January 2nd 2013

Today was our first full day of classes.  We met with our host, a remarkable woman, who has founded an organization called The Interface.  This organization connects those who want to donate to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here in India.   She researches the organizations to ensure that they are using the donations as the donors desire and that it is the best experience that it can be for both parties. 

Informational Poster at Penn Nalam

The first place we went to was called Penn Nalam – meaning Women’s Happiness.   This is a breast cancer treatment, screening and awareness center founded by a breast surgeon and a breast cancer survivor in 2009.  They also focus on cervical cancer.  This was an amazing experience; the stories and work of this organization were very moving and the work they do was inspiring.   The program educates the community in a variety of ways that we would not think of in America such as using puppet shows.  This really highlights the value of understanding the community you are serving.  The next goal for the clinic is to get a mammography bus – I think they called it a mammobus – that they will use to screen women living in rural areas.  The images will then be transmitted by telemedicine to be read.  The clinic is currently trying to find funding for the bus.   One other really interesting thing at this center is that they use yoga and meditation with all patients – for pain control and managing symptoms associated with chemotherapy but also for the patients they screen to reduce stress and improve overall health. 

We came back for lunch and then quickly went to our next visit, a Palliative Care center.  Palliative Care is new field in India and the physician there shared  her experiences and how and why she started this program.   In many of the hospitals and care centers in India they told us, there are many beds in one large room – this is called a dormitory style.  We saw this as being less preferable but she told us that actually she believes those patients are happier because they can interact and support each other.  This reflects the difference in feelings about personal space and privacy and the larger sense of family and community in India that we talked about during the Global Adjustments program.   We also learned that "Nursing Home" here refers to what we would call a clinic or doctor's office.

Using Puppets to Teach about Women's Health at Penn Nalam

Thali for Lunch - served on a banana leaf