Day 22

Day 22
June 14, 2011
Today was a much better day than it was yesterday although a little depressing as well. The first depressing thing was planning out our final three weeks here. Three weeks is a fairly good amount of time, but with all the things we still want to accomplish it is going to go by so fast! I do not have the entire list in front of me to tell you exactly what the plans will be for the next few weeks, but tomorrow we plan on going to the shelter to learn more about the Anti-Human Trafficking Department. It will be great to see another issue that in a way goes hand in hand with the medical aspect. Every Thursday from here on out we hope to go out to the slums on the mobile clinic. I really enjoyed being able to do that a few weeks back. I can’t wait to go back and really be able to see the people who we worked with last time and to see if their condition has improved at all. Next week or the week after we plan to go up to another clinic and school to work with one of the health care workers. We want to go work with the slum ministry at least one last time to see a different area that is a combination of both Hindu and Muslim religion, and if that were not enough to do in our final weeks here we are both working on some research from our Rajasthan trip. My friend is doing an amazing job so far breaking down numbers, stats, and influences that are contributing to the situation in rural India. I am working on studying malnutrition in rural areas and what are the best steps to control this huge issue.
The doctor who has been by our side this entire trip is leaving tomorrow morning. I am being selfish when I say I really don’t want her to go back to England, but she really doesn’t want to go either. She has been working really hard on developing a successful clinic up in Rajasthan, but I know today has been really discouraging for her. She keeps being told from people that her clinic will never work in such a rural area. Her parents keep telling her that she is wasting her life and education by being in India. They would much prefer her to live in a mansion, get married, and have kids. I love her driven nature and unwillingness to compromise God’s plan for her life. She has had so many confirming signs that this is where the Lord has called her to be, and if you are in love with India as much as she is, there is no way that you should settle for other plans that people have laid out for you thinking that they know what is best. India would not be an easy place to live. She feels so much at home here loves the strange and unpredictable culture. So many things can happen in one day. So much pain, hurt, and sorrow, but a drive to change that and make a difference in this land is truly a gift. I just hope she knows that.
The kids from the trip to Rajasthan are still on my mind. Literally starving… After we left and the doctors stayed behind one more day to continue meeting with people they went to a government ran hospital. The conditions they explained were horrendous… they saw a half dead baby where they attempted CPR because the other nurses were sitting around without a care in the world. This sight obviously affected them. However more people I have talked to about the situation keep saying that the baby would have been better off dead anyways… who says that really! It’s so sad that this is just a normal reality. With the lack of oxygen the baby was receiving, it was very likely that a mental handicap would have been present later on in life, and if its caste were not already a curse… this could be far worse. Another reason the baby would be better off dead apparently was because of the lack of food. By the way… this is not coming from the doctors I work with, but the local people of this area… It’s depressing to think about and sad that this is just the truth of daily life. So please keep the people of this area in your prayers. At most a working man may make 60 rupees per day which translates into about $1.25 American dollars. Could you imagine living off of that… seriously count your blessings and think about the last time you complained about being hungry or not being able to get the coolest new gadget… I know I am so grateful although I still feel so bad for how spoiled I really am for having certain luxuries here that many don’t have.