Dr. Veronica Ng’s Report - January 30th to Febuary 13th 2009

I came across Sambhali Trust through a friend of a friend back home in the US. I was leaving for India in less than a week when I heard about this project. Although I had planned on volunteering in India, the projects I had considered both fell apart. I was reserved to the fact that it was not meant to be and I had my heart set on traveling alone and experiencing India. When I first read the website of Sambhali Trust, the first thing that struck me was the unexpectedness of a Rajput man wanting to make a difference in the lives of the local women especially those in the lower castes and the untouchables. Putting my skepticism aside, I arrived at Jodhpur.

My time with the project was split between Setrawa (a village 110 km west of Jodhpur) and Jodhpur. I spent the first week in rural India and stayed with two other volunteers at the school in Setrawa. I had a running start by being a part of an out reach clinic to the local villagers along side Dr. D, a general practice physician from Jodhpur. We spent four hours one Sunday afternoon seeing 60 plus patients and providing many of them with free medications. I was struck by Dr. D’s sense of ease he had with the villagers. He smiled and interacted with the men and women, as well as the family whom they brought along. So often, I was overwhelmed by the demand of health care that these villagers needed and the lack of resource to meet their requests. I kept reminding myself that life is not about being fair, but rather it has lessons waiting for each of us.

The health workshop was held for a few days after the health checkup clinic.

The week in Setrawa was a health camp. My task was to give workshops on nutrition, basic first aide and to bring on health awareness. I gave talks on wound care including bites and bleeding control, nutrition on food groups, and vitamins to the men and women. There was also emphasis on nutritional needs in pregnancy and lactation. It was difficult not having a good understanding of their diet and the food that was available to them. A group of three university students came to conduct a study and they also gave a separate talk on first aide and disaster management. The week continued with two other talks to the school aged girls in the project. I chose to talk about selective body functions (i.e. digestion, circulation and respiratory systems), diet around the world among the volunteers and the effect of nutrition on health and diseases. The girls and young women were enthusiastic to learn and eager to be tested on the new knowledge they just acquired. Overall I found it exciting and rewarding to see the interest in their eyes and the smiles.

My highlight in Setrawa was the simplicity of life. Coming from America and being a physician, I accepted the life that I knew. It is always nice to be reminded that there is another side to everything. This, I suppose was another life lesson I was reminded about.

Audiance listening very carefully

The project in Jodhpur seemed different to me. There was a greater commitment and ambition from the participants in Jodhpur. My role however continued to be the same with a different audience. The women and girls in Jodhpur were more comfortable with my presence. They asked questions freely and they were less shy to get involved in the discussion. Frequently they came up after the talk to ask personal question or to share their experience. It was a welcoming change but I also understood the difference between rural and urban India. My workshops paralleled those in Setrawa but in greater depths. First aide workshop expanded to include burn, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, fall, trauma and unconsciousness victims. The nutrition talk included trace elements such as iron, folic acid and zinc in addition to food groups, and various vitamins. The body functions were again on the same subjects but included diseases such as asthma, hepatitis, and effect of smoking on various organs. The audience showed a great deal of interest and asked questions about things they heard or people they knew. Overall, it was a positive experience for all of us to interact with one another.

Sambhali Trust holds many hopes for the women involved. I see it providing the environment and resource for them to learn, to socialize, to gain self confidence and to see themselves as so much more than how they have traditionally been valued. I wish for its continuing success.