My sister and I reached our 5 AM flight on time thanks to the graciousness of my Uncle and Aunt.  We walked out to the pickup area, and realized we had no way to contact our driver to Hemalkasa because our cell phone had no credit on it.  Relieved to know our trip was off to an auspicious start, I started a search of the airport premises looking for a pay phone of sorts.  My sister on the other hand, serendipitously met somebody she knew: Chanda Tai, a nurse from America my sister had previously worked with at Hemalkasa.  Chanda Tai took us to her driver who got us in contact with our driver.  On the close to 300 mile drive, our driver stopped twice to load the jeep with supplies and pick up four patients; which just goes to show, nothing is wasted at Hemalkasa, not even a ride from the airport.

Hemalkasa was a lot like I remember it.  There were some tweaks: four new leopards, WI-FI, a new guesthouse, Bruno the dog.  As a whole though, the complex looked a lot like it did in 2005.  On the journey, my sister had given me a little spiel on how things are done in Hemalkasa.  Plus this wasn’t my first rodeo in India.  So I knew what to expect regarding what life was going to be like. We put our stuff down in our room, and ventured over to the clinic to drop off the supplies we had brought with us and watch Dr. Dighant and Dr. Anagha Amte in action.

For those of us brought up in the health care system of America, the clinic at Hemalkasa may come as a shock.  In order to gain the trust of the patients, the doctors dress as casually as possible.  Despite the utmost attempts at sterility, the clinic does not seem as such (things like this are relative: many Americans require the super-sterile conditions in a hospital because a great deal of us are brought up in super-sterile environments).  And with the sheer number of patients in the waiting room, one just has to understand that the doctors are trying their hardest to fit everybody they can into their day.  Regardless of daunting task ahead of them, the doctors give every patient in front of them their due.  Nobody is barred from tests or medicine.  Nobody is pushed through quickly in an attempt to get through as many patients as possible.

My sister and I sat in a corner of the clinic for the afternoon; talking between each other trying to decipher the combination of Marathi and English medical acronyms.   The doctors took time out to show us interesting cases, or specific signs and symptoms that led them to their diagnosis.  When the clinic finally closed, Anagha and Dighant took us on a tour of the hospital and a bike ride of the surrounding forest and river.  I personally am not known for my loquacious nature, so I mostly listened to the three doctors (my sister, Anagha, and Dighant) talk doctor speak and enjoyed just being out in nature.  Aside from the road, much of the area surrounding Hemalkasa remains undeveloped, and it was a welcome escape from my normal San Diego routine.

Bedroom at Hemalkasa: The hat was made by students from the school

Bruno was tired

Drs. Dighant (seated in white on the left) and Anagha (seating in red on the right) at work in the clinic

Patients in the waiting room. 

Boy smiles at the camera.  He was admitted for plastic surgery to treat his burn scars and fused skin between his arm and abdomen.

The first termite mound I have seen in the wild

The confluence of three rivers: the Indravati, the Pearl Kota, and the Pamul Gautami

January 6, 2013

Rajkot, India

Eyewitness Report by Bhupen Mehta for the

Indians for Collective Action (ICA) donors

Prepared on Feb 20, 2013

ICA has been co-sponsoring Jaipur Foot (JF) camp in Rajkot for last six years with local support and excellent help provided by Shri Naginbhai Jagada and the volunteers from the local chapter of Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP). The January 6, 2013 camp was meticulously organized by the local teams of devoted youth and untiring adult volunteers under the leadership of Shri Naginbhai. We were very fortunate to witness and participate in this camp for the very first time in Rajkot on Sunday, January 6, 2013.

The entire camp was funded by several donors from USA who sent their donations through ICA. The other major donors were Arpan Foundation (Jagada family) from Rajkot, Shri Pravinbhai Shimankar from Texas and Shri Bhaskarbhai Devjibhai from Bahrain. The total expenses for this 2013 camp were about 5,00,000 Indian Rupees or about US$ 10,000. The preparations for the camp started in October 2012 by advertising in several local newspapers and by sending out many posters and flyers in all of the villages and towns surrounding Rajkot. This advertisement invited applications from the handicapped persons with a proof of income, doctor’s certificate of disability, ration card for identity and a photo. These applications were screened by BVP volunteers. They selected about 120 individuals to come to Rajkot on December 23, 2012 for one day for measuring the size of prosthetics and for determining the need for tricycles, wheel chairs and other mobility devices. These persons were not able to pay for one day trip to Rajkot and were given cost of round trip transportation to Rajkot and food on December 23. They were all diagnosed for the extent of disability and measured for required prosthetics and other mobility devices. A team of Jaipur Foot technicians and experts came to Rajkot from Ahmedabad and performed these diagnosis and measurements on December 23. They selected 110 persons for receiving such devices at no cost on January 6, 2013. During this measurement phase, about 10 persons were diagnosed to need more extensive treatment and were referred to the Jairpur Foot center in Ahmedabad.

On Sunday, January 6, 2013, the amazing teams of youth and adult BVP volunteers came early in the morning to prepare the camp site with wheel chairs, tricycles and all of the prosthetics. The Jaipur Foot technicians set up their fitting clinic on site. The BVP volunteers set up the check in and documentation process to verify the registered candidates as they arrived at the site. Other volunteers organized for food and drinks for about 500 attendees and guests. The 101 handicapped persons of all ages from very young children to very old men and women with all kinds and degree of disabilities barely struggled into the camp. Many of them were helped by their friends and family members to come to the site. There were some extremely handicapped candidates who had lost both feet and hands and were literally lifted in and out of the vehicle they came in to attend the camp. Some polio patients literally dragged their bodies on the bare ground to enter the site. Many of the persons had lost their limbs either in accidents or were amputed due to diabetic conditions. Some had lost their mobility due to polio attacks in their early childhood. Each of these people was given a Jaipur Foot, arm or caliper so that they were able to walk on their own feet. The ones who got the arm were now able to use cell phones, drink cup of tea and shake hands with the newly acquired arm. Every one of them had come to the camp with their eyes and faces filled with a huge hope. At end of the day, each one of them walked out with a big smile for becoming mobile and independent person on Sunday, January 6, 2013.

This camp was the true realization of Gandhiji’s statement “Best way to find your self is to lose yourself in the service of others”. Every volunteer was fully engrossed in helping someone. There were 65 people who were not able to walk and were not the candidates for artificial Jaipur Foot. Each of them was given a tricycle which they can move with their hands. They drove away in their own tricycle with a big smile of happiness on their face. Some of these people are now able to earn their living due to the new mobility in their life. The Manav Sadhana organization in the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad donated 30 wheel chairs which were assembled in Rajkot for this camp. These wheel chairs were given to those who had no means of moving around. They were now able to go to various places in their neighborhood with the help of wheel chairs.

In addition to these mobility help, this camp also offered scholarships to very bright and very poor students though another ICA initiated program called Foundation for Excellence (FFE). Twenty one selected students received FFE scholarships to complete their medical and engineering college education. The Arpan Foundation also provided 215 grocery kits, foot wear, saris to prequalified women and few sewing machines to widows who can earn their own living by making and selling dresses. This camp was successful mostly because of the sincere volunteers and donors who gave their minds (MAN), bodies (TAN) and wealth (DHAN) to serve the poorest of the poor. This camp was manifestation of what many of the teachings by the Indian saints “The service of human kind is the only means by which you can serve God”. We were just very lucky to be present and be a small part of this amazing experience.

The camp was attended by several local dignitaries, leaders and several invited guests such as the Agriculture Minister of Gujarat (Shri Govindbhai Patel), Mayor of Rajkot (Shri Janakbhai Kotak), BVP President (Shri Prafulbhai Goswami), leading industrialist (Shri Paratpbhai Patel), businessman (Shri Chandubhai Shah), news column writer (Shri Vinoobhai Jagada), LIFE blood bank chairman (Shri Chandrakant Koticha), NRI donor (Shri Pravinbahi Shimankar), ICA executive (Shri Bhupen Mehta) etc.

A documentary was prepared for this event. You can see the preliminary draft version of this documentary at the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doHb06_a-jk&feature=youtu.be

I need to start with a little bit of structure before diving into our trip. I am a firm believer that every story deserves a background, in order to give the reader some sort of context when understanding the story. So I wanted to make this first blog post an introduction about where we were going, who I am, and a little bit about my pre-travel idiocracy.

Lok Biradari Prakalp was founded in 1973 by the Indian social worker Baba Amte at Hemalkasa, India.  It is a three-part NGO, dedicated to the poor and tribal people within the forests and villages in walking distance.  Walking distance really means how far a person can walk; Lok Biradari Prakalp hosts a hospital that sees hundreds of patients a day.  Dr Prakash Amte, son of Baba Amte, runs the hospital.  The story of his struggles in making Lok Biradari Prakalp is documented in the book Pathways to Light: a book I wish I had read prior to embarking on the trip.  His son and daughter in law: Drs Dighant and Anagha Amte, are the current primary doctors on site.  Although both are capable of minor surgeries, many patients need much more attention than they can give.  In full irony, many of these patients also cannot afford that attention at a private or state run hospital.  So once a year, the Nagpur Rotary Club buses in around 30-40 surgeons, anesthesiologists, ophthalmologists, and medical residents for two days of surgery.  This year, the doctors completed close to 230 surgeries total in the two days.

My name is Hans Desale, and I am a scientist at a San Diego based drug discovery company: Receptos.  I work in the biology department.  After three years, I can honestly say I feel comfortable with a pipette or a needle in my hands.  I’d also accrued quite a bit of vacation time, and was looking for a place to use them.  My sister is in her last year of medical school, and was going to use her last bit of free time for her fourth trip to volunteer with the Hemalkasa Surgery Camp.  The stars aligned, and I decided to tag along.  It was a good thing she was there because I found myself in a world I was completely unprepared for.

I made my flight to India as unenjoyable as possible.  Although I was leaving early New Years Day, I had made the foolhardy decision to revel in New Years Eve merrymaking with some friends the night before. This led to the ire of my fellow passengers, when I proceeded to release the contents of my stomach into an airsickness bag while flying in turbulence over the Pacific Ocean.  Upon landing in India, I was very careful not to draw any more attention than necessary.  For the contents of my bags included among the usual clothing and gifts, needles, syringes, and scalpel blades Receptos had donated for their use at Hemalkasa.  Not wanting to be mistaken for a drug smuggler or member of an international crime syndicate, I proceeded through customs speaking in as much Marathi as I could and avoiding having to explain what I was carrying.

My sister and I spent a lot of the two days we spent in Pune with family trying to plan our trip to Hemalkasa.  We bought our largely overpriced plane tickets to and from Nagpur at the last minute.  Panicked for a bit, for we could not get in contact with Anagha to plan a ride from Nagpur. And had a last minute packing exhibition because our supplies outweighed the domestic limits of India.  In the end, we had booked a 5AM flight from Pune to Nagpur.  But were still completely dependant on the efforts of others to get us to Hemalkasa.

Map of Maharashtra, India: Hemalkasa in lower right corner

Forests in the surrounding area of Hemalkasa.  It’s hard to imagine what life was like when Lok Biradari Prakalp first started…

My sister Meghana, demonstrating the photogenic gene that runs in my family

Outside of the Lok Biradari Prakalp medical facility, only a portion shown

Portion of the Lok Biradari Prakalp Animal Orphanage

Portion of the school on site at Lok Biradari Prakalp

InSPIRE 2013 Summer Youth Program … It’s on!

InSPIRE 2013 Youth Summer Program | on behalf of Indians for Collective Action

Dear Friends, What are some of the youth you know doing this summer? How about something meaningful in India?

InSPIRE – Indian Summer Program Inspiring Reflective Exploration

QUESTION your assumptions.

EXPLORE your values.

CONNECT to your roots.

RELATE to humanity.

LIVE what you believe.

InSPIRE Yourself.

Spread the word to a young person you know … you could introduce them to an opportunity that changes their life!

Applications due March 18. Download yours at http://www.inspire-now.org

What is InSPIRE?

InSPIRE is a 5-week long summer program in India for South Asians between the ages of 18 and 26, who are genuinely interested in exploring themselves in India.

(Age exceptions considered. Inquire within.)

It is a travel, study-abroad, volunteer, self-discovery and immersion program all rolled into one!

2013 Program Dates: June 28 to August 4

For more information, email us at info@inspire-now.org http://www.inspire-now.org/college. The InSPIRE Experience Looking deeper at India. Looking deeper at yourself.

New to InSPIRE? Watch our Video! http://www.inspire-now.org/college/media

Application Deadline

Applications due March 18.

Download - http://www.inspire-now/college/apply yours today.

Indians for Collective Action, registered 501(c)3 | 3838 Mumford Place, Palo Alto, CA| admin@icaprojects.org – “ica@icaonline.org”

Indians for Collective Action 3838 Mumford Place Palo Alto, California 92306 US

• Posted by Sailesh Rao on May 31, 2012 at 11:30pm
• From Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India:

I started and finished my cricket career this weekend. It all started when I played a game of street cricket with some kids down the street from my office. Apparently word got out that I was the next Sanchin Tandulkar (just kidding… I am terrible), because when my friends and I went to the cricket grounds on Sunday, I was asked to give a speech and present a trophy to the local cricket team. What an experience.

Later in the day on Sunday we visited Gandhi Ashram (Sabarmati Ashram). He was born in Gujarat and began his social change movement, specifically the Salt Satyagraha, from Ahmedabad. What a peaceful place. On my first trip to India, I visited Gandhi’s resting place in New Delhi. It has been a fantastic experience to learn about such a great human being.

Reflections

Dr. P K Mehta

Dear Hetal and Unmesh

Most social gatherings do not leave any lasting impact on mind. Only once in a while we come across some one like Sailesh Rao who does not hesitate to take the listeners through all ups and downs of his adventurous journey in life. We build a closely knit community only when we have opportunities to learn from each others experiences rather than depending on our selfish pursuits. Thanks dear Unmesh and Hetal for offering your home and your generous hospitality to the community. I am deeply grateful to you for going out of the way to provide even transportation for enabling me to attend the wonderful talk given by Sailesh. Love and blessings

Kumar Mehta

Prakash Hegde

Dear Unmesh-bhai -

Thank you, Hetalji & the ICA family for your beautiful efforts with hosting amazing works of people like Dr Shailesh Rao, Pavi and all those others inspiring people lined up.

I was deeply moved by both these events, as a gift-forward, in whatever small way we can, I have vowed to step up our giving by starting our day with an act of giving, for instance will be giving a bag full of hand picked oranges from a neighborhood tree to as many strangers as possible today. Thank you all for igniting this intention within me. Love to see what emerges from these experiments & looking forward to sharing some stories that unfold from these.

Another ripple that emerged right in your home-space last night – I was having a deep conversation with the speaker last night (Dr Rao) & thanking him profusely for being who he is & his work through ClimateHealers et. In very short deep connection in just few mins, he accepted my kind invite to share his message (which I feel is absolute need of this critical time to accelerate the change from the patterns of excessive consumption) with our community (especially in our Community Garden groups of about 270+ families engaged in grass-roots change making). He was very happy to connect with this group, he suggested we can get his contacts from you, can you please share his telephone & email, so I can connect asap (since he requested to do so asap because of his upcoming move away from SF Bay to Pheonix and other schedules). Appreciate your help.

Will share reflections from last night’s talk in our blog (here you can see reflections from the community in response to the “Infinite Vision” & other such events) –
http://livewellcookwell.weebly.com/om-blog.html

Thank you again. Please give our love & respect to Hetalji & family too.

Gratitude & Smiles
LiveWell

Rahul Brown

Dear Unmeshbhai & Hetal ben,

I was so joyful to see this intention of yours to host CF Wednesday-like gatherings in action. Thank you for creating that space, for the delicious food, and all the loving effort that went into making it come together. Was especially wonderful to see Suhani serve and be a part of the evening!

Not sure if you read, but there was a beautiful act of kindness that came together for Wednesdays in Santa Clara recently. I think you’ll like the video too:
http://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=10875

warmly,
Rahul

We need to make sure that we have a good product, but also recognize that the product will have problems outside of the laboratory. Field conditions will provide constant stress on the product, so we need to develop a dynamic process to address those problems. This will be done in the form of a written manual and training for a few members. This allows for repairs to be done locally. If problems cannot be resolved locally, it will go back to SEWA and the design will be changed to ensure a better product.

Anurag has proposed a distribution model that has partial assembly at the regional level. This will give SEWA members a sense of ownership and investment in the product because they feel like they built it themselves. It may also help to push down the cost at a marginal level. Assembly needs to be fairly simplistic (probably just screwing the external components together), but even a low amount of complexity will provide some capacity for minor maintenance. Being able to see the internal components may provide owners with a better understanding of their machine, allowing them to use it more effectively.

April 21 – 25

I have spent the last four days exploring the city with my friends and developing Quality Assurance procedures. On Sunday Munish, Altaff, and myself went on a tour of the city, visiting the market, recreational areas, and shops along C.G. Road. We had a great time. On another excursion, Danesh, Chandra, and myself visited some street shops and got panipuri, a street food that was a little surprising. For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to try panipuri, it is a round, hollow puri, fried crisp filled with a mixture of water, tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. It is small enough to fit completely in one’s mouth (quite a feat).
My first project is to revamp the process documentation of the Hariyali program. I am to address the overall outcome/strength of the initiative, highlight the unique selling proposition, highlight testing data and capacity building opportunities, cover distribution and monitoring, and elaborate on how this model can be used internationally. My workday is usually about 8 hours and is spent developing the process documents, finishing course work for the classes I am missing at Antioch, maintaining this journal, and interacting with other interns and SEWA operatives. I am impressed by the democratic nature of the organization. It seems as though most decisions are made by consensus, and although the director is male, the majority of the action steps appear to be taken by members.

I’m not sure how four days have passed.  One was lost to United Airlines, who lost my luggage, my connecting flight, and my sanity.  One was lost to the Lansdowne Hotel, an illustrious tribute to white privilege and expensive breakfast.  One was lost to the time zones, the black holes of that fourth dimension. The fourth, however, is difficult to place.  Maybe it was spent in sleep, dreaming of the adventure to come.  Or in anger, writing to airline customer service representatives that did not exist.  Or perhaps in retrospect, thinking about the things I left behind.  Either way, four days have passed and I have yet to lay eyes on my objective.  My initial anxiety and apprehension are gone, as are my elation and excitement with the unknown.  Now I am here.  It is hot, of that I am sure.  The people speak a language that I do not understand.  The streets are chaotic and the air is unappealing, yet I am not uncomfortable.  I have arrived and that is all that matters.

April 18 continued…

Tonight I had my first Indian dinner at the bungalow.  I made several Indian friends (Danesh, Mohmudd, Munish, etc.), all about the same age as myself.  They told me they were there to participate in a workshop that would prepare them for their careers in pharmaceutical sales.  They were from all over the country.  One was from Kashmir, one from Hyderabad, and the other three were from cities I did not recognize.  Two were Muslim, but the majority of them were Hindu.  They were fun and engaging.  They spoke broken English and were very interested in American culture.  We shared stories, them of their homes and me of mine.  They were especially interested in American cuisine, so I shared my peanut butter with them and told them about Chicago style pizza.

April 19

Last night, I met with Anurag Bhatnagar.  He is the conduit from which SEWA operatives get their energy and direction. On departure, my understanding of the project was that I would be working on the Hariyali Green Energy Initiative of SEWA through which efficient cook stoves and solar lights are to be deployed to members. I was expecting to address the following questions:

1) How do we insure the quality and reliability of the products over time?

2) How do we contain the costs of the products over time?

3) How do we ensure the interoperability of the parts sourced from multiple manufacturers?

4) How should we deal with any carbon credit or other benefits that may accrue to the members?

5) How should we handle returns, repairs and other maintenance issues?

6) What should the terms of the financial lease be in order to ensure its viability over time?

Anurag has informed me that I will be working primarily on Quality Assurance for the Hiryali program.

It is envisioned that the SEWA Hariyali Energy solution will have several components:

1) a solar panel to capture solar energy

2) a battery to store the captured solar energy

3) a lantern for indoor use

4) a torch-light with rechargeable batteries for outdoor use

5) a mobile charging outlet

6) an efficient cook stove

Today we leave for a “not so poor” village near Mehsana to experience how our cookstoves and flashlights are used on the front lines.  Anurag says that he is concerned that the chargers for the cookstoves have been burning out.  He also feels that the durability of the solar lights may become an issue.

On our way to the village, we stopped to visit with SEWA members in a nearby town.  The women discussed potential problems with the cooker.  As expected, cost was the prohibitive factor. We took two of the women with us to the village to demonstrate the product.

The village had approximately 300 homes, 200 of which were members of SEWA.  At the presentation, the women did most of the talking, discussing the advantages of the stove, which uses gasification to burn a small amount of biomass very efficiently.  The stove needs some electricity to power the small fan required for gasification.  This energy can come from the grid (Gujarat has great electricity infrastructure, even in the villages), batteries, or a solar panel.  We also showed the solar light, which can be used as a lamp or a torch.  It is charged with a solar panel or from the grid.

It is a difficult concept for many people to grasp that paying for a solar cooker is better than paying nothing for firewood.  The health and environmental benefits are not recognized right away. Also, cooking with firewood provides food with a certain flavor that electric stoves cannot replicate.  The men of the village are the ultimate decision makers and if their food does not have a smoky taste, it will influence their decision. We feel that this factor gives our product a competitive advantage over electric stoves.

April 20, 2012

Today I went to SEWA at about 10am and observed a meeting between Anurag and two engineers.  The engineers were showing him their prototype for an energy storage device that would be used in conjunction with the solar panel to charge mobile phones, lights, and cookstoves.  The device was composed of a 12-volt battery designed to reduce ghost energy loss.  It weighed about 3.5 kilograms and could store and deliver a significant amount of direct current.  They also brought a new and improved torch LED flashlight that could deliver up to 4 hours of light.  Anurag told them his “regional partial-assembly” idea, and they said they would try to develop a prototype that fit those specifications.

Later in the day, I attended a large meeting of SEWA coordinators.  This meeting was in Gujarati, but a young woman translated for me.  The primary areas addressed in the meeting were marketing and technical issues.  The marketing part of the meeting looked at how coordinators could encourage member involvement in Hariyali.  All of the members said that the cost of the cookstoves was prohibitive.  They also said that the market for the solar flashlights was much larger than that of the stoves.  They provided a variety of explanations for this, but the primary issue was that villagers considered their three stone, or chulla, cookstove to be a free asset and recognized the Hariyali stove as an unnecessary expense.  They were encouraged to continue advocating for the stove and to approach it in a different way.  They were told to frame the time saved from having to cut less wood and the extra work time at night, due to the solar lights, as extra income.  This extra work time would add up to significant extra income and would pay for the stove in a relatively short amount of time.  Then the coordinators were to address the health and environmental benefits of the stove.