fast forward to home

Hey everyone!
As I write this I am actually sitting on a couch in my apartment in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm sorry for the lapse in posts - we had no internet access in Pune while we stayed at the YMCA hotel. Additionally, I was stuck with a pretty nasty foreign bug that kept me in bed as much as I could be.  Not sure how I picked it up, but it was not fun.

We arrived in Grand Rapids yesterday morning.  The 16 hour plane ride from Mumbai to Newark was not bad! I think the excitement of home helped to pass the time. My parents picked me up at the airport, and I've been reconnecting with friends ever since.

It feels very odd to be back in the United States after we've had such a worldy perspective on life during the past month. So quickly we're returned to the realities of our lives here - school, responsibilities, relationships... my prayer is that the lessons I learned in India would be ingrained in my heart, that I would never forget them.  I'm still processing everything that the trip meant to me, so more posts are likely to come.

Thank you for following along in my blog. It's amazing to me how many people ended up reading this! It was incredible to feel your support even so far away. Thank you!
-Carolyn

goodbye Jamkhed.

What a whilrwind of a week so far! We've been running around doing village visits with the Mobile Health Team and the Village Health Workers, having class 6-7 hours a day, going to the market, and watching movies and playing games with friends we have met here at Jamkhed. It's very wierd that tomorrow we'll be leaving the place we've called home for the past two weeks. Here there are familiar faces, familiar beds, and a community of health care providers and social workers all working to increase the health of the impoverished in the area. I'm beginning to piece together all that I've learned so far, but I doubt I'll ever be able to fully put it into words.

The Aroles are two of the most magnificent and amazing people I've ever met. Their vision to provide health to all people, regardless of caste, gender, or any other factors, is chaning the world. People are trying out the Jamkhed approach to rural and community health in Africa, China, and also in other countries. The most stunning aspect of all of this (if I could choose one) is how humble and gentle the Aroles are. It's not about them. It's all about the people that they serve, their main goal being to show God's love to others first and foremost. 

Yesterday we spent time in class learning about appropriate technology. We learned that technology is when we use tools to assist us in our daily skills. Appropriate technology is using tools made out of available resoures in a way that make sense to the people in a community. For example, the main health problem that leads to death in developing countries is not AIDS, not TB or malaria, it's diarrhea, mostly due to poor sanitation and unclean drinking water. Oral rehydration kits that Western countries often send do not make sense to the people - they don't understand ratios, or the chemicals included in these kits.  Instead, an appropriate technology solution for this area is something called limbu panne. It's 1L water combined with a lemon (for potassium), 2 handfuls of sugar (for glucose restoration), and salt (sodium is necessary to restore fluid balance in the body).  We tasted this, which was a pretty good drink. Things like limbu panee are necessary to reach a community's overall health - they correct problems and ailments in ways that make sense to the people, using ingredients/items that they'd likey have available. It's a practical and ingenious concept.

We've also spent a lot of time learning about the caste system and about the awful ways that women are treated in this country. The caste system is rooted in India's history and will likely be imprinted here forever. But CRHP has made strides in working in communities to reduce the caste system, and to empower women, allowing them to have confidence and increase their rights.  Girls typically get married when they are 14 years old to a stranger that their parents have arranged. The girl moves in with the boy's family. where she usually receives the poorest treatment and little food because she is a woman, and because she is the newest, lowest member of the family. While she is married, the husband can choose to beat her or kick her out if she does not produce a son (funny, because the man decides the sex of the baby, genetically...).  65% of women are physically abused in this country, for various reasons. The wife is also blamed if anything happens to the husband. The treatment of women in India breaks my heart, and there is progress being made especially in the urban ares of the country.  But in the rural areas of India, what can be done?

CRHP has been working through the village health workers, who lead women's self-help groups in each village. These groups stand together, refusing to marry their daughters at young ages, working to make the birth of a female child a celebration (rather than the perceived curse it usually is), and teaching each other health skills that improve their indivdual and family health.  CRHP also has also helped to create inter-loans within these groups, so that women can lend each other money for their own self-generating income projects, so that women are not completely dependent on their husbands - especially if they would be kicked out of their homes in the future. Every aspect of CRHP is incredible. It is well-thought through, and it is fully comprehensive.  There's so much more that occurs here that I can't even begin to describe.

Ok. Done with the meaty stuff. I want to share some pics now! We went to some villages in the area. In one village, we were welcomed into the village health worker's house, and even though her family had very little money, she made us tea and bought us some chick peas. The hospitality that we have been shown here is unmatched. Here is a pic:

Today, being our last day in Jamkhed, we had a graduation ceremony. Those of us who bought saris got dressed up in them (with the help of some experienced women here! - pics of this process not appropriate for this blog, haha), and many people that we've met and talked to came to the ceremony. Here we are, roomies, roasting in the hot afternoon sun before our graduation:

  And one pic of me, haha:

And all the sari women:

At the graduation, Dr. Arole presented us with these gifts, shown in the picture below. The shawl is a symbol of scholarship. He wished us well in our future studies, and hoped that we never stop thirsting for more knowledge. He also said that knowldge without value is nothing, so to be strong in our character wherever we go. The garland of flowers are made from India-native flowers, and they are very fragrant. The garland is a symbol of service and sacrifce - that as we work in God's world, we would be servants, and that our sacrifice would be a fragrance that rises and points to God. Here is a picture of our room, and of the boys who have been our nieghbors for these past two weeks:

My brain is spinning with all kinds of facts, thoughts about social injustice and ways to create change, health care information, ways to better agriculture and generate clean drinking water, and with the stories of women and other villagers that we have heard. And I thank God for every bit of it, praying that He would lead me in a path of where to go and what to do with all of this information. My heart, worldview, and mind have all been changed, and I'm so grateful for that.

Tonight we have dinner and a party on Dr. Shoba's roof. Should be a great time! Tomorrow we leave for Pune and will stay there until we leave on Monday the 24th. I hope to have internet there, but if not, please pray for our safe return, and I'll see you back in Michigan!

Love from India,
Carolyn

weekend.

This weekend was incredible. Every day was full of excitement and new experiences! Friday through Saturday we were in Aurangabad, a city about 3 hours away. On Friday, we went to the Daulatabad Fort.  This fort is enormous.  Its outer walls stretch for miles. It was built about 1200 years ago by the Hindus to keep out the Muslims. They held it for about a century, until the Muslims blocked off their food routes and starved the Hindus out.

This fort is fascinating because of all the details of its design. Every part of the fort was purposefully designed in defence against their enemies. There are 52 fake entrances, and to even enter the main fort, the enemies would have to cross through 3 main gates, complete with stone walls. The pathways within the fort are made out of uneven, sharp stones that are meant to trip invaders up. The rocks go uphill also, and when wet, they are slicker than ice. Right before the main gate, they built a tempele. Here we are standing between some of the pillars in the temple. (wish I could show you more pics of the temple!) From left to right is Amanda, Beth, Michelle, and me.

 Once you get past the main gate, you must walk on more uneven paths until you reach this: (see next pic). In the moat they kept posionous snakes. Yikes. The bridge you see made out of steel has been added for tourists. If you look further down you'll see a one-person wide footbridge: the only way to enter the main fort. So, enemies must go one by one in a vulnerable position to get in. When you enter the fort, you must make a sharp right hand-turn.  This allows you from drawing your sword, beause you have no room on your right side. There was a person standing nearby to chop off the heads of unprepared, unsuspecting enemies.

There are many, many more pics that I wish I could share! Takes too long to download though. When you are inside, you must go through a winding, pitch-dark circular staircase. Good luck, enemies! When we walked through this, we had flashlights, and it was still difficult to climb the steep, slick steps. Oh, by the way, there were BATS in this staircase. Hundreds of them, just hanging from the ceiling! hahah I've never seen so many bats. It was scary but fun :)

The rest of the fort is normal - where the "good guys" would hang out. This fort is located on a huge hill, and the fort is built in layers.  At every level we'd climb to, there we'd see another level that we could climb to. We must have climbed almost 1,000 steps, easily. When we FINALLY got to the top of the castle, we were on top of this mountain/very large hill! We were sweating and breathing hard, but check out the view:

We spent a night in a not-so-plush hotel room, but came out with some funny stories from our experiences there. I'll share those later :)  On Saturday, we went to the Ellora Caves. These are, by far, the coolest thing I've seen here. These "caves" are inappropraitely named - they are not caves, but structures, tunnels, and other things carved out of the side of a rock mountain.  They are 1500 years old, and they were carved from the TOP to the bottom (think about that for a second), with only a chisel and a hammer. The enormity, detail, and complexity of these structures is incredible when you think of how they were designed. Some of them were built by Hindus, and others were Buddhists. Below is a picture of 1/4th of the largest "cave" that we walked through. IT's from far away, but you can maybe make out the carvings of elephants on the left side of the picture.  There is a temple at the top of the structure on the left - you can walk through these things. So cool. I wish I could describe these structures better. They were incredible.

This next picture is a Buddhist prayer hall that they carved and designed into the rock. This is the most resonating place that I've ever been to. Our guide sung a chant while we were here, and the sounds echoed througout and filled the place with sound. It was amazing. Although I'm not Buddhist, it's a very spiritual place because you can imagine how the prayers and chants of people praying sounded so many years ago. We sang "Redemption Song" here, filling it with God's worship for maybe the first time.

Thi next picture is a Buddhist "cave" that was used as a dining hall for monks.  Next to this long dining hall were meditation rooms, 5x5 feet and completely dark. Here I am with Emily:

The caves were awesome! I will have to show you all more pictures when I get home! On Sunday, we had church, and our group sang "In Chirst Alone." Next, we got to observe a cataract surgery, which was really interesting because this hospital doesn't have the same machines as they do in Michigan, so the surgery was much different than the ones I observed previously.  They perform cataract surgeries for free here, so the eye surgeon that came was doing them as volunteer work. He did 18 surgeries in less than 10 hours that day. So glad I could observe this! We also got to see a burn patient.  With my experience on the burn unit at Spectrum, I was again able to compare what I saw here to what I've seen in the States. What I saw broke my heart, showed me how passionate I am about working with burn victims, and motivated me to think of ways that I can improve CRHP's ability to care for burn patients. More info on that later. Gotta tell you about the farm!

Sunday afternoon we went to the CRH P farm. Here, they grow veggies and produce other farm products that we use and eat here at CRHP.  They also sell their produce at the market, generating some income. More importantly, they hire women who have AIDS or other stigmatizing diseases to work on the farm, as they likey can't get work elsewhere.  Below is a picutre of some food that we ate, after Dr. Raj told us aboutthe farm.  The green things are sorgum - a main staple in the rural Indian diet. You roast it over a fire, and then eat it with your hands. It's starchy, even though they call it a grain. The red powder is a mix of chili powder and peanut powder. IT WAS SOOOO SPICY! haha and the tan chunks are chunks of pure sugar. Yum!

Next, we got to ride in a bullock cart! It was fun! Here I am next to our bullocks...I'm a little uneasy because when I knelt by him, he moved a lot and was skiddish... so I'm a little hesitant here....

And.... drum roll please..... We milked the CRHP cows! I did it! haha Maybe I was meant to be a farm girl after all....

Wow! Super long post! I could have written so much more, but thanks for sticking with me for this long! :)

All my love, Michigan! (and Indy)
-Carolyn

routine.

Hey everyone!
I'm not sure what happened to my last post, but I had written a short paragraph explaining that the internet had been down from Sunday night until Thursday evening, so that's why you didn't hear from me! Internet is back up and running, and we have just returned to Jamkhed from Aurangabad. This post, I'll explain briefly what we've been up to this week, then I'll write another one about Aurangabad. Enjoy! :)

So, the normal routine at Jamkhed has been pretty much consistant every day this second week - I guess that makes it a routine! In the morning, Beth, Michelle, and I wake up, turn the water heater on for the shower, take quick showers, then head to breakfast.  Breakfast is always a great meal. It usually consists of small bananas (which are much sweeter and tastier than our bananas at home), toast (to which we add PB), and a kind of spicy Indian rice. We also have tea, of course :) Here we are bright and early at breakfast:

After breakfast we head back to our rooms, brush our teeth with bottled water, and take our malaria pills. Next, we go to morning devotions, where scripture is read in both Marati and English, and we sing songs in both languages as well. Well, we ATTEMPT to prounoune the Marati songs, I should say. Here is a picutre of the songbooks that we use, and also a picture of a pile of shoes before devos (we take our shoes off before we enter any room):

After devos, the dog that lives at CRHP, named Pintu, usually comes to greet us. He's the cutest little puppy! He usually hides behind the bushes and runs out at us, scaring us 95% of the time.

We usually get a bit of a break between devos and class. Class is often between 10:30-1pm every day. But at 11am every day, we get TEA! It's delicious. We literally get to have class interrupted to have tea brought to us along with a sweet wafer of some kind. It's black tea with cream, sugar, and spices to make it like chai. We love love love tea time! Here we are in the classroom during our tea break:  :)

After our morning class, we have lunch, then have some time until our next 3:30pm class. During this time we journal, relax in the sun in the courtyard by our rooms, or.... go into town! Here we are at the bangle shop in downtown Jamkhed:

Shopping is QUITE an expereince, let me tell you. Besides trying to cross a language barrier, these storeowners and vendors are persistant! The culture of shopping here is not that you look through things on your own.... no....they bring it to you, and pile the merchandise in front of you.  That day at the bangle shop, I also forgot that my "i'm thinking about it, I like it so-so" head bob is the SAME as their "yes" bob. Big mistake. haha But they were very nice to us, and both we and the Indian women were laughing the whole time. One of these women's daughers was also helping us shop, and she brought some red dust and blessed us (put a dot on our forehead). It was a very cool experience, and it was really awesome to feel a connection to these people.

After our afternoon break, we head back to class once more. There's too much to explain about all that we learn in class in this blog post - more to come! After class, we have about an hour before we have a meeting with our interim group. We have been using this time to go to the roof of the building where our classroom is, to journal, read, laugh, and watch the sunset. It's gorgeous. And wierd to wonder if y'all in Michigan are looking at the same sun as it's rising that we're looking at in Inida as it's setting.

More to come about our trip to Aurangabad! I wish I could put all my pics online, but here are some of the highlights. Lots of love headed home to Michigan!
-Car

busy!

Hey everyone!
Sorry I didn't get to update my blog yesterday (other than the pics). The internet was down all evening yesterday.  I have so much to write about in these past two days, but there's probably not enough time or space to do so. I'll hit the highlights.

Yesterday we got to play in the preschool that is here in the compound. Children come from pretty far around this area, and many of them are very poor.  Here at the preschool, they receive a bath, eat good meals, and they are taught basic Marati and Enlgish.  There are about 50 kids every day, and only one teacher, so she was delighted to have us come and play with them! I was playing inside with a group of girls.  We played with these plastic tabs that you can create designs with in a plastic mesh thing. If that makes any sense, lol.  I was trying to learn my Marati numbers and colors, but all I can remember is that red sounds like "lala," and blue sounds like "nahli." But then again, they were laughing at me the whole time, so for all I know I could have been saying "poop." They were really sweet kids. Here's one picture of a girl that I worked with all morning (her eyes are big because she was just playing around):

Next, we went to the cattle market and the vegetable market.  I've posted a picture of me and Michelle at the cattle market in the previous post. Basically, there are hundreds of bullocks, goats, and water buffalos for sale by all of the people in Jamkhed. It's mostly a social gathering than anything else, and boy, were we an attraction for those at the cattle market.  It's all men at the market, no women usually come, so we were even more of a wonder to them.  People literally followed our group around as we walked through the market, and when we would stop, they would too. And surround us. And stare at us.  Very peculiar.  We felt pretty uncomfortable, even though we had a guide and he assured us that we were completely safe.  It just feels really odd to stand out so much, and to have people stare blankly at you.

After the market tours, we headed home to get a tour of the hospital here at Jamkhed.  It's an incredible facility, and it's considered high-tech for the area that it's in.  The hospital serves an area of 500,00 people! Since this area is so poor, only those who have adequate money have to pay the full price for medical services.  All others can receive treatment at a subsidized price. It's an amazing system, and works marvelously for the population that this hosptial serves. Here is a picture of the operating room:

All of that happened before lunch on Saturday! We were happy to have some down-time in the afternoon, and in the evening, Smisha (one of the educators/workers here) led our group in yoga.  Here is a picture of me and Emily getting loose before we started:

And for dinner on Saturday night.... WE HAD SPAGHETTI!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing with rice! And nothing that we had to guess at! AND it's one of my favorite meals! I had two plate-fulls. And I went to bed fat and happy. 

Today has been busy, but I don't really want to go into it too much because this entry is already long. We had church this morning, and our group sang "He Reigns" to the group that had gathered (Abbie and SarahJean, I know what you're thinking!). I htink they liked it, even though they couldn't understand it. We got a few smiles and nods from the crowd. Later, we met with an adolescent girls group from a local village, who told us the things they are learning from CRHP: how to handle their menstrual cycles, how to protect themselves from boys and men who are violent to them, and basic health care so they, too, can help their families and villages. Truly amazing young women!

Time to get ready for more yoga with Smisha! The rumor is that a tailor is coming tongiht to measure us for our saris! YAY!

Loving all of you from 8,000 miles away!
-Carolyn

some pics!





Our first Indian meal! This was halfway to Jamkhed. We were so tired at this point! From left: Me, Anna, Hillary

  



This is my home for two weeks! My bed is on the left, Michelle's is in the middle, and Beth's is on the right. We got the best room by far, even though the beds are hard as a rock!

 




Here we are outside our classroom, right after we had a class with these women. They are village health workers.

  


Taking a break from class outside in the sunshine. From left: Michelle, Beth, me, Hillary




Here we are at the cattle market that we visited on Saturday.  There are hundreds of bullocks and water buffalos that men come to sell here.  Behind us are bullocks.




This is the main welcoming sign in CRHP, Jamkhed.  Roomie pic!


I LOVE sharing pics with all of you! Please understand, though, that it takes FOREVER to load them up on these slow computers, so consider it a once-in-a-while thing. I'll write more about my day tonight! P.S. I'm going to try to remember to edit the time so that it's the correct time that I publish the posts. This one is correct!

Love,
Car

my words are few.

I asked God to teach me. To break my heart. To show me. To open me. To humble me. He's doing all of that in ways that I never would have expected.

There is no way that I can begin to describe what I've experienced today. This morning, after breakfast, we talked to 5 village health workers for 3 hours.  They are the real deal. These women are the main source of CRHP's success in communities in Maharastra.  Most of the women are chosen from their villages by the doctors here at CRHP.  What makes them unique is that they are usually from the lowest caste, or they are outcastes for one reason or another. One VHW (village health worker) that we talked to today had leprosy, and so was kicked out of her village. CRHP selected her to be trained at the compound. Another woman was kicked out by her husband because she didn't have any male babies.  When women are kicked out of the house, they are lower than the lowest caste - they have no value.  But CRHP selected her to be trained too.  CRHP then teaches the women basic and practical health knowledge: how to deliver babies, how to tell when a woman is pregnant, how to cure illnesses all the way from the common cold to things like TB and leprosy.  They are taught to practice medicine with limited supplies and resources already available in their villages. AND, all of these women are illiterate.  It is incredible.  Their villages have responded to them, accepted them, and the VHW are eliminating malaria, bringing infant mortality rates down to near 0%, and at the same time throwing away the caste system. AMAZING.

We took a break for lunch, and afterward, we went with our whole group into the market. HOW CAN I DESCRIBE THIS?!?  It was the craziest, busiest, most explosive place I've ever been to.  We walk through super narrow streets, where tons of people are walking and cars and motorcycles drive down.  There are stores everywhere. Pigs digging in trash. Goats crossing the street. People selling veggies. Cows laying down.  Children from the school ran outside to greet us and ask our names like we were celebrities.  Groups of old men stared.  Women yelled at us to buy their chickpeas. Wow.  We ended up in a sari shop :)  I bought a sari! It's magenta-colored with some really pretty teal and silver accents. Now I need to learn how to put it on! A tailor is coming to CRHP to fit the fabric to all of us that bought fabric today. How exciting!

Lastly, in the afternoon, we visited a slum that is across the street from CRHP.  I still don't understand the difference between a slum and a village, but I think it is that most of the people are nomads... in between jobs, and they are mobile people in general.  This slum is being transformed into a village with the help of CRHP and their village health worker. But we walked through it today, with a guide of course. Poverty looks the same around the world.  And my words, any pictures that we took.... none of it can do justice to what we saw today.  The condition that these people are living in is indecribable.  But CRHP is helping these people find work through the skills that they have, and the conditions in the slum is overall increasing.  Also, the VHW has been working to help people have toilets... a huge improvement.  Now, 60% of these houses have toilets! That itself has a dramatic effect on the health of this 3,500-person community. More to come on the slum later.

Time for bed over here! My brain and heart are tired.  I'm thankful for these experiences that are teaching me so much about the world and about Christ and His people.  All my love to loved ones at home.

Love,
Car