Health Camp in Davangere
June 2nd, 2009Hey, faithful readers.
I know I promised a Monday update, but I forgot my camera cord yesterday and have been out of the office with a stomach bug all day today. But, for you, I braved an autorickshaw and a pretty strong headache and am sitting at my desk. I hope you’re appreciative.
On Friday night I left for Davangere, a little town about 200km northwest of Bangalore. I was told to meet my travelling companions at bus terminal 17.
Awesome.
After about a half hour of trying to ask people where #17 was, I finally figured out I was at the wrong bus station. So, despite leaving two hours early for my bus, I ended up getting there about 5 minutes before it left. The ride was pretty awful. We left at 11:30 pm and arrived around 6 am. Indian roads aren’t exactly the smoothest, so about every 20 minutes we’d hit a pothole going 40 mph and all get woken up.
So, at 6 we shuffled off the bus, tired and cranky, and headed for the health camp.
These health camps provide free dental, eye, and ENT screenings to customers of Ujjivan and their families. Most can’t afford the doctor visits, so many of the customers had never been to an eye doctor and will receive their first pair of glasses in the next couple of weeks. We partner with an eye hospital who charges 120 rupees per pair of glasses, so everything is kept affordable. We also sent about 60 women in for cataract surgery, for which they’ll receive a reduced rate or even complimentary service if they can’t afford it.
Davangere is actually a pretty cute little town, with several lakes and a general small-town kind of feel. I caught this picture from the local bus we took to the health camp. You can’t see it in the photo, but off to the left there were about 6 fishermen in tiny little canoes net-fishing for the morning catch.
The eye camp went really well. My camera battery died as soon as we got there on the first day, but that camp had about 730 attendeess, record attendance for one of our camps. We did our best with crowd control, but keeping that many people happy for 8 hours was no easy task. Not to mention that my lack of language skills and general appearance made people a bit standoffish.
The second day was much slower, with around 350 attendees, and things went much more smoothly. None of the other people there were too keen on letting me help out, but I did what I could.
The woman above was receiving her first pair of glasses. We had a whole basket full of different styles they could pick from, but most people seemed to just take a glance in the mirror and take the first set of frames they tried.
This girl and her brothers and I became good friends. They kept insisting that I give them gifts, pulling on my hair, and generally swarming me the entire day. They did teach me some Kannada though (mugu=nose; pariwalla=pigeon).
I didn’t follow up on this one, so I don’t know whether he had any cavities.
Well, that’s all for today, faithful readers. I have Saturday and Sunday off this coming week, and my plan is to finish getting my apartment set up. That said, I’m sure I’ll get some time to go exploring around Bangalore, so hopefully we can get a decent sized update then. I should also have a couple of small ones this week.
Thanks for reading. Miss you all.
Great update, Michael! Why would people be standoffish regarding your appearance?
Glad to see you’re doing some good!
I really want to come visit you, and I will when I can, but I’m afraid of the whole “India curse” thing that you fell victim to last time you were there
Great photos Mike and even a better story to go with them. What a great experience you’re enjoying and to know that you’re making a difference in people’s lives is even more significant. I’m glad you have the weekend off to get your apartment set up. Do try to find some creature comforts. At another time in my life I tried the Spartacus routine and it just doesn’t work out. It’s alwys nice to be able to come home kick back and enjoy a Booth and Tonic or two or three! I’m proud of you and what you are doing. Keep up the strong effort and don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. Hope to talk to you soon.
Did you feel like Harry Potter as he was trying to find platform 9 and 3/4 to catch the train to Hogwarts while you were trying to find terminal 17? Let’s see – 200 km in 6 1/2 hours on bumpy roads during sleep time doesn’t sound like much fun. But all’s well that ends well as it seems you had a worthwhile and beneficial experience.
Any update on the mosquito situation, or have you come to an understanding with them – don’t bite me and I won’t swat you. Any experimentation with consumption of massive amounts of curry as a deterrent to mosquitoes? Curry, when washed down with substantial quantities of Jim Beam (or tequila) might do the trick, or at least you won’t care.
Hey friend, very inspiring to read about your journeys. It’s so interesting/sad/scary to see how the issues surrounding access to affordable, quality health care span the globe. I’m all wrapped up in debate on fixing the U.S. health care system. Did I tell you I’m working for the Senate Finance Committee now on health care reform? Anyways, I hope you feel better soon. What jams are you learning on your new, very awesome guitar?
Mike! It’s time for my annual “Friends and Family of Kevin Jennings Fantasy Football League” signups. I know you said you want to do it again this year, so I thought I’d give you the heads up. Facebook me with your e-mail address and I’ll get you an invite.
That goes for you too, James! (If you’re reading this.) Sharmin, you want in? April? Anyone else? Bueller?
Hey, Mike, great story. The woman trying on glasses had such beautiful flowers in her hair. Do people dress up to come to the clinics?
I tried to figure out what kind of bird that was. Best bet: a gray heron. What do you think? Here’s a link
http://www.wildventures.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3901
Sure, Kevin! What is it? (Maybe you should ask Ron.) Do I win money?
Kevin, if you read this, I don’t have access to facebook or AIM here (work blocks them) so send your e-mail address to the address on the about page.
Have fun with your apartment furnishing searches this weekend and hope you do have time to do some exploring of Bangalore (although that may take much more than one weekend). Maybe you’ll find a McDougals to go with the Kentacky Chicken place. Well, if you’re lucky, maybe not.