Anandwan

The reason I haven't been posting as much from here is because we've actually been doing different projects and volunteering at the leprosy colony we visit with Project RISHI, called Anandwan. They're a completely self-sustained community, at the forefront of environmental sustainability (for such a rural and underfunded location), and probably have some of the nicest people you will ever meet living here.


Pictures when I get a chance to transfer them ALL, but we just completed a series of health education camps (focused on nutrition, first aid, and personal hygiene) for all the kids at the deaf and blind schools. The kids were brilliant! And sooo cute! Now, our second project is to get some high-quality footage and photos of the performance group of the able and disabled here, Swaranandwan. Hopefully, we'll be able to produce some decent marketing materials and a YouTube channel and get their name and their message of acceptance out to a larger audience.

Adventure Sunday

It's my second to last day at SEARCH today, and I feel like I have so much to say and reflect upon and stuff, but I really wanted this to be a whole post about our trip to an 8th century temple last Sunday, so the rest will have to wait.



Some of the carvings in this temple. Old Indian temples...are rife with these. Impressive for people who still can't figure out how to electrify the country regularly, you know?



I guess the place was supposed to be built in another town, but was moved here when that didn't work out. Now, it's right on a river. One of the few that flows south to north in India, to which I would say, A+ location change. The river wasn't all the way full because rainy season is just starting but that led to some even more fun times.



We decided to take these teeeny tiny, sketchy little boats to the other bank (we're talking there was water pouring into the bottom sketchy), where we proceeded to frolick and play tag and just be generally childish because it was sandy and empty...



...And then it poured in true Indian monsoon fashion where we saw it coming from down the river. We'd been planning to only stay for like half an hour, but instead we ended up stranded on the other side for two-and-a-half in the pouring rain. My shoes got wet so I just...took them off and barefooted it for the next four hours....which was interesting.



And then on the way back we stopped in town for some food (my first meat in FOUR weeks!), bottle coke, ice cream, and candy, and headed back to our quiet little Shodhgram in the woods for a much-needed, long, hot bath, some dinner, and a good night's sleep.

My internet will be...worse...starting Friday, so maybe if I get a chance to post in the next two weeks, I'll post something short about that leg of the trip, but chances aren't looking good.

Adventure Picture-Post Pt. 2

It's been a while, and sadly my time at SEARCH is almost up (only 1 more week), but here are a few more pictures of the adventures I've been having!



We stayed for 2 days in one of the extremely rural villages that SEARCH serves. No running water, sketchy roofs, generally poor, and still some of the most hospitable people I've met. Such a good experience!



The lovely village health worker we stayed with (in the middle)! Anjana-bai is from the village we stayed at but she's been working with SEARCH for about 18 years. She was so excited that our group could speak Marathi (because most of her visitors speak Hindi or English, neither of which she knows very well) that she did not stop talking the whole time we were there! The best story she told was about her first time on a plane and how she thought that someone was watching her and turning the faucet on when she brought her hands near the automatic-sensor sink. Totally cool to hear about something like that, which I take for granted all the time, from another perspective.



If there is one thing I loooove about here it's sunset and night time. I'd never seen fireflies before in my life (and obviously they are hard to capture on camera), but there are TONS here! They look like little sparkling stars and I seriously cannot get enough of them.



We found this little guy (a cobra!) just chillin' out behind the research department. I never thought I'd be like, "Oh a non-poisonous snake? No big deal," and keep walking, but that's what's happening. I can TELL some of the non-poisonous snakes apart now, which is nuts to me! Also, the policy on snakes here is wonderful. Even if poisonous, they're never killed, just caught and released far outside of the grounds. If non-poisonous, people just kind of leave them be. It's nice because so many snakes are killed in India normally that some species are getting very sparse.

This Sunday, we're going to an ancient temple about 50 km from here, so hopefully more cool pictures to come!