I cannot believe how fast time has gone by here. It just seems like a week ago I was sitting in my room, nervously trying to figure out what to pack for this trip. But here I am, about four weeks later, attempting to end my last week here as graceful as possible. Just a head's up, this post is a little mash of everything that has been going on in this past week.
"It's all the same. Everywhere you go, it is going to be the same. People die in America too. People live in poverty there too" says head nurse, Hanife, volunteering at CanSupport in her retirement years. CanSupport is an NGO dedicated to palliative home care for patients living with cancer. During my time here, I visited about four patients a day with a doctor and nurses. Most of the families felt more comfortable speaking in Hindi, so I did not hear any of the conversations firsthand. However, this NGO really taught me about patient-physician interaction. There has to be some sort of mutual trust and respect, especially in palliative care.
It was really cool for me to see different Indian homes. One patient even lived in a slum, so we were able to go walk around there and see how the family lived. I am not going to lie, my first day at CanSupport was an emotionally rough day for me. I almost did not want to go back the second day but I needed a second look at what the NGO is all about. I am really happy I did.
That weekend I was able to experience the village life. My host family took me to go to their village, where I rode a camel, held a baby goat, was driven around by a bull, and hung out with cows! I loved every minute of it!
"It's all the same. Everywhere you go, it is going to be the same. People die in America too. People live in poverty there too" says head nurse, Hanife, volunteering at CanSupport in her retirement years. CanSupport is an NGO dedicated to palliative home care for patients living with cancer. During my time here, I visited about four patients a day with a doctor and nurses. Most of the families felt more comfortable speaking in Hindi, so I did not hear any of the conversations firsthand. However, this NGO really taught me about patient-physician interaction. There has to be some sort of mutual trust and respect, especially in palliative care.
It was really cool for me to see different Indian homes. One patient even lived in a slum, so we were able to go walk around there and see how the family lived. I am not going to lie, my first day at CanSupport was an emotionally rough day for me. I almost did not want to go back the second day but I needed a second look at what the NGO is all about. I am really happy I did.
We had some ice cream after my first day. I found it amusing that we did not even have to look out the car window to see the menu. The ice cream man brought it all right to us!
Once we had to get back to work at the college, I ventured to my final visit. The small, rural community of Narela is similar to how sixty perfect of India lives. The main areas of focus within these communities is educating the members, and making them aware of the free health programs the government has to offer. Through this visit, I feel like I finally started to grasp what it is like be a nurse in India. Patient education and motivation is key.
Finally taught the "Welcome to Nursing" lecture, hopefully I can get some pictures up soon. Tomorrow I am teaching a class to almost everyone in the college, on how to do a full head to toe exam in a systematic order. I spent the day prepping, so I am very excited for tomorrow!
Happy 66th year of independence to India today!
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