and I suddenly find myself alone in an office with the day's work done and decent internet access. Happiness is all about the simple things.
***I'm feeling much much better.*** The fevers are laying low. Yay, hemoglobins! And white blood cells. And other such medical stuff that I pretend to know. :)
So, I left my the Rural design school to help with the Tsunami work. For the next two weeks I am in the villages of Tamil Nadu (south Indian coast) coordinating the efforts between the govt, NGOs, international organizations, funders etc. It's an effort to ensure that all of these organizations are communicating on a common platform to avoid duplication, fill voids and maximize resources.
Went through trauma counseling training in Ahmedabad and spent a few days in Auroville to organize the network. Auroville is a pretty quirky/strange/uber-interesting place. The highlight, however, was that (b/c everything else was booked) 14 of us stayed in this architectually stunning 3 floor art gallery. Amazing sculptures, pottery, textiles, ... I'd walk past the charcoals (in my socks & pj's) before going to bed, have meetings in the sculpture room, and sleep in the room with paintings as tall as I am.... it was almost too extremely perfect. Almost like a prep to make me super happy before going into the emotionally draining work that I was getting myself into.
It's been a month since the tsunamis hit; the relief efforts are wrapping up and the long term rehabilitation phase is now being kick started. The devastation to the area is truly upsetting. Every time I stand next to the ocean I get the chills... which is really odd; being comfortable in/with water has always been my element. Most of the debri has been cleared away but the damage is still everywhere. I've heard a lot of survivor stories and during every one I have to remind myself that it actually happened. An earthquake under the ocean. A wall of water. Houses/boats/people getting washed away. What?!?
Indonesia actually had another earthquake hit (a 6.2) which apparently didn't get much news coverage (here anyway). Who sets the priorities with the news coverage??? They should be run out of town.
_________________________________________________
A PUBLIC NOTICE:
To anyone and everyone that helped make that Xmas DVD for me--> you guys ROCK. It was the most amazing Christmas present EVAH and made me so very extremely happy. I was up til 2am laughing and feeling really loved. THANK YOU!!!
_________________________________________________
And last but certainly not least, my granddad came to India last week. He had some work to do and I convinced him to come visit my project site. He agreed. He came. He's 80! But he trekked out (An overnight bus, transfer to a two hour bus, transfer to a local taxi/pickup truck to the desert). He stayed for three days and had a blast. (Man, if *only* I could post up those pictures!) Also, the man is an amazing role model.
He in the month he was in India he:
1. visited my village
2. collected 100,000 books to start a children's library for orphans
3. restarted the Red Cross radiology department (named after my grandmother)
4. donated the money to build a room at a college hostel/medical clinic in Ahmedabad
AND
5. he still had time to remodel his bathroom.
In a month! The man is 80. He is exactly the 80 yr old man I strive to be one day. (???) You know what I mean. :)
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Sunday, January 23, 2005
quick note
next two weeks I am on the south coast of india helping with the relief and rehabilitation efforts. I am staying safe. Will be back Feb 7th. Much love.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Wha?
Serious? Like seriously sick?
This computer sucks... I can't print this comment on the last post or open the article given.... What if I don't treat it? What's the worst that'll happen? I've already taken too many courses of pills. And *who* is Figment?? I'm assuming it's a play off of 'a figment of my imagination'.. yet I am not about to take medical advice from my imagination or any figments thereof.
Bleh. I'm sad and angry. Sad b/c I don't want to be sick. Angry b/c of all the apparent misdiagnosi I've received thus far. If it's reendemic or whatever, I'll get it again anyway right? How am I supposed to treat the entire region? EVERYONE has the same symptoms. Bleh squared. Rups is so frustrated that she is speaking in the third.
Jennaiya, Sanj, if you're out there, please let me know what you think.
(so, yeah, it's been great. i'm ready to come home now.)
on another note, one of my especially cheesy journal entries is up on the Indicorps site. I'm playing w/ short stories... let me know what you think (even if you completely hate it and think that the malaria should just finish the job.)
much love,
sicko rups
This computer sucks... I can't print this comment on the last post or open the article given.... What if I don't treat it? What's the worst that'll happen? I've already taken too many courses of pills. And *who* is Figment?? I'm assuming it's a play off of 'a figment of my imagination'.. yet I am not about to take medical advice from my imagination or any figments thereof.
Bleh. I'm sad and angry. Sad b/c I don't want to be sick. Angry b/c of all the apparent misdiagnosi I've received thus far. If it's reendemic or whatever, I'll get it again anyway right? How am I supposed to treat the entire region? EVERYONE has the same symptoms. Bleh squared. Rups is so frustrated that she is speaking in the third.
Jennaiya, Sanj, if you're out there, please let me know what you think.
(so, yeah, it's been great. i'm ready to come home now.)
on another note, one of my especially cheesy journal entries is up on the Indicorps site. I'm playing w/ short stories... let me know what you think (even if you completely hate it and think that the malaria should just finish the job.)
much love,
sicko rups
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
World Affairs, Ketchup, and Holidays
First and foremost, I am far enough inland and completely ok. With that being said, I am close enough to the coast to have felt the *crazy* winds the day the tsunamis hit. No one knew what was going on... (only 3 people in town have a TV.) As soon as the aftershock threats die down and it is safe to go to the South Indian coast, I'm planning on going down there to do what I can in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. I don't have enough time at the computer today to respond to all the concerned emails I got, but I assure you I am safe, grateful, and figuring out a way to help at the ground level. There also seems to be some confusion with my ph #. From the states, you dial 011-91-2803-266-048. 10 and 1/2 hours forward from Chicago time.
Fozia, I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with you. You were out of coastline area by the time this all went down right??? Please let me know that you're ok.
The area that I live in was hit by the earthquake measuring 7.9 in 2001. They know the devastation natural disasters cause quite personally and so most of them are donating whatever they can, even those most have very little to give. It's nice to see an effort so beautiful among such a tragedy.
So many things unfolded all at once. I haven't kept up w/ this mofo. And so, it's backtracking time...
Happy New Year!!! 2005. Eeeeeep!
And, of course, an extremely belated Merry Christmas.
Quite officially, my 1st set of holidays away from people I love. But, traditions were replaced by some insane misadventures...
Xmas Eve (daytime) was spent purchasing supplies in big city Bhuj to build a community space/ verandah in the middle I live in. The actual evening, I spent under an almost full moon riding on *top of* the pyramid of wooden logs, bundles of hay, cement bags and the rest of the supplies we bought in an open top truck.
The award for funniest moment goes to ... the desert winds were super super cold so all of us huddled together ...until we found a bag of old women's clothes that we used to keep warm. This ended with a lot of tough desert men wearing women's clothing out of necessity. Hilarious!
The award for coolest part? One of my goals in coming to India was to ride atop a truck, which usually would never happen b/c men here put women's safety first and reorganize seating if necessary so I sit inside. This time I got a say in the matter b/c it was me renting the truck. No one tell Indicorps about this one!
Xmas day was spent working. The night however, we hitched a ride to a late night festival atop the temple on Black Mountain with the electrical company guys. Ate dinner with the gurus (priests), and listened to kutchi folk singers belt out the most soulful music I've heard in a long while. The moon was full and super brilliant, making the desert glow... and the view from the mountain is amazing. From up there, you can see the white salt desert, the Indo Pak border (India Bridge), and our little village.
New Years Eve, our fuse box burned out so we had no lights. I made my NY's Resolutions by candlelight under the stars. An extremely beautiful moment that I'm sad no one was there to share with me. (Everyone I love felt incredibly far away come midnight.)
Now, some business. Does anyone know why India agreed to sign the WTO product patent act that went into effect Jan 1? I don't know the history but it doesn't seem like a very good idea. It sounds like it'll ravage the already sparse medical treatments and make a lot of prescription drugs inaccessible to a big majority of the population. How does this benefit the country?
The really bad fever came back last night. Like scary bad. The strain found in the first blood test was Falciparum. The second blood test found residual strains that started with an 's' but I don't have the report w/ me. Can someone please tell me what the Dr.'s here should be prescribing so I can get better? Please?
Fozia, I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with you. You were out of coastline area by the time this all went down right??? Please let me know that you're ok.
The area that I live in was hit by the earthquake measuring 7.9 in 2001. They know the devastation natural disasters cause quite personally and so most of them are donating whatever they can, even those most have very little to give. It's nice to see an effort so beautiful among such a tragedy.
So many things unfolded all at once. I haven't kept up w/ this mofo. And so, it's backtracking time...
Happy New Year!!! 2005. Eeeeeep!
And, of course, an extremely belated Merry Christmas.
Quite officially, my 1st set of holidays away from people I love. But, traditions were replaced by some insane misadventures...
Xmas Eve (daytime) was spent purchasing supplies in big city Bhuj to build a community space/ verandah in the middle I live in. The actual evening, I spent under an almost full moon riding on *top of* the pyramid of wooden logs, bundles of hay, cement bags and the rest of the supplies we bought in an open top truck.
The award for funniest moment goes to ... the desert winds were super super cold so all of us huddled together ...until we found a bag of old women's clothes that we used to keep warm. This ended with a lot of tough desert men wearing women's clothing out of necessity. Hilarious!
The award for coolest part? One of my goals in coming to India was to ride atop a truck, which usually would never happen b/c men here put women's safety first and reorganize seating if necessary so I sit inside. This time I got a say in the matter b/c it was me renting the truck. No one tell Indicorps about this one!
Xmas day was spent working. The night however, we hitched a ride to a late night festival atop the temple on Black Mountain with the electrical company guys. Ate dinner with the gurus (priests), and listened to kutchi folk singers belt out the most soulful music I've heard in a long while. The moon was full and super brilliant, making the desert glow... and the view from the mountain is amazing. From up there, you can see the white salt desert, the Indo Pak border (India Bridge), and our little village.
New Years Eve, our fuse box burned out so we had no lights. I made my NY's Resolutions by candlelight under the stars. An extremely beautiful moment that I'm sad no one was there to share with me. (Everyone I love felt incredibly far away come midnight.)
Now, some business. Does anyone know why India agreed to sign the WTO product patent act that went into effect Jan 1? I don't know the history but it doesn't seem like a very good idea. It sounds like it'll ravage the already sparse medical treatments and make a lot of prescription drugs inaccessible to a big majority of the population. How does this benefit the country?
The really bad fever came back last night. Like scary bad. The strain found in the first blood test was Falciparum. The second blood test found residual strains that started with an 's' but I don't have the report w/ me. Can someone please tell me what the Dr.'s here should be prescribing so I can get better? Please?