Yesterday, Saturday, Nov 15 was the first day of field visits. But I should introduce myself. I am Gillian, the Communications Director at IDEX. This is my first trip to visit the work of IDEX's partners and I have been amazed at everything I've seen so far.
I need to be brief this morning as the connection is haphazard here and we also need to head off soon to see more of GRAVIS' work.
GRAVIS took us to see their hospital which serves the community within a 75km radius (a little under 50 miles). The hospital was founded in 2001 and since then is has expanded considerably, adding an eye care unit in 2005. This was critcal as cataracts are an issue for everyone here. Even young children get cataracts as a result of poor nutrition and the harsh glare of the sun.
From here we headed off to visit a woman community leader and see her small craft business that she has grown with the assistance of loans from her self-help-group (SHG). SHGs are the model used here build women's skills as they provide a venue for women to come to together and talk about their problems. This has not been traditional in Rajasthan. The women in the SHGs go on to learn a variety of skills that benefit themselves, their families and communities. They also save 50 rupees each month ($1) and the group can loan funds this to each other to start small business initiatives. We sat with the rest of her SHG asking questions and responding to their questions. We drew a large crowd of children wanting us to take their photos over and over again and squealing with delight as they then saw their images on the digital camera screens.
Taanka's (water storage devices that collect rain water) are also critical to women's empowerment as women spend many hours a day walking to collect water. I believe we are seeing more water storage methods today. But after seeing photos of taankas, reading and writing about them for several years it was a thrill to finally see one, and peer into the water below and discover lots of frogs! The communities introduce frogs to the taankas to ensure unwanted insects that could damage crops and bring disease are managed.
I hope to post more later, and maybe even photos if I can upload them on this connection. I arrived in Delhi 3 days ago. For now I’m traveling by myself. IDEX is hosting a donor tour of our partners in Rajasthan, India and I am the staff member fortunate enough to accompany them.
Despite flying from San Francisco for 24 hours, I wanted to get out and see the city. It was 7am after all and I couldn’t sleep for 24 hours!
Delhi was fun. It completely surpassed expectations, which to be honest weren’t very high. No-one seemed to have a good word for Delhi, or they’d pull a face and say it would be fine for a day. Congestion, pollution, poverty, and the warning to “be careful” came up a lot. All valid comments. It was also vibrant, rich in history, welcoming and I had an incredible few days there.
The hotel staff was very helpful and arranged a driver at no notice to take me on a tour of the city. Over the next few hours I saw Mahatma Gandhi’s Memorial, the Parliament buildings, India Gate, Lotus Temple, plus many others and my favorite: Humayun’s Tomb. While it was too much to truly appreciate in one day it gave me a good feel of the city and allowed me to get my bearings.
This past Sunday was perceived to be a special day that could bring good luck. 17,000 marriages took place in and around the city creating a traffic nightmare. To compound this, it was marathon day. Not really associating India with marathon running this had surprised me when I’d briefly flicked on the TV in my room. It has been going just since 2006 but it is already attracting big name marathoners and lots of locals running for fun. It also shut down a lot of roads, my driver was not amused!
Driving in India is not as bad as some countries. I could identify road rules for instance. And for the most part people obeyed red lights, stop signs etc. On the other hand cars cram in next to each other, mopeds weave in and out, auto-rickshaws putter along and pedestrians, for lack of anywhere else to go, walk in the street, joining the throng. Horns are tooting constantly, both to let other drivers know they are there as well as to demand you get of the way.
One of the more amusing incidents was on the way into Delhi from the airport. We were on a two lane freeway and the traffic ground to a halt. You would expect this to just be a traffic-jam that you need to wait patiently to get out of. Or you could spot that the oncoming traffic has two lanes, and they should share. Drivers shot over, into traffic and commandeered one of the lanes to continue their journey. This is exactly what my driver did, horns blaring.
At least there was safety in numbers.
I need to be brief this morning as the connection is haphazard here and we also need to head off soon to see more of GRAVIS' work.
GRAVIS took us to see their hospital which serves the community within a 75km radius (a little under 50 miles). The hospital was founded in 2001 and since then is has expanded considerably, adding an eye care unit in 2005. This was critcal as cataracts are an issue for everyone here. Even young children get cataracts as a result of poor nutrition and the harsh glare of the sun.
From here we headed off to visit a woman community leader and see her small craft business that she has grown with the assistance of loans from her self-help-group (SHG). SHGs are the model used here build women's skills as they provide a venue for women to come to together and talk about their problems. This has not been traditional in Rajasthan. The women in the SHGs go on to learn a variety of skills that benefit themselves, their families and communities. They also save 50 rupees each month ($1) and the group can loan funds this to each other to start small business initiatives. We sat with the rest of her SHG asking questions and responding to their questions. We drew a large crowd of children wanting us to take their photos over and over again and squealing with delight as they then saw their images on the digital camera screens.
Taanka's (water storage devices that collect rain water) are also critical to women's empowerment as women spend many hours a day walking to collect water. I believe we are seeing more water storage methods today. But after seeing photos of taankas, reading and writing about them for several years it was a thrill to finally see one, and peer into the water below and discover lots of frogs! The communities introduce frogs to the taankas to ensure unwanted insects that could damage crops and bring disease are managed.
I hope to post more later, and maybe even photos if I can upload them on this connection. I arrived in Delhi 3 days ago. For now I’m traveling by myself. IDEX is hosting a donor tour of our partners in Rajasthan, India and I am the staff member fortunate enough to accompany them.
Despite flying from San Francisco for 24 hours, I wanted to get out and see the city. It was 7am after all and I couldn’t sleep for 24 hours!
Delhi was fun. It completely surpassed expectations, which to be honest weren’t very high. No-one seemed to have a good word for Delhi, or they’d pull a face and say it would be fine for a day. Congestion, pollution, poverty, and the warning to “be careful” came up a lot. All valid comments. It was also vibrant, rich in history, welcoming and I had an incredible few days there.
The hotel staff was very helpful and arranged a driver at no notice to take me on a tour of the city. Over the next few hours I saw Mahatma Gandhi’s Memorial, the Parliament buildings, India Gate, Lotus Temple, plus many others and my favorite: Humayun’s Tomb. While it was too much to truly appreciate in one day it gave me a good feel of the city and allowed me to get my bearings.
This past Sunday was perceived to be a special day that could bring good luck. 17,000 marriages took place in and around the city creating a traffic nightmare. To compound this, it was marathon day. Not really associating India with marathon running this had surprised me when I’d briefly flicked on the TV in my room. It has been going just since 2006 but it is already attracting big name marathoners and lots of locals running for fun. It also shut down a lot of roads, my driver was not amused!
Driving in India is not as bad as some countries. I could identify road rules for instance. And for the most part people obeyed red lights, stop signs etc. On the other hand cars cram in next to each other, mopeds weave in and out, auto-rickshaws putter along and pedestrians, for lack of anywhere else to go, walk in the street, joining the throng. Horns are tooting constantly, both to let other drivers know they are there as well as to demand you get of the way.
One of the more amusing incidents was on the way into Delhi from the airport. We were on a two lane freeway and the traffic ground to a halt. You would expect this to just be a traffic-jam that you need to wait patiently to get out of. Or you could spot that the oncoming traffic has two lanes, and they should share. Drivers shot over, into traffic and commandeered one of the lanes to continue their journey. This is exactly what my driver did, horns blaring.
At least there was safety in numbers.
Labels: Delhi, Donor Tour, IDEX