7/28 - Rural Rotation (Day 1)

After another round of early-morning yoga, it was time for the anticipated rural rotation. Located around 2 hours away from Pune's urban expanse, we would be staying at Dr. Dabak's rural house overnight while attending the rural governmental clinic for two days. Due to the nature of this trip I will talk about the hospital in the following post for better focus. 

Our home for 2 days.

A little bit of background history: According to Dr. Dabak, he along with some of his fellow coworkers owned a piece of this land. However, in the latter half of the 1900's a law enacted by the state of Maharashtra gave the farmland to those who worked on it: the farmers. Still feeling a personal attachment to the landscape and people, Dr. Dabak purchased a house for which he can come and visit from time to time with his wife. Today, the village primarily deals in the cultivation of rice and sugarcane.

Go Ducks.

After settling in we had a chat with Dr. Dabak over tea about India and healthcare. For the most part, the three of us shared what we have learned over the past few weeks and asked any questions that were raised over said course. The bulk of the conversation came down to what was considered to be the main issues with India and health: population control and sanitation. These problems go hand in hand: with the population of India geared to overtake China's population by 2022, there is a rapidly increasing need to improve cleanliness and medical resourcing to meet these density levels.

Dr. Dabak has been quite active in playing his part. One pressing issue in many of the rural sites in India is the lack of latrines. Without a controlled method of waste disposal, waterborne illnesses were extremely common in rural sites. Thus, Dr. Dabak helped fund the construction of 20 latrines throughout the neighboring villages to cut off avenues of infection. Unfortunately, today only about 2 are used as actual latrines. The others were reduced to simple storage shacks.

Milking a cow for the first time.

Not long after our educational talk I did something I have never done before: milked a cow. This opportunity was possible due to the hospitality of neighboring villagers. If anyone has seen people milking cows in TV shows or cartoons, do not be fooled; it is a lot more difficult and physically strenuous than it seems. Unfortunately, due to my dairy allergy I was unable to try the freshly-squeezed milk for myself. According to Daschel and Kim, it tasted naturally fresher and creamier than the milk bought at supermarkets.

Lunchtime by candlelight.

Back when I first arrived in India I was quite fearful of the idea that I would be there during the monsoon season. However, during the first few weeks besides some light rainfall not dissimilar from Oregon I soon disregarded that fact. Which, in hindsight was unfortunate when I packed for this short trip: when it rains in the farmland, it pours. Electricity going out in the village was a common occurrence, and our lunch of hot soup was eaten in almost total darkness. Despite the blackout, the miniature storm was an unforgettable experience.

Our new friend we met at midnight.

Our night was relatively restless. This was in part due to the numerous mosquitoes and spiders crawling about the walls and beds, our horrible teamwork in trying to capture a tiny gecko, and the insane urge to win a game of Uno.

Last day in the farmland tomorrow!