Morning temple visit in the rain.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Adjustments
Today was a interesting day. It had it's nice shiny moments but overall, challenging. Day started off with a trip to Airtel, my mobile service provider (you may guess where this is going...). Airtel has been sending me automated voice and text messages saying that they need me to submit my identification documents or they will disconnect my service. Already I submitted these documents when I purchased the SIM card but apparently there is some issue. I try calling customer care, but each time I try "all lines are currently busy". So I go into the Airtel office in Besant Nagar with copies of my passport, visa and passport photo duplicates. I take a number to talk with someone and wait about an hour before my number comes up. Finally the number is called. I'm thinking this is going to be simple. Problem is, I purchased the SIM card at a different Airtel office and apparently the systems don't talk (in India? IT prowess!). The customer service rep who is helping me is clearly stressed out. But even thought I have a Tamil speaker with me, she prefers not to talk to either of us. She is looking blankly at the computer and fidgeting with a rubber band, the pen, her hands, picking at an adhesive. We sit there like this for another hour before she finally manages to get ahold of the other store on the phone. We learn that the documents are there but have not submitted them yet. The store confirms they will submit the documents today. Meanwhile, I've already received another threatening text message from Airtel this afternoon. I think there's about a 90 percent chance my phone will be disconnected.
After the Airtel experience I return to the office, where a staff meeting is taking place. The meeting is in Tamil so I can't really participate. I don't have any work that I can do independently at the moment, and I do not have nearly enough work to in general. I'm racking my brain to figure out something productive to do. Not a whole lot is coming to mind. I read up on another Indian NGO that we're going to visit in December, read the news and do some chatting. I am very disturbed that I don't have enough to show for my time.
In the later afternoon I attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new office of my NGO. We travel there on a divided highway and I spot a cow sitting in the median looking pretty blissful among the traffic chaos. The ribbon cutting was quite interesting and I really enjoyed meeting the community members in this area, which is a fishing village directly on the shore.
On the drive back from the ribbon cutting, we run over a dog. This was terrible. I still feel sick from it. I've never hit an animal in a car and I had a very strong emotional reaction. The whole thing was easily preventable - two dogs walking across the street in plain sight. The driver just did not slow down. Nobody else in our packed let on that they were particularly bothered by this.
I came home feeling dirty from the beach and the hot day, looking forward to an evening shower. Turned the faucet - no water.
Not that I'm complaining (even though it may sound like it). I'm happy to be here.
After the Airtel experience I return to the office, where a staff meeting is taking place. The meeting is in Tamil so I can't really participate. I don't have any work that I can do independently at the moment, and I do not have nearly enough work to in general. I'm racking my brain to figure out something productive to do. Not a whole lot is coming to mind. I read up on another Indian NGO that we're going to visit in December, read the news and do some chatting. I am very disturbed that I don't have enough to show for my time.
In the later afternoon I attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new office of my NGO. We travel there on a divided highway and I spot a cow sitting in the median looking pretty blissful among the traffic chaos. The ribbon cutting was quite interesting and I really enjoyed meeting the community members in this area, which is a fishing village directly on the shore.
On the drive back from the ribbon cutting, we run over a dog. This was terrible. I still feel sick from it. I've never hit an animal in a car and I had a very strong emotional reaction. The whole thing was easily preventable - two dogs walking across the street in plain sight. The driver just did not slow down. Nobody else in our packed let on that they were particularly bothered by this.
I came home feeling dirty from the beach and the hot day, looking forward to an evening shower. Turned the faucet - no water.
Not that I'm complaining (even though it may sound like it). I'm happy to be here.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Soap Making
Monday, November 17, 2008
Address
I have an address! If you would like it please let me know. Deleted from the blog for security.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
I have a phone!
Today I got a new mobile. If you want to contact me from the States, dial 011-91-9940213224. I've noticed that Indians always answer their phone no matter what is going on around them - a meeting, a presentation (where they are the presenter), a one-on-one conversation. I don't think this is my style - so if I don't answer, please try me again. I don't have voicemail on this line.
I am finally aware enough of my surroundings to be able to spot my location on a map:
View Larger Map
I stumbled upon this temple on an evening walk on the beach:
I am finally aware enough of my surroundings to be able to spot my location on a map:
View Larger Map
I stumbled upon this temple on an evening walk on the beach:
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Chennai Day 1
After a productive and enjoyable week in Delhi (during which I saw just a little bit of Delhi outside of the hotel where orientation was conducted), yesterday I arrived in Chennai. I was pretty exhausted so luckily the travel was easy. Kingfisher airlines is very comfortable and the food is really excellent.
I'm staying in a private room attached to my office for now. It is comfortable. My only complaints are that there is only one outlet in the room and there is no hot water. Not too bad! This morning I went for a walk to start to get to know my new surroundings. I started by heading up to the roof of the building where I'm staying. I was surprised to see the ocean so close by!
Less pleasant was this view. Trash is a serious issue.
After a morning walk I had enjoyed the staple southern Indian breakfast: idli (like rice cake), sambar (dal), vada (like fried lentil patty) and two chutneys (coconut and onion). It is a delicious morning meal and I don't imagine I will tire of it any time soon.
Today was my first day on the job. Yes, the work week is six days! So much for scaling back...
My organization, which I've been asked not to name directly, works with women who are "the poorest of the poor" in Chennai and the surrounding villages. The specific groups they target are domestic workers, adolescent girls and single women. Single women largely consists of women who are widows, these women may face social stigma and economic deprivation.
My "job" for the first few weeks is to immerse myself in the activities of the NGO and learn as much as possible about what is going on in the community and in the NGO's programming. Beyond learning about these issues, we've identified three goals for my time: I am going to help create databases of program participants for program design and evaluation purposes, I will work on revising the existing promotional materials, and lastly I will work with the management and staff of the NGO to help them adopt some western-style SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).
After a morning meeting in the office and a peek into the dance class for adolescent girls going on downstairs, I headed out to the field with Chitra, one of the program coordinators. First stop was a field office where some girls from nearby slum areas were being trained in computer skills and sewing skills. Next up, Chitra and I visited two slum neighborhoods. Chitra spoke with groups of girls about sexual abuse prevention and gender issues. Here are a couple of snaps from the visit:
According to the census in 2001, the male female ratio in India is 927 women per 1000 women (the world average is 1045 women per 1000 men). There are many factors contributing to these "missing girls" and one of them is the preference of parents towards boys, which may be demonstrated by giving boys more or higher quality food and better medical care. One of the things Chitra was talking about with these adolescent girls, many of whom will be mothers in a few years, is that they should treat their boy children and girl children equally.
I'm staying in a private room attached to my office for now. It is comfortable. My only complaints are that there is only one outlet in the room and there is no hot water. Not too bad! This morning I went for a walk to start to get to know my new surroundings. I started by heading up to the roof of the building where I'm staying. I was surprised to see the ocean so close by!
Less pleasant was this view. Trash is a serious issue.
After a morning walk I had enjoyed the staple southern Indian breakfast: idli (like rice cake), sambar (dal), vada (like fried lentil patty) and two chutneys (coconut and onion). It is a delicious morning meal and I don't imagine I will tire of it any time soon.
Today was my first day on the job. Yes, the work week is six days! So much for scaling back...
My organization, which I've been asked not to name directly, works with women who are "the poorest of the poor" in Chennai and the surrounding villages. The specific groups they target are domestic workers, adolescent girls and single women. Single women largely consists of women who are widows, these women may face social stigma and economic deprivation.
My "job" for the first few weeks is to immerse myself in the activities of the NGO and learn as much as possible about what is going on in the community and in the NGO's programming. Beyond learning about these issues, we've identified three goals for my time: I am going to help create databases of program participants for program design and evaluation purposes, I will work on revising the existing promotional materials, and lastly I will work with the management and staff of the NGO to help them adopt some western-style SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).
After a morning meeting in the office and a peek into the dance class for adolescent girls going on downstairs, I headed out to the field with Chitra, one of the program coordinators. First stop was a field office where some girls from nearby slum areas were being trained in computer skills and sewing skills. Next up, Chitra and I visited two slum neighborhoods. Chitra spoke with groups of girls about sexual abuse prevention and gender issues. Here are a couple of snaps from the visit:
According to the census in 2001, the male female ratio in India is 927 women per 1000 women (the world average is 1045 women per 1000 men). There are many factors contributing to these "missing girls" and one of them is the preference of parents towards boys, which may be demonstrated by giving boys more or higher quality food and better medical care. One of the things Chitra was talking about with these adolescent girls, many of whom will be mothers in a few years, is that they should treat their boy children and girl children equally.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
48 Hours in New Delhi
It's about 4 in the morning, approaching the time I arrived in New Delhi 2 days ago. Last night I slept solid through the night, tonight not so lucky. It's been a colorful and delicious 2 days.
My first Delhi experience was of the traffic traveling from the airport to the hotel at 6AM. I'm not sure of the exact distance but I can tell you we traveled very slowly. But to one accustomed to the orderly flow of western traffic, it was an eventful ride. The streets in Delhi are painted with lane lines but these are ignored. This seems to be true of both small streets and highways. You may see three vehicles traveling side by side in the two lanes. We made a right hand turn from the left lane. The horn is used constantly, kind of as a greeting. There seem to be many large trucks with no windows or side view mirrors, but with pretty cursive signs painted in pastel colors "Please Honk". Drivers of smaller cars may keep their side view mirrors folded into the car to make the vehicle more narrow. There is a wide variety of vehicles on the road. Cars, trucks, motorcyles and mopeds, auto-rickshaws, bicycle-rickshaws, bicycles, cows, horses, horse and buggy. And pedestrians - there are lots and lots of pedestrians. Seeing so many people on the street, it feels to me like New Years, or a big party.
My first Delhi experience was of the traffic traveling from the airport to the hotel at 6AM. I'm not sure of the exact distance but I can tell you we traveled very slowly. But to one accustomed to the orderly flow of western traffic, it was an eventful ride. The streets in Delhi are painted with lane lines but these are ignored. This seems to be true of both small streets and highways. You may see three vehicles traveling side by side in the two lanes. We made a right hand turn from the left lane. The horn is used constantly, kind of as a greeting. There seem to be many large trucks with no windows or side view mirrors, but with pretty cursive signs painted in pastel colors "Please Honk". Drivers of smaller cars may keep their side view mirrors folded into the car to make the vehicle more narrow. There is a wide variety of vehicles on the road. Cars, trucks, motorcyles and mopeds, auto-rickshaws, bicycle-rickshaws, bicycles, cows, horses, horse and buggy. And pedestrians - there are lots and lots of pedestrians. Seeing so many people on the street, it feels to me like New Years, or a big party.
Most of my time has been spent in the hotel, where I am staying and attending an orientation. The hotel is very comfortable and restaurant excellent. Aside from hotel time, I've had two enjoyable excursions. Sunday night I had a wonderful meal at the home of Sunita, AJWS's in-country representative. Sunita's hospitality was incredible and the food highly delicious. She thoughtfully prepared foods from many different regions in India so we could sample the various flavors and specialties (she prepared more than two dozen dishes!!). 
The second excursion was last night, we walked from the hotel through a pedestrian market to a store called Fabindia, which has been explained to me as the Gap of India. Wonderful bright and colorful fabrics and clothing, bed linen and towels. Sunita says Indians love food and clothes - I'm starting to see why.
The second excursion was last night, we walked from the hotel through a pedestrian market to a store called Fabindia, which has been explained to me as the Gap of India. Wonderful bright and colorful fabrics and clothing, bed linen and towels. Sunita says Indians love food and clothes - I'm starting to see why.Sunday, November 9, 2008
Arrival in New Delhi
After about 24 hours of transit I arrived at my hotel in New Delhi about an hour ago! I am happy to be here, kicking off my adventure with a chapati, a banana and a cup of nescafe. And here ends my first very short post - a new friend just arrived so I will wrap up.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy Halloween!
My friend Andrea surprised me today with the gift of a beautiful blue embroidered salwah kameez. I'm incredibly touched by this thoughtful gift and so excited to wear my beautiful new outfit in India!
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