Bollywood Dream, Bastis, and Babies!

Hello!
I just spent 20 minutes trying to upload some images of yesterday in the slum of the adorable kids but this computer does not want to do it for me...sorry guys I think you may have to wait until we are home, as the slowness of the internet connections here drives me insane! Kat, if you are reading this, we went and saw a Bollywood film last night and it was amazing, everything I could have hoped for!! We were a little hesitant as it was in Hindi but we soon found out that with the dramatic background music, and very obvious plot we could pretty much understand the gist of things. Rach and I took turns making up the narritive which was very amusing in itself:) Also we LOVED the dance scenes and they alone were worth the price of admission (less than $3 anyways!). The only bad part was when Rachel's bag got checked and she had to give up her candy that we had bought outside. This was good jelly candy like you get in Canada and we were pretty darn excited about it so when Rachel's was taken (I somehow managed to bring in a bag of oranges, a diet coke, and a bag of candy without any problem) she was furious. Seriously in the time I have known Rachel I have never seen here so angry...note to everyone, do not get in the way of Rach and her candy:) I tried to argue that we did not know, could he make an exception this one time, they even brought out a manager for me but to no end, she did not get her candy for the movie...we will know to hide things better next time!

Bastis, are the Indian name for urban slums. Yesterday as I think Rachel mentioned we spent the day going to some of the slums where the IICP works with another organization to provide outreach programs to children with disabilities. It was a really fascinating day. We did two home visits, both children had cerebral palsy and both had recently received customized seating. It was such an amazing contrast to see these seats inside these tiny tiny homes, but it was also so wonderful to see that they were finally able to sit upright and interact with the world (one boy looked about 7 0r 8 so he would have spent most of his life lying down up to a few months agao). Both families seemed very happy with the seating and were so gracious. In the first home, the mother invited us in and was so lovely. It was Rach and I and her and her son (in his chair with a long lap tray) in a space about the size of two airplane bathrooms...tight is an understatment! The mother was so so kind, she held my hand as Rach took a picture of us...I wanted to take her home! We also visited a mobile bus which goes to a different slum each day and provides education to parents and the children with disabilities as well as some therapy (run by the organization Tommorow's Foundation). Finally we visited an integrated school. Seven of the fifty pupils had some types of disability (physical or cognitive) but they were fully integrated into the classroom. When Rach and I arrived the children went a little crazy and every single child wanted to shake our hand,sao we kind of caused a little commotion:) They were so so sweet and all wanted to show us their workbooks as well. It seems like a really great school and very innovative for India (being integrated) which was really great to see...and the kids were amazing so it was hard to leave:)

The final part of my title refers to our last day today in the baby clinic. Every thursday we spend the day in the infant clinic. Children under age two are referred to this clinic in the IICP if they have had some sort of birth trauma (and they are still really young, in the first few weeks of life) or if the child is a bit older and has been seen by a doctor who suspects some neuro-motor disorder (ie. CP). The really tiny babies (so cute!) are screened to see if they present with the normal reflexes (most seem to be relatively normal) that should be present whereas the older children in general do seem to have some major problems so the PTs recommend positioning and some therapeutic techniques for parents. It is kinda frustrating that we don't speak Bengali on these days...we sit there and play with the babies and try to understand the gist of what is being said! My favourite part is seeing how many people are there for each baby. In Canada probably one parent or both would go to a doctor/physio visit while in India there are always at least two adults but generally there are 3, 4 , 5 or more. It is usually grandparents and other adults (aunts of uncles I guess)...but I just love how important family is here, it makes me happy to known that the babies are geting so much support.

Tommorow is our last day of placement and I am SO excited to go travelling. Kolkata and the IICP have been so amazing and I am so glad I came and am so thankful for all the people I have met especially...but at the same time I am itching to get travelling and to leave this big, dusty, dirty city! We are headed down south to Kerala for a week and then up to the Rajasthan for a week and then flying out of Delhi. We are very excited for Kerala, it is full of little towns to explore the backwaters by canoe or boat trip and beaches. Hopefully we will be good about updating this blog but who knows we may be too busy getting tans (we are still SO white) while eating fresh fish and drinking cold drinks on the beach...fingers crossed at least:)