Somebody died

While in Udaipur, we decided to walk out along the shore. We saw women washing their hair in the gross water. After they seemed to be all clean, they all lined up to go in to a church and ring a bell. I asked a passerby what was going on. He said someone had died. I don't profess to be up on Indian tradition and have not read anything about it. But this is what I perceive to happen. When someone dies, everyone needs to go to the church to pray for them. Before they do that, they need to be cleansed. The women and men have to do this separately. So, in Udaipur, the women come down to the filthy river to do the cleansing. Once they are clean, they go in to a church, or actually a temple, to pray and ring a bell to a God. Then, they go back to the person's house who died. It was interesting to witness this.

Udaipur

We went on a weekend get away to Udaipur, which is about 6ish hours from Mota Fofalia. In India, it is common to travel at night. So, when in India, do as the Indians do. Right?!? We left at midnight and drove all night, arriving in Udaipur at 6am. Our driver dropped us off at our hotel and left. Our hotel was a bit of a maze. No lights were on. But, we followed signs and went up stairs until we found a desk. No one was there! By default, we were left to sit on the balcony until the sun rose. Udaipur is a beautiful city, and the sunrise was spectacular! I'm not a morning person, and would not have chosen to wake up to watch a sunrise, but I'm glad our trip turned out that way. We sat on that balcony for 5 hours until the workers arrived, and we were able to check in to our room, which had an equally amazing view. In Udaipur, we went to the temple, the palace, the spice market, and took a boat out on the lake. All were nice experiences, but the sunrise was our favorite!

Helping Babies Breathe

At the Mota Fofalia Hospital in India, the babies are delivered by a Nurse, a Ward Boy and a Sweeper. Yes, the same one that sweeps the floor. That's just the way they do it. They need an extra set of hands, and any will do. The sweeper is the one that takes the baby after delivery, so they are primarily responsible for resuscitation. We offered a "Helping Babies Breathe" training course today, and that is who we invited. We got most of the nurses, 1/2 of the Ward Boys. And 1 of the sweepers. They all did a pretty good job. The goal of Helping Babies Breathe is just that. To help babies breathe. 1 in 10 babies born require help. In India, that 10% often times will not survive, because nobody helps them. We talk about stimulating, suctioning and bagging if needed. All this should be done within 1 minute of the baby being born. I think back to the baby that died the last time I was here, and how many things went wrong. Things that could have been prevented if I, or someone else, had intervened. I hope those things don't happen anymore! The nurses seem to be grasping what we are teaching them. The new ones seem especially eager and open to it. Even if the training helps to save one baby, it's worth it. Isn't it?

Kite Festival

Today was the Kite Festival! A National Festival. Wikipedia says that they celebrate over 1,000 festivals in Gujarat State. I don't know how that's even possible, since they are only 365 days in a year. The Kite Festival is a 2 day festival to celebrate half way to Spring. Which is worth celebrating! Even though, here the weather is quite nice in the Winter, and miserable in the Summer. It is cold when the sun is down at night, but so warm in the daytime. I even took off my sweater.

We were invite over to Ashok's for breakfast this morning. Breakfast in India is basically cold cereal that is spicy on a plate with no milk. This morning, they also served yellow rice with lots of things added to it, because it is a holiday. After breakfast, we walked to the farm to relax. They grow all their own food here. There are no places in Mota Fofalia to buy food. After the farm, we ate lunch. We pretty much ate all day! Because after lunch, we walked in to town for the festival, where we also ate! Just like we do for holidays in the states. While we were eating, we flew kits. I tried to get some going, but was unsuccessful. Everyone stands on top of their roofs to fly the kites. We had a stack of kites on our roof. There is competition to 'cut' each other's kites down by running your string into there's, which literally cuts it, and it falls to the ground at an unknown location. This went on for hours. After dark, they let off lanterns, balloons, and fireworks. It's pretty neat to see all of these things going on! And, people where masks and glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces. Kind of like on Fourth of July. They do this two days in a row, because the weather is not always favorable for kite flying. So, they want another chance! I sure hope we can get some education done tomorrow, though! We actually did get some done today, since there were nurses working, and they sent all the patients home for the holiday!

Malnourishment in India

A while ago, the Government did a survey for Malnourishment in this area. They found 7 of 100 children were malnourished, and ordered them to go to the hospital to be treated. They didn't go. They didn't want to go. They are busy and in survival mode. Eating is not a priority and being hospitalized would be a huge inconvenience. So, this week, the government got serious. They sent a van out to the houses and picked the children up. Their mothers and siblings came with them. Their dads, who were working in the fields, were not even informed. Then, they were dropped at our hospital. After weighing and assessing, they were checked in. These children are extremely malnourished. An 18 month old looks the size of a 6 month old. The first test is called an appetite test. They are given a small bowl of something that looks gross. If they do not eat 90% of it, a feeding tube has to be placed. That's the protocol. It just doesn't happen here. The nurses don't feel comfortable placing feeding tubes. So, they just repeat the test until the children pass. We'll see how these admissions go. The children must either gain 15% of their body weight, or stay 21 days. Whichever comes first! This might be a long 3 weeks!

First Class

Apparently, I am a first class passenger. I checked in for my 2nd 8 hour flight on my way to India, after traveling for 24 hours. I was exhausted, and planned to sleep. I showed my boarding pass to the agent, and heading down the hallway to the plane. After waiting patiently in line to get on the plane, I heard someone trying to get through. Excuse me, excuse me, he was saying as he tried to make his way through the crowd...to find me! Agent: "Miss Janes, we had to change your seat." "Is it still an aisle seat?" In truth, I don't care where I sit, as long as it is an aisle seat. I have a routine! "Yes" he said. "It is an aisle seat in first class." A million questions came to my head that started with Why? But I didn't ask any of them. Instead, I got on the plane, tried to stay awake for dinner served on china with real napkins, before reclining to a horizontal position for a long Winter nap! Thank you Jet Airways!