Breakdowns and Men with Guns.

Well, it was really just one man with one gun, but I liked that title. Our completely inept taxi driver runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere. And I do mean nowhere. We were miles from anything that remotely resembled a town. It was dark. Two men on a motorcycle emerge out of nowhere, the passenger shouldering a shotgun that would make large mammals flee in terror. The timing of this seemed rather odd, especially since they started conversing with the driver like they knew him.

To make a long story short, we flagged down a bus going the wrong direction, but taking us to civilization, where we called for another taxi to come and get us and take us back to Udaipur. We were in bed by midnight. It was just a bit freaky for awhile when our taxi driver left on the motorcycle to go get gas and left us with the man with the gun. (They returned without gas, which is when we flagged down the bus in the middle of the night). This was a field trip with Seva Mandir, which is one of the organizations we were visiting. The field visit was interesting (to say the least).

There are a lot of organizations here and this is where Cindy and I have chosen to make the base for FSD. We have decided, however, that short term volunteering won't work here, due to the language issue. So, we will restrict our programs to long term volunteering, ProCorps, and study tours.

This is my last day in Udaipur. I head back to Delhi tomorrow and fly out tomorrow night. I will be back in my bed on sunday night. Kind of weird to think about! This month has seemed interchangeably long and short. One thing is for certain though, I can't wait to come back! The sights, sounds, smells...India is something you can't fully describe to people--it is something you just have to experience for yourself.

I want to thank everyone who made this trip so amazing for me. There are too many to name, but you know who you are. I'd also like to thank all the organizations that shared their activities with us, brought us to the field, and who are doing such great work to improve the lives of the people (and animals) here in India. Finally, I'd like to thank the US office for holding down the fort and my intrepid travel partner, Cindy, for being such a great colleague and friend. My best wishes to her during her year long stay here in Udaipur.

Alicia

Udaipur

Udaipur is a very pretty city, lots of hills and lakes. The lakes are very low due to the drought, but it's a picturesque city nonetheless. It's hard to believe we are at our last stop on this journey. After a 7 1/2 hour bus ride we pulled in to Udaipur, tired, dusty, and starving...We are staying at the Mahendra Prakesh hotel for only 7 bucks a night. It's the nicest one we've stayed in yet with a beautiful swimming pool. I finally went swimming today and it's COLD.

A little bit about fate. I'm not sure I believe it, but after Sunday... So, I decide to just walk around town for awhile. Cindy is in bed covered in a rash and recovering from Dengue (we just found out that's what she had last week). I'm walking around and end up at some museum and tourist center. I decide to walk in and see if they are selling a magazine called out and about in udaipur, which is mentioned in my guidebook. The guy in the office finally figures out what I'm looking for and hands me a copy from 2003, which he says I can look at but can't take with me. Apparently, it went out of business and there are no 2004 copies. Anyway, I'm reading about stuff in town and write down some numbers about cooking classes and the like. I read something about an animal hospital and wrote that down too.

I continue along on my walk and the next thing I know, I'm drawn into a phone booth where I call this animal hospital number. I talk with Erika (the person mentioned in the article) and it turns out she's free. So, I head to her house for lunch. We have a great talk and then head over the the animal hospital. There, about 10 waggy dogs with various disabilities greet me as I enter the compound--they are health and happy and don't realize they are 'special' dogs. They know they're special, but not 'special'. I visit the street dogs, the donkeys (one that had its hoof completely severed from a hobbling technique that I won't go into), the cow with the broken leg, the monkey that was electricuted (how do you spell that?), the bird with the broken wing, the list goes on and on.

This amazing American couple and their daughter have created this animal shelter from nothing. It is an incredible story, one that you will read about soon, when I have enough time to do it some justice...but let's just say, it must have been fate that I met them because so many things had to fall into place for me to end up there...and they did.

I had my first dog rescue yesterday. I was walking along the street and I saw this poor dog with various wounds, limping tragically down the road...So I called Animal Aid Unlimited (the hospital) and they showed up with their ambulance in no time (along with the monkey and a injured buzzard). It was quite a scene, but it was so wonderful because this dog will be treated and he's going to be okay...it's wonderful that there are options like this. I mean, it's amazing that in India I can find treatment for this street dog. Now, if I could just find that dog with the huge gaping wound covered in maggots in Delhi that made me cry...I didn't know who to call there. I was helpless. But here in Udaipur I'm not. And in Jaipur, there is help in suffering. I await the day where in any city anywhere in the world there are solutions like this.

So anyway, Udaipur. A lovely town. Mornings have consisted of a nice pot of coffee and a book (reading lolita in tehran). The work day starts at 10 here, something I could get very used to. We've visited several NGOs already, but the main one we are here to see is tomorrow. It's hard to believe I head back to Delhi on Saturday and that I'll be in my own bed on Sunday night...this month has just flown by.

More soon, but it's bedtime for now.

Shubrati (goodnight).
Alicia

Rural Development

When I think back about my trip to India, I know Wednesday and Thursday will forever stay in my memories. We had the most incredible two days visiting rural development projects with Pratham and Gravis (two Indian NGOs).

Wednesday we visited various education projects with Pratham, an NGO that focuses on education projects such as informal education classes (preparing kids to enter the mainstream schooling system, literacy training, and libraries). We visited everything from tiny libraries, which were PACKED to the brim with kids, to a refugee settlement of roaming people, where Pratham had an informal education project.

As we walked up to that group tears were welling up in my eyes. I had a flashback of Uganda last summer when I went to visit informal schools in the rural areas funded by Save the Children. The poverty is overwhelming and I remember last summer not being able to contain my tears. It's a bit embarrassing to have tears streaming down your face when you are seeing something very positive (kids getting an education that would not have otherwise...often children live so far away from school the parents choose to keep them home working on the farm rather than sending them to school... so I managed to contain my tears this time rather than letting them overflow).

I'll try and upload some pictures so that you can see firsthand. No description would do the scene justice. These are incredibly poor people who travel around in search of work, sometimes staying in a place for 2-3 months. They contruct crude shelters with materials, plastic, cloth. It looks like a camp in essence. The kids are all wearing torn, dirty clothing and are caked with a layer of dirt and us.

Unfortunately, Cindy and I seem to scare small children. I don't think they see foreigners very often and my blonde hair often sets children off on crying fits. So, I try to keep my distance. The older children are intrigued and they like to shake my hand. Cindy and I sit in the back learning to form words and sounds in their local language. I'm going to have to admit the 4 and 5 years olds are far more advanced than we are so far. But I'm trying. All the kids seem very energetic and eager to learn. It was quite inspiring.

Another equally important part of the day was getting to know the staff at Pratham. It was great to meet people my own age that were working in development. It's hard to get to know people in the tourism industry or people on the street, if only due to the language barrier. But spending 10 hours with people, language barrier or not, you do get to know them better and it was a refreshing change.

Yesterday we visited health and rural development projects of Gravis. First we visited their hospital and got to witness surgeries for cataracts. I am now more convinced that ever that I made the right choice in not going to medical school. Watching the surgeries was amazing, but I never would be able to do something like that.

We moved on to a rural training compound and to some water projects. Rajasthan is a desert state and water shortages are always a problem. The monsoon season was terrible this year and the drought is worse than ever. Gravis has constructed man made ponds and contraptions to capture rain water for family use...so we went way out into the field and saw some of the completed projects. Again, the company and the projects made for a memorable experience.

On the way to the hospital, we stopped at a union for mineworkers and learned more about their work with the miners. Many women and children are in this industry and there are serious health and development issues, as you might imagine. We met a 13 year old girl that had been working in the minds since she was about 7 or 8 (when her father died of a mine related illness). She dropped out of school to do so and now she earns about 30 rupees (less than a dollar) a day working all day in the mines with her mom and her 15 year old sister.

It's stories like this that make your heart break and your mind search for solutions and answers. Gravis is one NGO that is tackling the problem by helping workers get compensation for illnesses, helping them organize and fight for better working conditions, and helping the children become educated. Gravis is supported by IDEX, idex.org, and NGO in San Francisco and FSD hopes to support them in the future.

While this has been an amazing trip ever since I arrived, these last two days have left an indelible impression on me. We are off to Udaipur tomorrow, my last stop in India. There we will visit several more NGOs and then decide where to base FSD's efforts in India.

On a side note, the last several days have been very sad for me, as I just found out a good friend in D.C. was diagnosed with cancer and will have to do chemo and radiation over the next many months. I hope you will join me in keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.

Alicia

RURAL LIFE IN JODPHUR

Cindy and I went to visit a rural community outside of Jodphur today. We visited a school that had about 350 students, with 8th grade as the highest level. The boys go on to another school after that, but the girls pretty much finish up there (those that made it that far). We saw a lot of kids on the street in the community that weren't in school at all.

The kids were very cute. We spent a bit of time with them and visited their classrooms. They seemed to be able to read and write well (which can be uncommon according to Pratham, an NGO that works in education). It is often the case kids make it through this level and are still not able to read.

We moved on by walking throughout the community..it certainly gave me a new view of india, away from the tourists and the bustle of city life. It was quite tranquil. We had spent the night at Mandore Guesthouse, which was a bit like an oasis in the desert. It was beautiful and peaceful. Surenda, the owner, invited us to dinner and his family made us one of my all time favorite indian meals...the food here is amazing.

So, we walked along and visited some homes of the people there. We were invited in and we sat with some of the locals and chatted a bit. Had some tea (of course). They also showed us the opium tradition--they mix opium (which is black by the way) by crushing it and putting it with water and then filtering it. Then they slurp up the water with the dissolved opium in it. Apparently it's pretty common, especially in the rural areas. I took some photos but skipped the opium!

It was a pleasant day all and all. We have visits with some more NGOs where we will also be going out into the field to see rural development projects both here in Jodhpur as well as Udaipur.

It's hard to believe my trip is more than half over and that I head back a week from Saturday...Since I don't know what I was really expecting, it's hard to say if I'm surprised by India. It's certainly as interesting as I was expecting and I am having a very good time. It's a bit exhausting with all the heat and dust, but all and all an enjoyable trip. I look forward to the next 10 days!

ELEPHANTS, ELEPHANTS

I want to tell you about my time with the elephants. I went back to help in suffering (see blog below) because they said I could accompany the elephant vet on his rounds. He visits the working elephants of rajasthan and treats the ones that are injured.

It was an incredible experience. All the elephants we saw worked in the tourism industry...most of them taking tourists up to see Amber fort. I don't think tourists realize that these elephants are captured in the wild, beaten and starved into submission, and chained contantly when not shuttling tourists up to the fort. Some of the elephant owners own 10 elephants...each elephant brings in about 1600 rupee a day, so 4500 rupee is about $100, so you can see with 10 elephants, we are talking about real money!

The elephants are not from this desert area, they are brought in from other states of India. It's incredibly sad to see a wild animal that is incredibly intelligent and emotional put in this situation. And yet, it's our fault. Tourists make this profitable. The parallel to the meat industry is equally horrible: if consumers did not demand meat, factory farming and all its abuses would cease to exist.

So, while help in suffering is doing a wonderful thing in treating the elephants, I think an equally important task is educating the tourists to NOT take elephant rides. The elephants I saw were in very bad shape. I won't go into the details, but let's just say it was really heartbreaking.

It's important to realize the ramifications of our own travels abroad. This is just one example of many that we are causing throughout our planet.

Help in Suffering

Cindy and I visited an animal rescue group just outside of Jaipur called Help in Suffering. We saw everything from camels to baby squirrels. They had cows, donkeys, horses, dogs, cats, birds, monkeys, rabbits, you name it. It's nice to see an organization working to lessen the suffering of animals here in India. The streets are full of skinny, sickly, and injured animals (and people...let's not forget the people). This group goes out into the city and traps dogs to spay and neuter them, as well as to provide treatment for anything from elephants to camels to horses and cows.

While the conditions were pretty basic, depressing almost, it's still a shining light in the world of suffering and it was inspiring to see their work and hear about their accomplishments. I'm quite certain either FSD or myself personally will definitely be getting involved in their work.

people, people everywhere....

well, there sure are a lot of people in india...today was a bit overwhelming.

first, my auto rickshaw guy decides he'd like to give me a foot massage on the stairs of some temple...then he brings me to a place where they make textiles. They showed me how they hand print the cloth, which was pretty cool, but then they brought me upstairs for some shopping...no thanks.

I walked around a bit but everyone hassles you. There are beggars everywhere too. Some boy with haunting eyes made me cave and I bought him some bananas...what can you do?

Finally I gave up and went to get a pedicure. I'm still trying to reconcile all of this in my head...

I'm reading Paul Krugman's "Pop Internationalism". Good book if you get a chance. I just finished in Defence of Globalization by Johan Norberg, from Sweden. Another book that makes you think. (I"m trying to decide on textbooks for next semester).

Bueno, ya me voy. Espero que todo este bien!

Knock on wood, healthy so far!

Hasta pronto,
Alicia

Namaste!

Greetings from India. Cindy and I arrived Monday night about 11 pm after a fun filled weekend in London.

I met up with Paula, from grad school, and we spent the weekend walking the streets and visiting various cafes throughout the city. We went to an exhibit on women travellers from the 1600-1900's. Their stories were really quite humbling...made my trip to India seem like no big deal.

But we are here and it's probably what I imagined it to be. It's hotter than I thought. We enjoyed a few days in Delhi. We stayed with Helzi and Sunyana, friends of Paula's. It was quite a cushy apartment in new Delhi. We visited some sites, did some christmas shopping, and tried to get over our jet lag.

Yesterday we came to Agra and visited the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. It really does look just like the pictures, only it' a bit smaller. But very impressive. Today I went to the Fatephur Sikri, the abandoned city...about 40K from here. Along the way I passed by these dancing bears. I had read about it from my animal rights sources before I left, but it was pretty horrific. They tie a rope through their nose and 'train' them to dance. Apparently it's very painful. There is some movement in the animal rights world to stop these abuses, but they obviously haven't been successful yet. It put quite a damper on my visit to the lost city.

Although cows are sacred here, you still see starving animals, abused animals, and animals working under dreadful conditions. It's quite depressing. It's equally depressing to see the desperation of these rickshaw drivers to get your business...this is the high season and there aren't a lot of tourists. It's a very poor city and work is not very easy to come by. It reminds me a lot of Arusha and Tanger (Morocco) with everyone hassling you every moment on the street.

I'm looking forward to losing myself a little more in Jaipur this weekend. We are planning on going to a bird sanctuary tomorrow and then taking the train to Jaipur. Jaipur is the first of three cities where we will be spending a week. We will be interviewing NGOs and people to figure out who we want to work with in India. Cindy will be staying on until next August.

The food is as good as everyone said it would be. Everything is amazingly cheap. The things you can buy here are just amazing...I wish I had four suitcases to bring home all these great things you can buy.

Well, that's about it from here for now. I'll have more news as our journey gets more underway in the coming weeks. Just wanted to let you know I survived London and my arrival to India.

Hope all is well!
A