Settling in to Sangola

So starting to feel ‘at home’ here. Somewhat of a routine has settled in. My mornings are free to Skype with my mom and my boyfriend and transcribe the interviews of the night before. Of course it’s not that simple because there are always kids running in and out of here. But when I firmly say “Mee kam kurté” (I am doing work) or “Chup bas” (sit down and keep quiet) they pretty much listen…most of the time. However, there are these 3 girls that keep banging on my door during the evening and mocking the way I speak Marathi!…let’s just say it's an opportunity for me to work on my patience.

At 11am, the organization’s office hours start so I join them for singing their morning prayer. Then I either try to continue to do work in my guestroom (which is quite difficult with all the interruptions) or I speak to some of the working women. I also travel to some other villages for interviews on some days. I also travel to some closer villages in the evening to take some interviews.

This week I went with the mobile health clinic of the organization, Aarogyadoot to two different villages, each 20 to 30 kilometers from

Sangola. That doesn’t sound like a far distance by Canadian standards, but the road to take us there was not really a road, they don’t have an buses going there, they do not have a hospital or any doctors in the village, or electricity for that matter. So it’s really cool that this bus goes there to give free checkups for pregnant women, infants, and school children and free monthly hemoglobin tests. They also have a staff member that goes to the primary school of the village (usually in pretty bad condition) and teach the children some songs and cultural activities. They bring materials like toys, colours, coloring books, and storybooks—resources that don’t exist in those schools.

They chose 7 remote villages of the sub-district, for the 3 year pilot project. They go to each village once per week. Next year they will be choosing 7 new villages. To ensure some sustainability for the project, they are training 1 woman from each village to be able to take blood pressure, measure temperature, and know when it is an emergency for going to the hospital. The funds for the project have been épuisé, but they are funding it with the org’s general funds. The organization that I fundraised funds with at McGill, Association for India’s development, we’ll be donated those funds (200+$) to this project. Also, my cousin Sabrina from the TD bank got TD to donate 100$ to this project.

My interviews have been going well. I’ve done 12 so far, 23 to go. There are of course some translation challenges, but the inspiring stories easily shine through. More to come about those soon.

All the best from rural India,

Milena