Today will be a bit scattered brained for me as I really not feeling well. It made it really difficult to be a part of the experience and I missed out a lot. However, I was able to take in a lot and learn a lot from my peers and what I saw for the children.
We got up early today and headed over with Neelam, a member of the Impact India Foundation to Thane District, a rural area three hours outside of Mumbai, and approximately 25 kilometers away from the border state of Gujarat. Neelam, was kind enough to be our tour guide of the day. En route to Thane district she also explained what wonderful things Impact India Foundation has done for rural areas in India, such as Thane District. Impact India has been around for approximately 20 years, working specifically in the following three projects:
- The Lifeline Express - a hospital on a trail that halts for about a month at each rural location which each project.
- Community Health Initiative (CHI) - decreasing the incidence of existing disabilities through preventive and curative measures
- Ashramshalas - A model project for improvement of the tribal residential schools for holistic development of rural children.
We did have the opportunity to understand more about the community health initiative and ashramshalas. Our first stop was the Bapugaon Ashramshala (Village Residential School for tribals).
I loved it here. For one, the quiet and stillness of the village, coupled with the greenery that spread miles long. It was beautiful. We visited a school here that boarded over 500 students of tribal families. In order to provide these children with access to an education and a future, an association was formed with the Government. Even so, these girls and boys lacked so many resources and access to care. Though between the ages of 11 and 14, they looked six. Physicians, volunteers and individuals such as Neelam, have worked with these children to conduct body mass indexes, A1c testings, counseling on Vitamin A and importance of immunization. The girls we met, were able to tell us the importance of Vitamin A and conducting biomarkers. They were eager to share with us how they have learned to conduct BMI's as indicators to help them stay healthy. Yet, two of the questions they posed to us was: "How come you are so much bigger than us?" and "What can we eat so we can be as big as you?" It was heartbreaking.
After we sat in a group for awhile, we had a few minutes before our next visit, to have some one-on-one conversations. We used this opportunity to ask what these girls wanted to be when they grew up. Many were shy at first but one girl spoke up and said she wanted to be a doctor. Neelam later told us, these girls will never leave and have never left, for there is not even a name for how low they are in the caste system.
The rest of the day, our group went to a Primary Health Centre and a Mobile clinic. Unfortunately, I wasn't well and had to miss these site visits. I was sad to have missed such an experience. From what I gathered from my peers, spending time with tribal families in the outskirts of Mumbai was life-changing. Understanding how medical care is reached to the indigenous people of Thane District and how they seek care is fascinating. I also wish we had an opportunity to visit the Lifeline Express, or as Indians refer to it as "The Magic Train of India".
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This day was hard because back home, I get questions from so many people asking me if the caste system is still in existence. All this time I said it wasn't. Today, I realized that as far as India has come, the country has not done justice in educating so many people and for that reason certain fallacies, will never be trumped. All you can do is continue to bring hope and empowerment through education and expression of education.
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