As Kim mentioned in her last post I got the chance to go out to a village outside of Kolkata called Durgapur with one of the social workers, Robi from IICP, who goes there every Tuesday. Unfortunately, Kim couldn't come because she was sick :( I missed her, but it was definitely better she stay home and rest. She's finally starting to feel a bit better, but she is not stomaching much food, despite my persistent nagging ;) Don't worry Bruce and Phyllis I'll keep the nagging up!
Going out to Durgapur was such a cool experience. We left Kolkata around 7:15am and after a 2hr bus ride arrived in Durgapur. We spent the majority of the day doing home visits to people's houses in two small villages. It was amazing to see...many of the houses we were in were made of mud, including their cooking ovens. Word must have got out that a foreigner was there because we'd be sitting in one house and a crowd of other villagers would all come and surround the house. At one point a lengthy conversation was going on between Robi and many of the villagers...I assumed it was regarding the ADORABLE little 2 year old with Down's that we were visiting, but then I heard "Canada" and Robi asked me how old I was and then I heard "married?", so I'm pretty sure they were all asking questions about me lol. The visit was also heart wrenching at times...I saw one child who was deteriorating as a result of her condition (hydrocephalis), and it broke my heart...
At the end of the day we visited a mission of charity in the area (one of many of Mother Theresa's) which houses boys and men with disabilities. It was a huge (10 acre) property with cocunut trees all over the grounds. Robi informed me that they encourage those staying there to get involved in occupations (maintaining the grounds, harvesting etc...) based on their own capabilities to give meaning to their lives (totally OT). They also will bring in some women from the surrounding villages (widows) to help with the harvesting as a way to allow them to earn a small amount of money.
This weekend Kim and I are going on a 2 day 2 night boat trip to Sundervan's tiger reserve! (Phyllis we thought you would be excited about this) Chances are very very slim that we will actually see a tiger, but we are holding out hope anyways. :)
We'll update you about our weekend as soon as we can!
Rachel
Ps: we have not seen a single post card here, so for those of you who we promised to send one to we will keep looking, but chances are it's not going to happen. Sorry!
Going out to Durgapur was such a cool experience. We left Kolkata around 7:15am and after a 2hr bus ride arrived in Durgapur. We spent the majority of the day doing home visits to people's houses in two small villages. It was amazing to see...many of the houses we were in were made of mud, including their cooking ovens. Word must have got out that a foreigner was there because we'd be sitting in one house and a crowd of other villagers would all come and surround the house. At one point a lengthy conversation was going on between Robi and many of the villagers...I assumed it was regarding the ADORABLE little 2 year old with Down's that we were visiting, but then I heard "Canada" and Robi asked me how old I was and then I heard "married?", so I'm pretty sure they were all asking questions about me lol. The visit was also heart wrenching at times...I saw one child who was deteriorating as a result of her condition (hydrocephalis), and it broke my heart...
At the end of the day we visited a mission of charity in the area (one of many of Mother Theresa's) which houses boys and men with disabilities. It was a huge (10 acre) property with cocunut trees all over the grounds. Robi informed me that they encourage those staying there to get involved in occupations (maintaining the grounds, harvesting etc...) based on their own capabilities to give meaning to their lives (totally OT). They also will bring in some women from the surrounding villages (widows) to help with the harvesting as a way to allow them to earn a small amount of money.
This weekend Kim and I are going on a 2 day 2 night boat trip to Sundervan's tiger reserve! (Phyllis we thought you would be excited about this) Chances are very very slim that we will actually see a tiger, but we are holding out hope anyways. :)
We'll update you about our weekend as soon as we can!
Rachel
Ps: we have not seen a single post card here, so for those of you who we promised to send one to we will keep looking, but chances are it's not going to happen. Sorry!
I'm sure you will see a tiger - keep your camera handy
ReplyDeleteHey Rach!
ReplyDeleteI have to say i am a keen follower of your blog, I check it almost every day on my way to/from work. Unfortunately I keep trying to comment via my BlackBerry and it doesn't seem to work! Anyhoo...I love hearing about your experiences (and had a good chuckle on the train imagining you and your eyeball yoga) and am so happy you both love the kids/centre and are having fun (despite having to develop tough tummies along the way). Love you lots and can't want to see you soon (but not too soon for your sake as it sounds like such an amazing experience!)
Lots of love,
Kimmy xxx
P.S. Tiger reserve?! SOOO jealous!
Hope you both get on the healthy train at the same time :)
ReplyDeleteHave an amazing wkend with the tigers - we were supposed to go to a reserve too but no one told us it was so close until the week before we left Naini and of course the trains were booked!
chaichaichaichaichaichaichaichai