I’ve been mulling over this post for a while now. Part of me feels like there’s not much to report, but I think that’s not really true and that I’ve become so accustomed to life here that many things are not feeling new anymore. For example the now weekly visits/attacks by a crew of monkeys is to be expected and I have now become accustomed to springing out of bed to give my best ‘monkey scaring’ shout. In reality this shout does nothing – that may be because it sounds exactly like my cow herding shout. However, since my good friend Kunal thinks that my blog should form the basis for my book debut, I thought that I should probably continue to write….*please note, that this is a joke, and I will not be appearing at a Waterstones near you to sign a copy of my shiny new book*. On the other hand, it does seem very ‘Sex and the City’ – if I write books do I automatically get a pair of Manolo Blahniks?
So onto the stuff of real life…since I’ve been back from Rishikesh it has been work, work and more work and as I’m sure you can imagine I’ve been enjoying being busy. Aarohi has a number of fundraising events held in Delhi and Bangalore in January so as well as getting to go to them (which I’m totally psyched about), I’m helping to write the fundraising appeals and to get some sort of sponsorship for the events. It’s funny because if someone gives me work like this my normal reaction is to get onto it straight away however I’ve been taking the time to think about and understand just what is realistic for this NGO and what kind of support is needed exactly. It’s definitely done me the world of good and I’ve had a chance to reflect a lot on the work they are doing here. I don’t think I have spoken about this enough up until now….
Aarohi is working in the state of Uttarakhand – if any of you haven’t looked at a map to see where I am, I’m both shocked and offended. So to save yourself go now and ‘google’ it, and in particular look for the towns of Nainital and Almora as I am pretty much between the two of them. In fact, Almora is the opposite side of the valley to where I stay and at night I can see the sparkling lights of the town. Tonight they are accompanied by the stars and you would never believe how many stars there are! I know that sounds really stupid, but after living in London for a while you learn not to look for them, so this is pretty cool.
So, now that you know where I am, I should probably put the area into context. It’s about a 10 hour drive or an overnight train journey from Delhi and while there are a few major towns in Uttarakhand, the majority of the state is dominated by remote rural villages. State infrastructure has made some expansion into the area I am in, for example we have tarmacked roads (in some places) and electricity the majority of the time. However since I have been here I have visited villages where they are without electricity, and almost ¾ of the year without any water supply. Combine this with a human unfriendly terrine, lack of basic education and healthcare and the presence of cultural taboos and practices that are deeply ingrained into the communities and you’d be pretty much on par with this area. I know that before I have spoken about the importance of education, and I stand by the points I made, but I am talking about a very different type of education here. This is more of a ‘life’ education. For example, knowing what to feed your child to ensure that it has a chance of developing properly, and in fact this links back to the presence of cultural practices. Some could say that the state has tried to change healthcare practices and the medical provision here, but hospitals are still few and far between, while the primary healthcare facilities are usually unstaffed (because people don’t want to work here) and without medicines (usually as a result of corruption – either the money goes missing or the medicines do). There is also the National Rural Health Mission, an India wide initiative, however one could also say that the difference this is making in some states of India is debatable. So as you can see there are multiple primary and secondary problems that are deeply intertwined and interconnected that often I don’t know where to start thinking about it. I also have to say that, after being here I am even more disgusted by the politicians and people in the UK that have critiqued DFID for still funding aid initiatives in India – I think the above will demonstrate the real need here. Today I read that in India 1.7 million children under the age of 5 die every year – a figure that translates into a child dying every 20 seconds.
This is not as a direct result of a lack wealth (obviously economics plays a part, but it’s not the main reason) but an absence of basic healthcare. Something as simple as the distribution of oral rehydration tablets and teaching about how to use them can save the lives of many children every year. The provision of this kind of healthcare is an area that Aarohi is deeply involved with, and is also an area that I am contributing to. The Aarohi rural healthcare project is working in a total of 30 villages and the focus of the project is the training of local health workers. Each health worker has been picked by their village to be in this role and we train them to give basic advice related to pregnancy, family planning, infections and diseases, and they are also in a position to refer people onto another health care facility if a serious medical problem is reported. Not only are they raising awareness in their community but they are filling the gap left by the state and also giving everyone access to basic care. The aim of the project is that it will after time be self-sustaining and each of the health workers will pass their skills onto another in the community. This is much like the functioning of the role of village ‘dai’ (midwife) which has traditionally been passed through families. While their practices are not always safe (the training of dai is another area we work in) all the knowledge they do have is passed on and I think that there is something really valuable about that.
In essence, the project is providing communities access to a basic right – the opportunity to live. OK, I may sound completely over the top here, but when you hear stories of young babies and new mothers dying because the family couldn’t make the 3 hour trip to the hospital this point is pretty valid.
There is SO much more I could write about with regard to Aarohi’s work and I’m sure I will over time, but for now I will leave you with what I have written about here. It’s something that I think we can all get passionate about and I hope that have given you an insight into what life is like for rural communities in what is ironically one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Don’t forget that Aarohi also has a website – www.aarohi.org so please do check it out while you’re waiting for me to tell you more!
Finally – it’s COLD! I know everyone who has spoken to me recently has already heard this but I’m just reiterating that I am freezing my arse/toes/nose/hands off. I wonder what will be left by the time that March comes around…..
