Namaste, India

Krista, my boss, flew in from the States to meet me in Delhi Monday morning for a day I had stuffed full of meetings.  We got tangled in visitor passes, security screens, passport checks and electronics drops at the US Embassy/USAID, Unicef, National Neonatology Forum, and PATH.  Had great conversations everywhere we went, especially with Unicef.  One contact told me, "You've been busy; everyone I talk to says they've met you."  Good, the goal was to drum up some interest!

After presenting my survey findings to Unicef, they basically confirmed they are changing the country-wide specifications for phototherapy to include LED-based (which our device is).  NNF confirmed they are modifying their recs, as well.  Without this change in specs, only private hospitals could have purchased our device.  Now, with Unicef and the NNF's buy-in, we are guaranteed to sell in the public market, which is where the greatest need is.  And, with Unicef purchasing thousands of devices a year, and now fully aware our device will be effective, low-cost, and on the market by November, we are GOLDEN.

Such a great way to end my journey here.  Came into a new market and country knowing nothing about their system, with no contacts, and was able to lobby to modify the country's equipment recommendations to offer better treatment for babies.  No better way to wrap up my experience .... I feel GOOD!

Even better since I'm sitting pretty in the biz class lounge in Brussels after I was able to upgrade my flight home with American Air miles.  In my rickshaw ride to the airport, surrounded by suitcases, honking, rotten odors, and people milling about on the streets, I almost - almost - felt sad.  Despite the stained hotel rooms, insane travel schedule, depressing hospital conditions, aggressive queues, public urination, omnipresent mounds of trash, and stagnant rivers ... it was an experience.  What a long trip it's been.

But I miss ice, salad, quiet streets, sidewalks, fruit, Booth, sports, public toilets, mexican food, communicating with strangers, the fam,  grocery stores, shorts, warm showers, trash cans, and comfort (in no particular order).  It's been a trip, but I'm ready to come home. 

See you soon.  :)

Chennai

Sunday we caught an early morning flight to Chennai so I could attend Medicall, an Indian medical tradeshow where our licensing partner was working a booth.  The booth was weak, to say the least, but I wandered around the show as an interested NGO and was able to get pricing and sales numbers for all of our competitors. 

Took a rickshaw from the show to pick up Booth's suits, which look decent, but it's hard to tell since the tailor put the jacket on me to test the size... ?? I then walked to a giant fabric store, where I met Jo, an Indian seamstress who helped me pick out silks, cottons, and combos for various clothing items we planned on making.  In the store, she measured me in about 10 places, scribbled them all down on a piece of paper, and told me she'd have my (innumerable) items ready by Saturday.  Love her!  Well, I guess I should wait to see how they turn out, first ...

Met the roomies for a late dinner at Hip Asia, a fancy restaurant inside the Taj Connemara.  We celebrated Ben's last night, and the start of Abby's vacation.  Kerry and I celebrated the fact that we got to sleep in the same place for more than four nights (a first since arriving in India six weeks ago!). 

Monday through Friday were long working days - 9a to midnight.  Combined with a stomach bug, it was a rough week, despite not having to travel.  After throwing up on my fourth morning of being sick, and finding my symptoms were eerily similar to the headlining Indian superbug, I found a doctor on the American Embassy website who could see me that afternoon.  I struggled to keep my crackers down on the long, rough rickshaw ride, and arrived at the private hospital shaking.  

The director of the hospital, Maria, had given me her cell number, and after walking through the metal detector with about 100 Indians - the place was packed - I gave her a ring to figure out where to go.  After a few missed turns I arrived at the Emergency Room, where people lying on stretchers were surrounded by shouting family members.  It was pure chaos.  Maria led me down a hallway to a young doctor who had never heard of the superbug, despite it's international debut in the papers that morning.  He diagnosed me as having a parasite, and loaded me up with a hefty prescription of 4g of some Indian drug/day.  The pharmacy looked like the floor of the stock exchange, with people waving slips and shouting to each other, so I was extremely grateful when the Maria had her assistant fill my prescription.  The doctor charged me nothing, and my medicine (without insurance) was a whopping $5.  I felt better already.

Friday I was able to make it out for dinner, and Kerry and I found a great Italian place by the beach with a hidden courtyard, and lots of expats.  Felt right at home.  Saturday we toured the cricket stadium, Marina Beach (second largest beach in the world), and our old neighborhood, Nungambakkam.  I was asked to star in a Bollywood movie that was shooting on Monday - would have been hilarious if it had worked out.  Got $30 Thai massages, and grabbed a late dinner at a fancy restaurant at the Sheraton.  Our last night in India together, after spending every waking moment together for the past month.  I packed late into the night for my flight to Delhi the next day.  Only two more days until I get to go home!!  I can almost taste the salad now ...

D-Rev Chennai in a rickshaw

(picture is out of order, but our 4th of July celebration at Sharky's)

Marina Beach

Chennai cricket team

Nap time

Stagnant river

Always choose English WC if you want a seat!

Rajasthan

Wednesday evening we flew from Hyderabad to Rajasthan (three states in one day). Exhausted, we checked into a fabulous hotel in Jaipur around midnight.  “Fabulous” means there was a shower curtain, and TWO towels, and AC.  Luxury.

By 7am, we were off in a car with our driver, Ram, to an area 130km from Jaipur called Tonk.  Unicef had again set up our visit, which was depressing as ever.  Despite the 20 babies in the NICU, not a single one wore a clean diaper.  All were laying in their own pee and poop, while the nurses stood around chatting.  If I knew how to change a diaper, I would have done them all myself.  Mothers aren’t allowed in this NICU, so had no idea the conditions in which their sick newborns were being kept.  Still makes me sick to my stomach

to think about it…

We gathered quite the crowd outside the hospital, which was packed with Muslim women completely covered in black.  A pig roamed around the front of the hospital.

Per Unicef’s suggestion, we decided to head even further into the rural areas to Malpura.  Ram was hesitant, since the roads there were so bad and monsoons frequent.  But we wanted to see what kinds of challenges people in remote areas faced – including how they received and repaired equipment without paved roads.  Turns out Ram was right.  The roads were so uneven and flooded, we bottomed out several times, eventually breaking the radiator and causing the car to gush steam out of the hood.  We passed camels, small villages, and children playing with rocks.  A few hours later, we pulled a smoking car into

the clinic’s driveway.  We left Ram to attend to it while we toured the sparse facilities.

After some interviews, measurements, and masala tea, we met Ram and a smokeless car outside.  Within a few minutes of driving, however, we had to pull over to pour water on the radiator and engine.  The next five hours consisted of driving for 15 minutes, stopping when we found a well, filling up our water bottles via the pump, and pouring the water under the hood.  None of us had eaten that day, so we subsisted on ginger chews Booth had brought from Trader Joe’s.  We managed to visit a few more clinics along the way, and finally sputtered into our hotel at 11p.  Lordy.

Friday we spent the day visiting private and government hospitals in Jaipur, chauffeured by “New Ram”, a smiley guy who giggled at everything we said.  We had dinner at the rooftop restaurant of our Turkish-looking hotel while listening to the Indian musicians and clinking of the dancers’ ankle jewelry. 

Saturday was finally a day of rest/play!  We hired Bhati, who promised we could ask him anything about Indians and he would reserve judgment.  We took him up on it.  Why do the mothers line the babies' eyes with thick, black eyeliner?  How early do arranged marriages get, well, arranged?  What are the varying levels of dowries?  What are the puffy balls people eat on the streets?  Is mutton goat or lamb?

Bhati drove us all through Jaipur, which is a beautiful city walled with pink buildings, displays of colorful block printed fabric, camels, and begging children.  We visited a mausoleum of Jaipur's emperor, the Amber Fort, a gigantic paper factory employing 300 people, and a number of small stalls selling rugs, purses, fabrics, and sarees.  I bought a gorgeous 8'x10' rug for $200, and had some purses made while I waited.  We returned back to our lovely hotel, exhausted, to eat on the outdoor rooftop again.  Bhati promised he'd facebook us.  We liked Jaipur.

Children practicing for an Independence Day performance

District hospital in Tonk

Tonk Hospital

Flooded Roads to Malpura

Clinic in Malpura

Representative of the type of crowd we would gather...

Fabric factory and wholesale store

Our hotel in Jaipur - leaps and bounds better than the others!

Streets of Jaipur

Elephants bathing outside the Amber Palace

How many can you pile on?