Lazy Sundays

Yestersay I seemed full of energy, today just feeling lethargic.... even going swimming seems too much trouble.  I worked part of the day yesterday, planning the next months actions, then went straight to town on my bike for a bit of an exploration and shopping trip. It was a very successful day with things sorted that weren't even on my list! I even managed to get a hair cut!

Workwise last week was busy by Puri standards - I gave tutorials to the CBR workers on 3 afternoons. These covered the need for proper assessments, note updating and reviews - SMART goal planning, basic techniques and exercises/progressions. I think we covered quite a lot even though there was a bit of a language barrier and I had to wait for Madhab to translate and explain things several times. I got some positive feed back too 'they like my teaching style' which is a good start. Next week my plan is to go over each CBRWs' case load and encourage them to think about goals, treatments and time scales etc for each child. By the end of June I'd like to have meetings with the Health Visitors and other memebers of the care team that are involved with each child but we'll see how that goes!

The families of the children do the best they can with the little knowledge and resources they have. The children are in general well cared for, although thin I have so far not seen any pressure sores. The families often feel let down by the medical profession because there is 'no cure' for  their child. There seems little counselling and support/education for the families as regards CP and how to do the best for their child. Winning the families over can in some cases be the biggest challenge of the CBR worker before thinking what they can do for the child directly.
The villages are quite remote and there is very little public transport available. Play areas in the villages, apart from in some schools, are non existent as far as I can see. I have put forward suggestions for creating play areas to stimulate disabled and able bodied children alike - some brilliant ideas in David Werners' book 'Disabled Village Children' which could be easily replicated with a few strong and willing volunteers! Hopefully July will see swings, seesaws, climbing frames, tunnels and roundabouts etc starting to appear in some of the villages with several disabled children in them.

Schooling is of course very important to all children and aparently mandatory for primary school ages. The average family monthly income is about RS3,000/- I have been told that it can cost up to RS6,000/- per year to equip a child for school including uniform and books. If anyone has any fund raising ideas and would maybe like to sponsor a family/child perhaps we can start something.....(£1=RS75/- approx). That was just a by-thought from an encounter with some of the  fisherman's beach-village families and may be a future venture for consideration.

Busy week!

I'm sitting in my apartment trying to keep cool and avoid being eaten alive by mozzies - and it's only mid April! Guess I will get acclimatised eventually. So what has the last week been like?
I went to the capital of Orissa, Bhubaneswar, last Friday in the middle of a torrential cyclone. I thought the rickshaw driver that took me to the station really earned his RS40/- and I arrived relatively dry. I eventually found where to buy the ticket for my 1.5 hour journey to the state capital. I had checked the price online and had my RS195/-, imagine my delight and disbelief when all I was charged was RS25/-! I didn't argue and went to find somewhere to wait. It was very good advice from VSO to find other females or a family to stay next to on these journeys, but that didn't stop several people coming up to me asking for money. I can't blame them as they see europeans as rich tourists and probably fair game, and when my allowance for 1 week is equal to what some earn in a month I am not surprised (about £30pw).

It was lovely to catch up with Amanda and Julie who met me at the station and we went for dinner. They are also VSOies and came out on the same flight as me. The advantage they have is that in the capital there is a small and active and young expat community who all like ot get together and do things which is great! Knowing they are only a short cheap train journey away is reassuring that if I get too lonely in Puri I can soon put that right!

The weekend was spent shopping eating socialising and drinking (not tooo much) and relaxing, (exhausting !!!!!) The lovely thing was that Orla, another VSOer has a car! so we were able to scoot around to shops and things and then she popped me back to Puri on the Sunday! Fantastic! Had lunch at alovely beach restaurant - grilled mackeral - mmmm.

During last week I decided it was time oto get to know the 7 CBR workers I will be training and what their expectations and needs would be: (Mick at SKWID would be proud ;) ) So I prepared a participatory workshop along the lines of 1, - problem tree, 2, - bridge building, 3, - expectations board,

This week I have been doing field visits with them, seeing 2-3 children a day in a variety of family, social and physical circumstances. Some have been quite heart breaking but some inspiring! They are really managing with very little resources and its amazing what they can do!

On the way back to the office this afternoon I saw an amazing swarm of huge bats around a tree - the locals just ignored it!  So big I thought they were crows! Wish I'd ask Madhab to stop so I could take a photo - next time definitely!

Water water everywhere!

The last few days have been extremely muggy and culminated in severe thunderstorms 2 nights in a row, which although quite refreshing at the time, don't relieve the high humidity once they have past. They do settle the dust though and cause additional power cuts.

I would like to introduce you to Rosey, my 2 wheeled friend:

She now has the addition of a basket at the front which is very handy indeed. The other 2 wheeled friend has, I am afraid, been sidelined because he is just tooo unwieldy for me on these crowded hectic roads:

I do have another 2 wheeled friend waiting in the wings for some minor but essential repairs, such as breaks, and this will be my steed for going to the field - a moped : lighter, no gears and a little more suitable for a young(ish) lady like me! (Photo to follow).

These storms have taken me by surprise: my apartment was flooded this morning after rain lashed through one of the sky lights. Madhab has now tried to fix it for me by blocking up the holes with the rotten old floor mats that were here, so hopefully I won't be floating around tomorrow morning - just as well I didn't leave the laptop on the floor ! Also there has been progress as I now have a water filter so will be able to save on money and waste by not having to buy so many bottles of drinking water.

Work is very slow compared with what I am used to: tomorrow I am doing my first workshop with the Community Based Rehabilitation Workers (CBRWs). I am hoping this will give me my baseline from which to plan their training needs. This will be followed by 7 consecutive days of field visits which I am really looking forward to.

I have already been out into the field a couple of times and seen some of the conditions first hand. My first impression is how happy and friendly all the families are and, so far, very keen to help and look after their children no matter what their disability. Of course these are families seeking help so will be cooperative and keen, and I have only been to 2 villages so we shall see. One of the trips out culminated in having lunch after a village womens health meeting where I was guest of honor (but fortunately didn't have to make a speech):

Yes I was sitting crosslegged on the floor, using my hand and eating off a palm leaf, much to Madhab's amusment as you can see! The food was very hot!
Part of my work has also been advising treatment for other neuro patients such as  strokes, and various musculoskeletal conditions too. They do have a Physio but he is off sick with chicken pox but will be back in a couple of weeks. One such consultation has resulted in my being invited to a school at a Leper Colony about 10kms away founded by Fr. Marian Zelazek who has been nominated several times for International Peace prizes for his work. It is held at Ishopanti Ashram and will be a really amazing visit I am sure.
Well it's time to start my Aloo Masala, hope you enjoy reading and I look forward to your comments. TTFN xxx

One week in Puri -

Well a week ago I was on the train from Delhi and really didn't know what was instore for me. The first week has been a mix of emotions - from delight at the size of my flat and the beautiful beach - to near dispair when I had no water for 2 days and was unable to unlock my phone, finally  having to resort  to buy a new one! Think I may as well cancel the english orange one now......

The people I am working for are delightful and very keen to learn: cures for their own aches and pains as well as the patients. I m still nervous about the motor bike riding - not so much my ability just the lack of obeying any kind of traffic order system! Madhab today said 'when I am 55 I won't want to ride a motor bike either!' so it seems they do understand. It is difficult getting arround in Puri as every 5 seconds I am pestered by a rickshaw driver and distances aren't what they appear on the map! I mentioned at work that I would like to buy a cheap bike to get used to the roads - next day there was a bike waiting for me! 'Rosie' is a godsend and I am able to pop around much easier, I have asked them to purchase me a basket then I really will be setup - and will maybe try the motorbike at the week end.... photo to be added next post...

I have written a type of action plan at work for Madhab's approval - I am not sure it's just the custom of not wanting to displease by saying no but I am still not sure it's entirely what they are wanting from me.
He asked me to give a presentation on just my second day on cerebral palsy lasting 3 hours. Piece of cake :S (HELP!!!) well at least it gave me something to work on but really didnt know what level to pitch it at. It actually went OK I think, they digested every slide of the power point presentation over and over again - going back and forward until they finally understood it, (very nearly 3 hours too). I think.
Wednesday was spent trying to put together an action plan and also sorting out my residence status; fine now paid and have to wait 2 days for the paper work. Then I can open a bank account, sometime, eventually, I hope!
Today I was taken out into the villages to attend a meeting of a self help group. I think of the 1 hour meeting I was probably topic of conversation for about half of it - they wanted to know if I was married, how many children, how old I was, what I am doing here.... it was a lovely ride out into the rural Orissa with interesting mix of good and poor housing, but eveyone was smiling - (apart from 1 episode of road rage we witnessed but I am surprised there isn't more!). I wonder what tomorrow will bring.....pics to follow I promise.

Water water nowhere!

I came back from my bike ride yesterday to find that I had no water to wash or do anything in the flat. I mentioned this to my helper extraordinary Mudhab and he promptly went to turn the pump on! Well that is that problem fixed..... or so I thought, by morning I still had no water. It had been a hot night and not being able to shower properly made me very tasty to the mosquitoes who seem to have had a banquet at my expence! Well what is a young lady supposed to do when faced with such a situation - patience, wait and call Mudhab...... so its Sunday morning and a holiday here so I don't want to bother him too early - I'll wait until 8am. I decide to just relax and put the last of my drinking water on to boil - coffee always makes things right first thing in the morning.... then added the milk which to may horror curdled as I poored it in!!!!! What is a young lady supposed to do when faced with no water and no coffee at 7.30am? Head for a hotel of course!!!! Blow the expence I just needed some normality so hopped in an autorickshaw and asked for a good hotel:- Hotel Rockbay was very obliging and after relieving me of my passport and RS1,300/- showed me to my room and breakfast - the best coffee and the best (most expensive) shower ever! The Hotel was only 50ms from the beach so I had to go and say hello to lifeguard 22 - when he heard about the lack of water he said I should stay with him his wife and 6 children - no cost - lots of water for shower - tempting !?

Suitably refreshed from my brief stay at the hotel and resting on the beach, I got a rickshaw back to my flat and phoned the man of the moment. He looked perplexed at the problem but after a while announced that the pump had broken because it hadn't been turned on since Emma left and a mechanic had to be called. I thought this would take ages but within the hour it was sorted and I had to leave the pump on for 1 hour then turn it off or it will overflow. OK, understood, and I now felt guilty for my lack of patience and expensive indulgence.

My next task was to try to get my phone set unlocked so I can use my India sim card. So I wondered the streets to see firstly if I could find where I will be working tomorrow. I found it quite easily and was surprised to see that nearly everyone was there - working not only on a Sunday but a holiday! There were no children but the staff were busy doing paper work I think. Basanta the boss was there and we had a brief chat about what my work would entail and the first things we will be doing - action plans etc.... now looking forward to having something constructive to do.

I took my leave after about half an hour and headed to the phone unlocking shop: 20minutes later I was told they couldn't unlock it from India had to be done in UK! AAARRGGGHHH how come I get the complicated phone where all the other volunteers managed OK!

Anyway, deep breath, and a walk along the shops/stalls to get something for dinner and some milk... then back to hotel to check out.
I have now had boiled potatoes and a onion, pepper and tomatoe omlette - very tasty too!
Its hot again so time for another shower......will let you know how tomorrow goes :)