Naipur

Today we went to a satellite clinic two hours south of Calcutta, in a village called Naipur. This is for patients who are stable and live at home, but need repeat prescriptions. I helped in the dispensary: a woman would work out how many drugs were needed for two weeks (the clinic runs every fortnight) and would ask us for the amounts, which we would collect and she would put in a paper bag with when to take them on the front. I was surprised that our work was never checked for the right amounts: she would have a cursory glance but that was all. Also, most patients were prescribed multivitamins as well, which came in a big pot. I would pick out individual tablets and put them in the bag. I was not wearing gloves or had washed my hands, but they didn't seem bothered! After that, we went for a walk by the Ganges.

The queue of people waitinhg for the clinic to open. This tiny hut was where the clinic was held: there was a tiolet, one room for the psychiatrists, one for the social worker and the dispensary, and a waiting room.

This is the room with the psychiatrists. They share a table and see two patients simultaneously. The door is also always open to the waiting room (on the left) - no privacy at all!

This is the ganges. When the Aussie volunteers got here, they showed the patients a photo of the beach in Australia. The patients were facinated at the colour of the sea - "It is blue. Is it really that colour?" Meg said, with some confusion, that of course the sea was blue, what colour did they think? White they replied. The sea is white. I can now see why they think that!

I saw a coconut, and had to have one.

Hospital overview

My room at the hospital. My bed in on the left, and Jane's is on the right. We have a bathroom across the hall.

This autorickshaw is about to pull over and pick up 6 of us for the 5 min journey into the nearest village. They officially hold 5 including the driver!

The view from my room...a grove of banana trees.

It has become hotter these last few days, and I have developed an incredibly itchy heat rash which I am constantly scratching, and taking four showers a day for light relief. Our room is sweltering at night - the hottest room in the building! - and I am finding it hard to sleep. I changed beds today to be more underneath the fan, so hopefully this will help!

I thought I would explain a bit about the hospital. It is set off the road in a really nice grove with coconut and banana trees everywhere. We saw a komodo dragon the other day wandering about! It was huge - I thought it was a crocodile. There are four men's wards (acute, sub acute, chemical dependency and a group home for patients who are stable but who do not have a family willing/able to look after them) and four women's wards with the same function. There is also a children's ward, a nurses block (where I'm staying) and an outpatient's department and pharmacy. although Antara subsidises drug costs, patients still have to pay a proportion of the cost, even for the drugs patients receive whilst in the hospital, which I assumed would be free! But alas, no NHS in India.

So far the patients have been mostly stable, and I have seen no distressing incidents! The nurses are very friendly and the patients well looked after.

Our role as volunteers mostly involves entertainment -  we organise activities such as art classes, films, games etc. The general day to day life can be very dull, as patients are not allowed to leave their wards, and so (I hope) offer relief and amusement. I have also been taking the opportunity to shadow as many professions as i can, and we sat in on a clinical Psychologist's assessment today, which was very interesting. The child has behavioural problems (he tried to set fire to the house, was restless, shouted at his parents etc) and they sent him to the psychiatrist to prescribe a drug, and then offered the family therapy.

The volunteers are going out for a meal tonight which should be good! My last meal out (which was like a kebab, but with curried egg and salad inside - sounds a bit grim but it was delicious!) cost 17p, so I am not breaking the bank at all!

I have now been at the hospital two days, and I have to say, I really like it out here! The hospital staff and other volunteers (5 people about my age from England/Australia) and patients are really lovely, and the room is basic but clean.

My first impression of India was definitely the noise. The roads are crazy: anything goes. I have seen cows on the road, crazier driving than Smoggle's overtaking in Scotland, and the horns blare All. The. Time. You know on your theory test, when you click when you see a hazard? It's like that but with horns. And you lean on the horn. And an empty road is a hazard. We were at a rail crossing today, and the barriers were down and an announcement was saying, please do not walk on the rails, a train is approaching. Anything and anyone who could fit under the barriers were strolling casually across the tracks, even when you could hear the train coming! And then the train passed, and there were people hanging out the open sided carriages. It was amazing, but also really scary. I tried to get a photo but it didn't come out.

The food is very basic: breakfast is bread and butter, lunch is rice and potato curry, and dinner is rice and chapatti and potato curry. Today was a treat: we had a piece of fish about the size of my thumb. I loved it.

The weather is not as hot as I was expecting - it is monsoon season, so it rains very hard  in 10 minute bursts about 4 times a day. Which means it is very humid (95% according to the psychiatrist!) but also a reasonable temperature: around 30 degrees. The only problem with this is that I brought a travel towel rather than a proper one with me, and those of you experienced in travel towels will know that it doesn't really dry you. Takes off most excess moisture, yes, but you need to air dry for a few minutes after. And when the air is full of water, it doesn't happen! So already I am excited for a proper towel again.

I was shadowing a psychiatrist today which was really interesting - some patients had travelled with their families for three days to get to the clinic. And three days to get home again. And some had been carried there: one guy with bipolar disorder has broken his foot when jumping off a wall when in a manic episode, and was carried to the hospital. You are allowed to sit in on much more here than in the UK, and also the family can admit the patient top the hospital without the patient's consent, which doesn't happen in the UK: you need to be admitted by a social worker and there is a lot of paperwork - here, they just say.

So all in all, a huge culture shock, but I am enjoying my time here so far! The hospital and the people are lovely, and I am learning a lot. I will be going with the psychiatrist on rounds of the wards tomorrow which should be good. I'd better go - the sides of the road are covered in mud and waste (yuck) and I stepped into them accidentally when a rickshaw came close, and now I need a shower.

Roz

Roz goes to India

So, it's been a while since this blog has been in action, but I thought I would resurrect it for my trip to India! After graduating this summer, I thought I would stave off the dreaded answer ("Um, well I'm looking for a job) when asked "So, what are you doing next?", with a month volunteering in India. I will be heading out on the 15th September to work for four weeks in an English NGO, which provides mental healthcare to those unable to pay extortionate Indian rates. I will be running activities for patients, such as painting, music, and physical games. I'll also shadow psychiatrists and nurses, and hopefully learn a lot!

I have had a lot of time to prepare for this trip, but I have accidentally left some things to the last minute...for example my visa. I now have less than three weeks before I go, which is not enough time to be sure that I get a postal visa. Furthermore, the Indian visa website really makes you work for each bit of information, but I managed to fill out a form, and settled on Monday to go to the consulate in Birmingham to get everything sorted. I was then talking to a friend, who told me that Birmingham didn't accept visa applications from Oxfordshire, which she had found out the hard way. I instead had to trek to London. I was very thankful I had found this out before I went to Brum! So, I am now toddling off to London on bank holiday Monday (Dad is worried that the consulate will be closed as it is a bank holiday, but again the website does not show opening times, only days which the consulate is closed, and as 27th August is not on the list, I am hoping it is in fact open).

The chore of a trip to the bright lights is cheered by the prospect of spending the afternoon with Claire, who after stouting claiming for three years that she hated London, has spent the summer living there with her fiancee. Hopefully the trip will be fruitful, and I shall be allowed into India in three weeks time!

Farewell!

I am writing this on our last day travelling! We are now in Singapore waiting to go to the airport this evening. I really like Singapore - despite being really expensive - as it is so multicultural and a proper big city. There is quite a big Indian population, and we've been out for Indian twice now, and both times it has been amazing. We also went to Sentosa island, basically a huge theme park, and saw the Merlion there. I also really like the MRT system (underground) it is soo clean - so much better than the London underground!!
We also said goodbye to the rest of our tour group yesterday - aome of whom have been with us since the start in Hanoi - which was sad. But now we are both looking forward to coming home, and: 1.cider, 2. ipod (nick), 3. computer (nick again!), 4. sausages (yep still nick) 5.own bed, 6.MORE CLOTHES!!! That was me. Had enough of living in 2 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 5 tops and 1 dress.

Dr Fish Spa

In Kuala Lumpur at the moment, capital of Malaysia. Yesterday we all went to a huge shopping centre - it had absolutely everything in it, including cinemas, a theme park and a fish spa!

Unfortunately the shopping wasn't very good, but I did enjoy myself at the fish spa - you stick your feet into this tank of little fish, and they nibble your feet! They take off all the dead skin and eat it. Very very ticklish.

Also, i found a cool bank.

Nick's bday/Trekking in the Cameron Highlands

Biggest flower in the world. Smells rank!!

In Malaysia now!! Last week of the tour, feeling excited about coming home at last!

This is the facebook link to Nick's bday photos - they're on facebook so those with an account can see them, and those without, unlucky! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=277493&id=539040301&saved#/photos.php?id=539040301

We are now in the Cameron Highlands in Malysia, 2000 ft above sea level, so it is cool up here!! Actually needed a jumper last night - 1st time since Sydney. We went out for Nick's birthday, and I got him a cake made with strawberry jam - strawberries are produced up here, along with tea. It said 'Essentially for Nick, love Tucan Travel' on it, because he says 'essentially' all the time and everyone takes the piss out of him for it.

Tiday we had a really good day, went in a jeep up into the jungle on a mud track - I swear we almost went over at one point - we were tipping a lot! But it was really fun, if a little scary. We then trekked up into the jungle to see this massive flower - the biggest in the world. We then came back down and went for a quick swim in an icy waterfall. Coming down was fun - it was really muddy and slippy so lots of people fell over. I didn't, thanks to my shoes!! I was behind Annalisa and Anthony, the Canadian couple who joined our group in Bangkok, and they didn't have great shoes, so they slipped a lot, and in the end Annalisa gave up and just slid down on her bum. Was amusing to watch!!

We then went to a tea plantation, and had the first English tea in ages. Snunning views as well. Tried to take a panaramic shot - dunno if it worked though. We walked along the tea as well - I tred a leaf. It didn't taste so good - the aftertaste was like really strong tea, but the actualy taste was pretty rough.

Then we went to a strawberry farm, and had gorgeous scones and strawberry jam and strawberry milkshakes!