India Health Initiative

A little more about the 2012 team

2012-03-06T16:50:00.004-05:00

Well, it seems high time to say a little more about this year's team. Here's a brief bio on everyone:

Hello!

My name is Paige Doherty and I am veryhonoured to be a part of this amazing initiative. I completed my undergraduatedegree in Kinesiology and Physical Education at Wilfred Laurier University andam currently in my first year in the occupational therapy program at theUniversity of Western Ontario. A combination of my volunteer experiencesworking with seniors and with people with intellectual disabilities as well asmy education has led me to pursue a career in occupational therapy. I wasfortunate to be able to travel last year and through that experience I havelearned many things about myself and about others. Travelling gave me anappreciation and respect for different cultures and has piqued my interest inglobal health. All of these experiences have shaped who I am and make me aunique part of the 2012 IHI team. As an occupational therapy student I havebegun to truly appreciate the value of holistic care and I am very excited toput what I have learned to use in India. I am so grateful for this once in alifetime opportunity and I hope to provide the people I meet in India with asmuch kindness and knowledge as I will inevitably receive from this experience.

Hi, I’m Michelle, one of the first year medical students on the 2012 team. I’m very excited to be going to India this summer! I first became fascinated about India as a gallery guide at the Art Gallery of Ontario when they had an exhibition about the Maharaga, the Indian Royalty. It was amazing to learn about the culture and customs as well as some differences between the classes. My interests in international health and public health have thus far mostly been from a research standpoint. Having an

engineering and research background, I have always been interested in learning about global and public health advances. Now, I would like to have a hands-on-approach. I would love to travel and see where these advances would be of most use. I hope to feel that I have made a difference in patients’ experiences, as well return to Canada with a wealth of knowledge that I can use to help advocate for improved health care systems worldwide. And a bonus would be being able to do a bit of ‘real’ hot yoga in my spare time.

My name is Ashok Ramchandani, I am a first year Occupational Therapy Student at UWO. I was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I did my undergraduate degree at Lakehead University majoring in psychology with a minor in gerontology. My background is Indian, both my parents were born and raised in Bombay, India. When the opportunity to join IHI came to my attention I thought it would be an amazing opportunity for me to learn more about my cultural background. I have never been to India before but all of my familial roots are there. I have always wanted to travel to India and learn more about my background and visit the place where my parents grew up, however, the opportunity never presented itself until now. When I learned about IHI and what the team does while in India it convinced me further. I am thrilled at the opportunity to work with the NGO's in India and have a positive impact on the lives of many people there. So far being a member of the 2012 IHI team has been great! We are well underway in fundraising and planning our Evening in India event which I am very excited for.

Hello!

My name is Aleshia Denny and I am in my final year of nursing at UWO in thecompressed program. I have an honors degree in Health Sciences with aspecialization in rural and remote communities also from UWO. This program gaveme solid foundation in Community Development and Rural Health, as wellchallenged me to explore topics on aging, health promotion, ethics,occupational health and safety, palliative care, quality of life andalternative therapies. I’m from Gowanstown, Ontario. I am a true country girl at heart and I love to travel and experiencedifferent rural areas around the world. I have been very fortunate to havetravelled to Rwanda, Cuernavaca & Nicaragua with my previous HealthSciences degree. Thus far, most of my nursing experiences have included mother/baby, geriatrics, mental health, community and the emergency department. I am enjoying every opportunity thisexperience has offered so far. I look forward to broadening my nursing skillsand knowledge beyond the classroom and am ready for all the excitement and newexperiences this India mission’s trip will present. Together, our interprofessionalteam will collaborate to attain the goals we have set for this year. IHI Team 2012…This is goingto be an experience of a life time!

Hi everyone! My name is David Wonnacott, and I'm in my first year of medical school at UWO. I grew up here in London and took off to Kingston for my undergraduate degree at Queen's. I changed majors many times but graduated eventually; my degree says mathematics and economics on it. I've come back to London for medical school, and I'm loving it so far. I really wanted to learn more about how health care is delivered in other parts of the world and how health care is shaped by the culture, demographics, economics and politics around it. Developmental economics was one of my favourite courses in my undergraduate career, and I was really interested in how economic development and health care are intertwined - and almost all of the studies we talked about on the subject came out of India! The India Health Initiative seems like a great opportunity to help improve health care delivery in some underserviced areas and to learn as a medical student and as a global citizen. I hope to see you all out at the Evening in India fundraiser on the 30th, it'll be a great time and we're all excited about it.

An Evening in India 2012

2012-02-24T18:42:00.000-05:00

The 2011-2012 IHI team is excited to announce this year's Evening in India fundraiser! This year, the show will be at London Central Secondary School, from 7:00 to 9:30 on Friday, March 30th. The theme is Festivals of India, and acts will represent festivals from religious traditions and regions all over India. Besides these wonderful performances, there will be a silent auction and refreshments for sale. Tickets will be $20, or $15 for students and seniors, or get a GOLD ticket for $40 that comes with a tax receipt. It'll be a great show and community event.

We're very grateful for all the help and support we're getting from the community - this fundraiser and organization wouldn't work without it!

Gift Card Sale Fundraiser!

2011-11-21T00:50:00.003-05:00

Please help support the India Health Initiative this winter by doing some holiday gift shopping! (Or buy for yourself! Especially the grocery and gas cards!)

2-10% of the sales will be donated to us and go directly to the NGOs we're visiting in India this summer.

List of retailers: http://www.fundscrip.com/Retailers/retailer_list.aspx

Form:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7JB89qDhDB7NGRhZDU1OWEtN2RmNC00YzgxLTk2ZDctOWQ1NzUyOTI4Mzk5

Please return the form (or the specifics written down) and a cheque payable to the India Health Initiative to any of us by MONDAY DECEMBER 5th.

More questions? Email us: indiahealth@gmail.com

Thanks for helping to support a great cause!

Aleshia, Ashok, Dave, Michelle, and Paige

IHI 2012 Team!

2011-11-06T01:10:00.003-04:00

We are very excited to introduce the IHI team of 2012!

Aleshia Denny (1st row, right)
Michelle Edwards (1st row, left)
Paige Doherty (2nd row, right)
Ashok Ramchandani (2nd row, centre)
David Wonnacott (2nd row, left)

We look forward to the exciting new ideas IHI 2012 bring us and wish them all the best on their journey!

2012 Team Application

2011-09-19T22:53:00.007-04:00

UPDATE: The IHI 2011 presentation for students is viewable online. The formatting is slightly altered in the googledoc conversion, but all the contents are there.

Get on board!

IHI is currently accepting applications for the 2012 team. Application form can be accessed here and is due September 30th, 2011. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at indiahealth@gmail.com

Info session for medical and nursing students will be held on Sept. 23rd (Friday), 2011 at DSB 1002 in London and MEB 2126 in Windsor. Hope to see you there :)

News article on Lifeline Express

2011-09-12T22:08:00.005-04:00

We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet photo-journalist Kevin Frayer and journalist Muneeza Naqvi on board the Lifeline Express in Jagdalpur. The conversations we had gave us a more accurate understanding of India as a nation, and more appreciation of the service Lifeline Express is providing to the poor and neglected. Kevin and Muneeza also shared many of their stories from the assignments across the world that spiced up our meal-time conversation (not that our meals needed any more spices in reality).

Their insightful article has been published recently, read on here or see the photo gallery.

Lifeline Express

2011-08-07T04:15:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Lifeline Express from Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh.

There are a total of 5 operating tables in two train cars, staffed by Lifeline Express staff, volunteer surgeons and nurses.

Screening for orthopedics corrective surgery.
Post-operative care for cataract surgery patients, everyone is given a pair of sunglasses, an umbrella, and a blanket. Everyone looks so cool (and cute).

Perspectives on Lifeline Express

2011-07-21T08:57:00.003-04:00

Update: Part of the IHI team at Chitrakoot waterfall. Photo taken by Kevin Frayer from AP

Hour 1: Board train
Hour 2-9: Sleep
Hour 9: Charu, Horace, Julia & Britt awake
Hour 10-13: Card games, books, and chai.
Hour 13: Seth awake
Hour 14: Chai
Hour 15-24: Card games, books, and HUNGER.

In short, our train ride from Madurai to Hyderabad. Luckily, Hyderabad airport made up for it with McDonald’s!! Yummy :)

After 48 hours of travelling, including the train ride, we thought we would die if we saw another train in front of us. How wrong we were...

The few days on the Lifeline Express have exposed us to an extremely underserviced population of rural India: the tribals. Let’s take a look from their perspective.

Fuelled by a promise of restored vision, ability to walk and run, a triumphant smile, they journey from far and wide. They travel for hours with brothers, sisters, grandparents, parents, children, to reach Jagdalpur. At last they see it. A train, the first one they’ve seen this close, with a huge crowded tent in front. Greeted by teams of doctors, nurses and volunteers, strangers dressed in green and white with masks. They are a little afraid, but they are resilient. Full of courage, they press onwards, placing all their faith and trust in the medical volunteers from afar…

From our perspective, this experience has been eye-opening (pardon the pun), to say the least. We have had the opportunity to observe the administration of health care in the most remote of locations, to people who have previously been untouched by the outside world. We have seen cataract surgeries performed on elderly tribal people (rows upon rows of sunglasses on these folks was a sight to warm our hearts), orthopedic surgeries on young children whose families cannot afford these high-cost procedures otherwise, screenings for cleft lip and other paediatric conditions (Pierre-Robin sequence. It was a difficult diagnosis but Dr. Cheng & Prasad managed it.). It has been a pleasure to see this dedicated team of physicians, nurses, and administrators from all over the country work together to deliver care that will significantly impact these peoples’ lives.

Tonight we prepare to part ways as a team: Seth off to Thailand, Brittany and Julia journeying to and through North India, Horace and Charu doing some learning and research (hopefully!) at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. We look forward to these new and exciting experiences, and though we will miss being all together, we will have plenty to share when we meet up in 2 weeks!

Pictures soon to come ;)

Coming to an end at ASSA...

2011-07-14T00:18:00.002-04:00

Hello from the computer room at Amar Seva Sangam Ayakudi (ASSA)!

Nearly two weeks have come and gone, and here we are today marking our second last day at ASSA. While words cannot explain the experiences that we have shared with everyone at this organization; here goes our best shot at explaining it.

Since our last entry we have been keeping very busy. Some of the programs we have been working in include…

1) Post-Acute Spinal Cord Centre: Here we have been working with a vast array of health care professionals. This includes learning from the doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other support personnel. The experiences here included but were not limited to observing the professionals providing treatment and education to the patients, hands-on experience in physical therapy and dressing, participating in leisurely activities and simply enjoying a lot of quality time with the residents.

2) Medical Testing Unit: Here the occupational therapy students had the opportunity to shadow various physiotherapists and assist by implementing fine motor activities with children following their physiotherapy treatment. In addition, we were able to leave these physiotherapists with a list of possible hand therapy activity ideas for children that they can continue to use when we leave with the materials they have already have available.

3) Vocational Training: Here we had the opportunity to observe a number of the patients in their work settings. It was so much fun to see how various products were made (toys, clothes, notebooks, etc.)! Through simply observing many of us had gained a greater appreciation for the work that goes into making so many of these items. Watch out Canada, when we come back we will be lean, mean, button up t-shirt making machines.

4) Schools: Here we observed the children in the classroom setting. Some of us had the privilege of teaching English and Music classes (we learned that some of us remember the words to Barbie girl more than the Canadian national anthem…embarrassing).

5) Special Needs Schools: Here we observed children with special needs in the school setting. This included assisting the teachers with daily programming as well as the in-school physiotherapists with treatment and hand therapy ideas.

6) On-site Government Project School Kids: Here we engaged in various semi-structured programs such as yoga classes, playing sports or doing the girls’ (and some boys’) hair and nails.

When we weren’t busy with programming in the various units we spent very enjoyable free time playing card games (don’t tell anyone though…apparently this is illegal in Tamil Nadu…oops), Frisbee or chess with the spinal cord injury unit men and other ASSA residents. In the evening hours, we could often be found joining the kids in dance classes, English tutions (extra schooling outside of class time) or for prayer time.

This past weekend we took a vacation to Madurai and Kanyakumari (the most Southern tip of India). Friday night we arrived in Madurai where we stayed at a beautiful hotel with a rooftop restaurant located in the heart of town. We started Saturday morning off early visiting the Gandhi museum, followed by a visit to Thirumalai Nayak palace. Following this we had plenty of opportunity to use our bargaining skills as we shopped up a storm. To finish off the night we visited the Meenakshi temple where we got to see a number of cool exhibits and FINALLY see an elephant- an elephant which blessed us for 10 rupees, well worth it! Late late Saturday night/Sunday morning we took the train to Kanyakumari where we arrived at 4:30 am and went straight to the beach to watch the sun rise with hundreds if not a couple thousand Indians- incredible turn out. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the super hot heat (some of us a little too much), the beach where we swam in three bodies of water at one time ( Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean)- fully clothed and sticking out a lot as the only foreigners, shopping and a visit to the Gandhi memorial.

Just yesterday, along with the 4 volunteers at ASSA from Project Abroad we visited the local Courtellam Falls which is a favorite bathing location for MANY Indians in the Tenkasi area. We joined the locals in separate male and female lines to bath under the main waterfall- where we lasted less than one minute because of the ice cold water. Afterwards, we trekked through the monkey-filled forest attempting to find the top of the waterfall and stumbled across a second smaller, more secluded set of falls (more secluded meaning only 100 indian people with us) where we bathed again. Very enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Out of all of the activities we have done the past two weeks, one of the best parts of our time here has been the people we have met. All the staff and residents at ASSA have welcomed us with opened arms and treated us like family. We have shared so many amazing experiences and learned so many lessons from these special individuals. As we continue at ASSA and the other NGOs we look forward to many exciting adventures to come.

For more updates STAY TUNED as we head North to Jagdalpur as we visit our third and final NGO, Lifeline Express.

Photo update

2011-07-13T09:06:00.012-04:00

A massive photo update with some key snapshots of our amazing journey thus far :)

Beautiful Kerala
Photos from the back-water houseboat tour.

Amar Seva Sangam
ASSA is located in the village of Ayikudy, a valley in the foothills of the Western Ghats. As a result of the geography there is a constant breeze throughout the campus, a real treat for those of us not used to the hot weather of South India.

Pictures of the Amar Seva Sangam school

A function to celebrate the achievements of the students and residents along with thanks to some of the generous donors from across the country.

Card games with our friends at the Spinal Cord Rehab Unit.

Village-based rehab home visits

Kids!

Trips
Weekend trip to Madurai and Kanyakumari.

Elephant Pooja

ZZZzzzzaaaaaaaapp!!

Sunrise at Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of the sub-continent.

Hanging out with volunteers from Project Abroad at Courtallam Falls.

Greetings from Ayikudy

2011-07-07T10:59:00.001-04:00

Dear fans,

We apologize for the delay in updates - our watches have been delayed to Indian Standard Time! Starting from where we left off: Houseboat Shopping. We settled on a boat called Shalom. The crew took us on a two day (60km) excursion through the backwaters of Allepey. Along the way, the houseboat stopped at a few small villages where we explored and met some of the locals, along with the wildlife. Our houseboat excursion ended on Canada Day, which we spent touring Allepey and its numerous jewelry stores.

Our journey to Amar Seva Sangam began Saturday, July 2nd. We took the train to Trivandrum and from there a taxi to Ayikudi. The taxi ride requires some explanation: it was a 3 hour rollercoaster of narrow, winding roads in which our driver passed all vehicles we came across no matter how life-endingly small the space to do so was. The taxi driver distracted our attention from the excitement outside, which was inducing nausea for some, by putting on a cheesey, dubbed Bruce Lee movie. Finally, we arrived in one piece at our destination regardless of everything.

At Amar Seva Sangam, we are staying in the midst of palm trees, mountainous ranges, and cool breezes. Here we have been able to experience: Village Base Rehab, wound care, aid with spinal cord rehabilitation, physiotherapy, medical clinics and rounds. Along with all this hard work, we have somehow managed to find time to relax and learn a few Tamil words with the local residents and children. It is currently 8:12pm, which means supper time! Thus the blog ends here until the next update. (Pictures soon to come).

Tata for now,
IHI

Quick update on the run

2011-06-28T23:51:00.000-04:00

The last update had been ready to go for a few days, but we ran into some technical difficulties in Cochin about our internet access, sorry about the delay. Here are some interesting photos from Cochin.

We are currently in Allepey, home of the famed Kerala houseboats, for a few days. We will be spending 2 nights on a houseboat (houseboat shopping is a memorable experience to say the least). We'll provide another update when we get back.

We are all safe and sound, the food in South India is amazing!

Families for Children

2011-06-28T23:44:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Cochin, Kerela.

The IHI team has finished their one-week stay at Families for Children (FFC), and what a week it has been! We wish that we could have had even more time with the children and staff at FFC; we had such a great time playing and learning together. Here are some highlights of our visit:

1) First and foremost - getting to know the children! The boys and girls at FFC opened their hearts to us and welcomed us as their older brothers and sisters. We played sports (playing cricket for the first time for a few of us), had dance lessons (I’ll have to admit that our dancing ability, except for Charu, turned the lesson into a comedy for the kids), learned Tamil and English and walked to school together…We never could have imagined how much we would share together in such a short time.

2) Playing with babies. We all spent a considerable amount of time in the baby rooms. There were the small babies, big babies, babies in nursing station, and babies with special needs. All of us had been peed on (except Seth) by one of these cute little ones more than once; we even got pretty good at changing diapers! We particularly enjoyed the one-hour sun time in late afternoon on the rooftop. Carrying two babies while walking around the rooms is surprisingly a very good workout.

3) Learning about a variety of different physical and developmental disabilities and exploring our preconceived notions on these conditions. We soon learned to see past superficial differences and got to know them as sweet, innocent and playful children. We feel that this is perhaps one of the most important lessons we can take with us.

4) Wonderful south-Indian cooking. Myalamma and kitchen staff played an important role in making sure that we were well-fed and healthy during our stay. Her magical cooking skills kindled our love for south-Indian cooking.

5) Contributions from IHI on behalf of all our friends back home. This year IHI contributed $5,000 CAD towards the various areas of FFC. Some of the key items include physiotherapy equipment (walkers, medicine balls, standing chairs, CP chair, balance boards, knee braces), stainless steel baby crib platform, feeding chairs, rexin sheets, insect control, school gates, writing desks. The remainder of the money will be directed towards the new boys vocational-training building for boys with special needs, and community members at large.

6) Kollywood! We had the pleasure of viewing a very entertaining Kollywood film that included every genre one could imagine (literally), plus a lot of energetic dance sequences!.

7) The children and teachers putting together a program for the volunteers including the IHI team full of dancing and music. Performances ranged from the “Snake Dance” (performed by the boys) to the “Barbie Girl Dance” (performed by the preschoolers). Each and every one of the performances was incredible and will not be forgotten any time soon.

Nothing we can say in a few points can truly give justice to the time we have all shared at FFC. The people we met, the lessons we learned and the special moments we experienced will be ingrained in us. While the week at FFC may be done, they will be in our hearts forever. We miss them all already.

Looking ahead, we are spending the next few days touring Kerela before making our way to Amar Seva Sangam Association (ASSA) at Ayikudi, Tamil Nadu. We will spend a few days in Cochin followed by houseboat tour in the backwaters. Speaking of which, I should get ready for bed as we are waking up before dawn to catch the giant Chinese fishing nets in action early in the morning!

First dispatch from India

2011-06-19T07:41:00.003-04:00

The IHI team reunited at the Chennai airport, thankful that everyone is safe and sound. We spend the day exploring Chennai, taking in the sights, sounds, and smell of India. The heat is one of the few things we are still adjusting to (the cold A/C for Julia), the other being the very aggressive auto-rickshaw driver in their dealings (and driving).

After a day of acclimatization, we embarked on the Duronto Express train to Coimbature. The six-hour train ride went by fast with food, charades, fun, and food, and more food. Kalai akka from Families for Children came to pick us up at the train station. We toured the campuses – main campus and a separate boys/special needs campus. We spent some time playing with the girls in the playground, and in the baby room.

We were super lucky in that we get to attend a wedding of a FFC alumni. The wedding was well attended by FFC staff and children. The wedding was a testament of the wonderful works of FFC. We then spent the afternoon in the baby room playing with the children and even got to help feed the babies!

This morning we had a great time playing soccer, monkey in the middle with the boys. They amazed us with their acrobatic flips and summersaults, breakdancing, and tree-climbing abilities. We had such a wonderful time together all being kids.

We are having a wonderful time in India, more on our experiences in our next posts!

Itinerary

2011-06-05T21:49:00.005-04:00

IHI is leaving for India in about 10 days...It's hard to believe! The team is making final preparations for this once-in-a-lifetime experience and we would like to share our itinerary with you

June 15	Arrive at Chennai
June 18 - 25	Families For Children
June 26 - July 1	Travel + R&R
July 2 - 15	Amer Seva Sangam
July 16 - 17	Travel
July 18 - 24	Life Line Express
July 25 onward	New Delhi

We are going to be spending a fair bit of time at each of the NGOs, as well as lots of traveling on the road (over 3,800km according to googlemap). Most of our travels will be by rail, which should allow us to plenty of opportunities to interact with the locals and see the beautiful countryside and towns. We expect lots of interesting stories to bring back with us :)

View Larger Map

Evening in India 2011 - Synopsis

2011-04-09T11:17:00.012-04:00

Thanks to the generous support and enthusiastic participation from the community, IHI was able to raise over $8000 for the three NGOs in India. It was a great evening because of the combined efforts of so many people in the London and greater community. We had approximately 300 guests in the audience, and up to 100 performers! As a group we were able to showcase and learn about so many different regions of India, with their different colours, languages and vibrancy. Hopefully we were able to foster a bond between Canada and India - facilitating the exchange of ideas and building on common human values.

IHI would like to thank the following individuals for helping us preserve the memory of this evening:

Dr. Sydney Siu (gallery), Lauren Sham (gallery), and Samuel Cheng (gallery) for photography.
Dr. Praful Chandarana for video recording.
Dr. Dev Sainani for creating a DVD using the footages.

Here are the highlights of the wonderful performances throughout the evening:

Ganesh Prarthana

Mani Bhashyam, Bhairavi Shankar, Nachiket Deshpande, Sanjay Deshpande, Vineet Vyas

Dancing Stars

Akash, Swati, Pooja, Sooraj, Presha, Dev, Ajaya, Karan, Rohan, Janani, Shefali, Dhruv, Krishna V, Shivani, Sujai, Justin, Simran, Krishna A, Srinidhi

Devi Bhajan

Charushree Prasad

Bilingual Duet – Barso Re

Mihika Jog, Shefali Panicker

Address from Office of Global Health, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

Dr. Neil Arya

Kathak Dance & Tabla

Bageshree Vaze, Vineet Vyas, Raya Bidaye

Holi Dance – A Festival of Colours (Bengal)

Madhavi Prasad, Srushti Gangdev, Karishma Taneja, Saumya Saxena, Swati Nikumb, Srinitya Ganna, Rachna Jog, Priyanka Patil

IHI 2010 Presentation

Pranavi Ravichandran, Jeremy Kroes, Kayla Bennett, Marissa Van Brunt

Kuchipudi Dance

Silpa Valluri, Natya Raji School of Dance

Nachda Gaunda Punjab (Punjab)

Abhilasha Duggal, Bo Venkatesan, Dheera Ghosh, Kamini Vasudeva, Sreelatha Varapravan, Radha Nair, Navneet Rai, Vandana Nagpal-Shah

Ganapati Raya (Maharashtra)

Shobha Nikumb, Seema Desai, Monica Jog, Vranda Kamat, Neela Chinchalkar, Jyotsna Ziradkar, Kishor Pande, Sachin Kale, Priyvat Deshpande, Sanjay Deshpande, Shailendra Ziradkar

Gujrati Folk Dance - Dhandia Raas (Gujarat)

Minakshi Doobay, Eisha Gupta, Ashna Gupta, Priyanka Singh, Shivani Sharma, Sabina Shah, Deena Shah, Priyanka Shah

Dhalkyo Dhalkyo (Bhutan)

Baktha Gurung, Dipesh Gurung, Migmar Tamang, Banita Tamang, Anita Gurung, Tikha Gurung, Ramita Tamang, Anita Tamang, Phul Maya Tamang, Sharmila Tiwari; Choreographed by: Jeet Gurung

Bhage re Mann

Ratna Varma

Bollywood in the Rain

Vivian Chau, Lauren Sham, Marilyn Phung, Audrey Tran, Januvi Jegatheswaran, Aarica Arora, Sarah Ward, Smriti Khosla, Rinu Pazhekattu, Caileigh Pilmer, Supriya Singh, Sneha Iyer, Ammara Ghumman, Nisha Ravichandran

Western Indo-Canadian Students Association (WISCA) Dance Team

Akshaan Kaul, Sahil Razdan, Nirish Puri, Esha Jain, Shilpa Goel, Ruchi Parikh

IHI 2011 Team Surprise

Charushree Prasad, Brittany Foster, Julia Hall, Seth Sobel, Horace Cheng

It is evident that all this would not be possible without the support of our friends and the community. We are grateful and humbled by your generosity.

Evening In India Update

2011-03-21T20:41:00.004-04:00

A quick update for Evening In India: it's around the corner! Everything is falling in place and the dance/music practices have been great.

So in short, it'll be a spectacular night!

The money raised from this event will be going directly towards our three partner NGOs. Take a moment to read about the meaningful work they are doing in India. The 2010 team will also be sharing their contributions and experiences at Evening In India.

P.S. Just a reminder that there will be a silent auction with some beautiful items, don't forget to bring your wallet ;)

Evening in India 2012

2011-02-06T18:35:00.009-05:00

To help meet our fundraising goals for the NGOs this year, IHI will continue the tradition of hosting “Evening in India – A South-Asian inspired cultural experience”. In the past this event has been a fantastic success featuring some of the top South-Asian musicians and dancers in South-Western Ontario.

South-Asian inspired music, dance, food, fun and even a silent auction. We promise that you'll love it! To reserve tickets email us at indiahealth[at]gmail[dot]com or contact us by phone at 226-234-4396 (David).

If you are interesting in performing or offering your support in any way, please don’t hesitate to email us.

We hope to see you there.
Michelle, Paige, Ashok, Aleshia, and David

An Evening in India 2011, it's coming!

2011-02-01T22:19:00.006-05:00

A quick update about the behind-the-scene preparation for "An Evening in India", the annual cultural fund-raising event put together by the community and IHI team. We have secured the venue and Charu is working hard on putting together the program, and teaching us how to dance. Here is some information for the event:

When: March 25th (Friday) 7:00-9:30PM
Where: Clarke Road Secondary School, London

View Larger Map

We'll have a lot more details follow, stay tuned with this blog. In the mean time, here are some pictures from our recent visit. The auditorium is beautiful and very well equipped!

From 2011 Team Blog

We are very grateful to the great staff and teachers at Clarke Road Secondary School who helped us show us around and sort out the logistics.

The 2012 IHI Team

2011-01-18T22:20:00.026-05:00

Meet the 2012 IHI Team! We are a team of five students from three healthcare-related faculties. We are excited to be part of this learning opportunity/adventure and we hope you'll be part of it by being connected with us via this blog. The team for this year is:

David Wonnacott (back row, left) is a first year medical student from London, Ontario. Ashok Ramchandani (back row, centre) is in his first year of studying occupational therapy at UWO, and is originally from Thunder Bay. Paige Doherty (back row, right) is also a first year occupational therapy student from Guelph, Ontario. Michelle Edwards (front row, left) is also a first year medical student, she's from Toronto. Aleshia Denny (front row, right) is the nursing student on the team, she's currently doing her final term placement in her home town of Seaforth, Ontario.

2011 Team Applications

2010-09-09T11:41:00.001-04:00

Here is the moment all (ok some) of you have been waiting for. Here are the IHI 2010/2011 team applications.

If you are at all interested in being apart of the IHI team please take a minute to look over the application and over the rest of the blog to see if IHI is something you would like to be apart of. If after doing so you have any questions please, please, please don’t hesitate to email us at indiahealth(at)gmail(dot)com or using the link in our sidebar on the left.

Applications are due on Monday, October 4, 2010 and should be submitted to us as an attachment in an email. Send completed applications to indiahealth(at)gmail(dot)com. Everyone will be contacted by email and that email will indicate whether or not you have been selected for an interview and interviews will begin shortly after that.

So what are you waiting for?

Click here to get the 2010/2011 IHI application.

Jeremy, Kayla, Marissa and Pranavi.

ps. The application is in PDF format. If your computer does not have the capabilities to edit PDFs then just copy and paste the application into a word document and fill it out there. Good luck!

Farewell Amar Jyoti

2010-08-30T00:46:00.000-04:00

On our last day at Amar Jyoti, Dr. Tuli organized a meeting with some of the staff members to talk and share ideas about what we felt healthcare should be and how different (or similar) things are in Canada. It was a great way to wrap up our visit to AJ, but also our stay in India as a whole. We talked about our goals as students and what we gained from this global health experience. It was wonderful for us to see how far Amar Jyoti had come and how it continued to grow and serve its community. While we were unable to organize this, IHI 2011 may enjoy a day trip to Amar Jyoti’s second chapter in Gwalior.
Your generous support of the India Health Initiative enabled us to provide Amar Jyoti with a donation of $1000 CAD. This money will be put towards the building of a Creativity Room for the students of the integrated school.

A Tour of Amar Jyoti!

2010-08-30T00:20:00.000-04:00

During our short stay at Amar Jyoti, we learned about the plethora of services it provides and got to know some of its amazing staff members. In the Medical Building, we spent time in the prosthetics department, the physiotherapy department, the medical outpatient clinic, and the colourful occupational therapy department. Amar Jyoti has a school for physiotherapy and its PT students help to run the department on site, which serves a number of outpatients from the community as well as some of the students who attend the integrated school. AJ also provides training programs for special education teaching. On a given afternoon, the occupational therapy department was usually full of children being guided through exercises and games by their parents, the occupational therapist, and her student. The room is an inviting place for children and adults alike. While most of the people they treat are children with congenital physical limitations, they also treat adults with acquired disabilities such as following a stroke. The OT showed us some of the ways in which they counsel their clients, including how to make the home a safer place and how to modify everyday tools, such as cutlery, to make them easier to use.

In the medical outpatient department, we followed different physicians each day, from an assortment of specialties, who volunteered their time to see patients in the drop-in clinic. The facility has longstanding relationships with private and public hospitals in the area and makes referrals regularly. They have an operating room, a pathology lab and an imaging department on site. They serve as a great primary point of care for people in the community who are unable to or fearful of visiting larger hospitals.

Across from the medical building, on the other site of the basketball court and playground, is the Integrated School. This place completely embodies the idea of fully inclusive education. Not only is the building physically accessible to all (there is no floor that isn’t accessible by ramps and the floors are texturized to help guide their blind students), but the students learn in a way that embraces their individual talents and promotes equality and mutual respect. We observed a classroom full of children who were both deaf and blind as they learned ways to communicate; we saw mature students attend classes in the computer lab; we also saw students with varying levels of physical ability learn and play alongside one another.

We were given a real treat when the students of the school put on a special show just for us! It was an integrated dance number full of flips and tricks that the team performed on the TV show India’s Got Talent (just like the one in the US). Once the music started and they began their performance, smiling throughout, it did not matter which child had or did not have a physical disability. The students danced together and it was an absolute delight to watch!

Amar Jyoti also helps to empower adults in the community through its several vocational training programs. They have an aesthetician course, a textiles and bag-making department, a jewellery making shop, a carpentry department, IT training, and a bakery. Sometimes, when a child at the integrated school shows an interest in learning a particular trade, they can be found spending some time at the departments, practicing the skills hands-on.

As our visit neared its end, we were so thankful to Dr. Uma Tuli, the founder of Amar Jyoti, and all of the other staff members at AJ that made us feel so welcome and taught us all about their work. They also exposed us to some things off campus, like organizing a visit to a massive new private hospital and sending us out for a day of shopping at the famous Delhi Haat outdoor bazaar that featured souvenirs from every state in India.

Amar Jyoti's legacy

2010-08-23T07:55:00.003-04:00

Right after passing through the gates of Amar Jyoti, it becomes evident that this truly is a barrier-free facility. The rehabilitation centre and integrated school has an incredible history and is built upon a vision of inclusiveness and empowering people with disabilities. During our short stay here, we learned a great deal about the many projects carried out on its grounds.

First, check out this video on Amar Jyoti's mission, its several achievements, and its plans for the future:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglYmew_3dM

More travels!

2010-08-23T06:56:00.003-04:00

Upon arriving in the north, we immediately began traveling and visiting some of India’s most famous attractions. Our first stop: Agra and the legendary Taj Mahal. Our first view of the massive white marble ‘temple of love’ was nothing less than postcard-worthy! As we toured the Taj and the historic Agra Fort, we learned all about the Mughal empire responsible for erecting these landmarks. Following our first long day of sightseeing, we boarded an overnight train to our next destination: Varanasi. Here we explored some of the religious traditions of India, first visiting the temples, ruins, and museums of Sarnath, which is said to be the place where Buddha delivered his first sermon.
What the ancient city of Varanasi is most famous for is the river Ganges – one of three holy rivers in Hinduism. All along the river’s bank are temples and steps (called ghats) that lead to the water and that attract countless pilgrims every day. Everywhere and at every hour, there were rituals and prayer ceremonies carried out along the Ganges. It was truly a place like no other! On our last day in the region, we took an early morning boat ride on the river, watching the hundreds of people doing morning laundry, conducting yoga classes, meditating or praying, or holding traditional cremation funerals along the shore.

Another overnight train took us to the nation’s capital for the final leg of our stay in India. Amar Jyoti in New Delhi is our third and final NGO placement and we are all looking forward to learning about this amazing organization and sharing our experiences with you all!

One last trip in the South...

2010-08-23T06:15:00.004-04:00

Before heading North, we had the opportunity to spend some more time sightseeing in Kerala - this time in the gorgeous Thekkady region. There, even the heavy rains couldn’t distract us from the amazing landscape: mountains covered in lush forests and scattered with waterfalls; rubber and tea plantations lining the mountain roads; towering jackfruit trees everywhere; and wonderful shopping towns full of spice shops and ayurvedic spas. The four of us went on an elephant ride, followed by a walking spice tour where we learned about the native Kerala plants that work wonders in the kitchen and in the ayurvedic medicine cabinet. We also treated ourselves to massages, hearty (and spicy!) Kerala cuisine, and some shopping.

On our last day, we had the privilege of touring one of the largest ayurvedic medicine factories in the region called Sahyadri. It was amazing to see their massive collection of dried ingredients, all grown in the Kerala region, and to learn about how the products made from these materials have been used for centuries to target specific health concerns.

We were then off to the Cochin airport to board our flight to New Delhi, saying farewell to the southern region of India where we had spent the last four incredible weeks.

Delhi, Amar Jyoti etc. - A Quick Update

2010-07-28T04:13:00.004-04:00

This post is a) overdue and b) small.
This marks our last day at Amar Jyoti. Our stay has been short but a really amazing one.

Internet access is hard to come by in the area where we are staying so our blogs have been sparse however, not to worry, there are blogs to come.

We have updates on some touring and sightseeing we have done around Delhi as well as some posts about our time here at Amar Jyoti.

Tomorrow we are using our final full day in India to recharge, organize our things, pack and get ready to head back to Canada as we fly out on Friday.

The blogs about Amar Jyoti and Delhi will be posted soon after we return to Canada on July 31st so stay tuned for those.

We can hardly believe our time in India is finished and that we'll soon begin the journey of choosing and mentoring the next group of students who will form the IHI 2011 team. We once again want to extend our thanks to all of you who have made this journey possible for us and we look forward to seeing you all again very soon to tell you all about our time in India.

We miss you all.

Jeremy, Kayla and Pranavi

ps. Marissa had to return to Canada early last week for a family matter and she has made it home safely but we just want to say WE MISS YOU PRETTY FACE!!!

Contributions to ASSA

2010-07-21T01:00:00.001-04:00

Despite the very short amount of time we spent at Amar Seva Sangam, we all felt like we learned many valuable lessons and skills that will help us become better health care professionals. In the previous blog entry, we mentioned the parents’ manual that we were asked to develop. Similar to Canada, the therapy staff at ASSA only see their ‘clients’ for a short portion of a given day, while the parents of these children have at least 23 other hours to care for them. The point of the manual is to provide guidance to parents of children with disabilities in order to help them manage the challenges they face in the home. Unfortunately, we received the proposal for this project the day before we left Canada, so we completed most of the manual while in India. Due to our time constraints, we chose to focus the manual (thus far) on challenges faced by children with physical disabilities, as well as tips for managing these challenges at home and increasing independence for the children. The topic areas we have covered so far include communication challenges, eating/feeding challenges, learning through play, managing delays in physical abilities, increasing independence in self-care activities, managing high and low tone to prevent contractures, preventing pressure ulcers, and seizure management. We hope to continue working with next year’s IHI team to expand this part of the manual, and begin another section for children with cognitive delays and behavioural challenges.

In terms of donations, we were able to leave two suitcases filled with various medical supplies, including different types of gauze, specialized dressings, compression stockings, disinfectant solution, syringes, etc. These supplies were all donated by Not Just Tourists and Grand River Hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo, and were left with the Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Unit. Other items requested by ASSA included a blood pressure cuff, a thermometer, various strengths of Theraband, a Spirometer and 50 Spirometer mouthpieces, all of which was purchased in Canada prior to our departure.

After purchasing the supplies mentioned above, we were able to leave a $1,500 donation to be used as ASSA sees appropriate. After meeting with Sankar Raman (ASSA’s Chief Secretary) and Saravanan (Head Physiotherapist), we learned that they would like to put our donation towards a long-awaited project – a Sensory Integration initiative. The therapists at ASSA hope to provide child-directed therapy to the students at their special school using Sensory Integration. Interventions based on this type of theory aim to help children reach their optimal state of arousal (the perfect balance of being calm and alert). Once the child is at their ‘just right’ level of arousal, therapy interventions will be more successful. For more information on Sensory Integration theories and interventions, please feel free to visit the CanChild website from McMaster University through the following link:

http://www.canchild.ca/en/canchildresources/sensoryintegration.asp

Volunteering at ASSA

2010-07-19T14:27:00.002-04:00

Our first day started early, as we accompanied some of the ASSA children to their morning physiotherapy session. Starting at 7am, a number of kids already dressed in their red and white school uniforms took over the PT unit and we watched as they played together and did their exercises with the staff. We each played with the children who were waiting to receive therapy, throwing balls and playing clapping games. Soon everyone was up and off to breakfast with the other children, fitted with their callipers and orthotics, or wheeled by their friends. The lively ASSA morning routine continues with busloads of staff and children arriving at the main gates to attend school.

During a couple mornings, Kayla and Marissa observed the intimate classrooms at the Special School, where teachers were paired with no more than 10 to 15 students each, arranged in inclusive semi-circles where everyone could get the attention they needed. Here, students of all ages with varying developmental delays progress through grades based on ability and also learn activities of daily living, language skills (Tamil and English), and vocational skills for some of the more senior students. The students also receive regular physiotherapy at the school. Here, we met another volunteer from Denmark, Marianne, who was just wrapping up a three month stay at the school helping with English lessons.

Just across from the special school is the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Unit, with its friendly group of patients sitting outside in their wheelchairs, waving to passersby. As Pranavi and Jeremy attended morning rounds at the unit, they learned that each patient had met with an accident that drastically changed their lives and that this chronic care facility is meant to help them adjust and gain the skills necessary to live independently again. The unit has a 12-patient capacity and people stay and receive treatment and training for 6 months to a year. Here, patients get a well-fitted wheelchair (in fact, the unit serves as a store house for the several wheelchairs that ASSA provides to people in need throughout the district), counselling, medical care, round the clock orderlies to help with activities of daily living, vocational training or continued education, and daily physical therapy. ASSA’s field workers also visit the homes of these patients before and after they have moved out of the facility to ensure a smooth transition to life on their own.

We spent the rest of the week out in the field, participating in ASSA’s amazing Village Based Rehabilitation (VBR) Program that serves over 330 village communities within a 100 kilometre radius of the Sangam. We visited two of the six PMRC (Parent-Managed Respite Centre) special schools that this program supports. These schools of between ten and twenty kids each, provide physiotherapy and special education to children with developmental delays. We couldn’t help but notice what a warm and home-like environment these places were for the children and we loved getting to know the boys and girls at each school until they shared auto-rickshaws home at the end of the school day. We also accompanied the Sangam’s field physiotherapist and community rehabilitation worker during home visits, which was a one-of-a-kind experience for all of us. For those children who cannot attend the PMRC’s or the special school at ASSA, the VBR program identifies children with special needs and arranges regular home visits to provide physiotherapy and to train families to best manage their child’s condition at home. It was for this purpose that ASSA had asked this year’s IHI team to create a parents’ manual of practical tips for managing various physical limitations that children may face on a daily basis. While we visited people’s homes, we saw what a far-reaching impact ASSA has had in these villages, as children had custom callipers and other equipment available at home and their families were able to ask questions and learn how to care for their child with a special need. We hope that next year’s IHI team embraces this opportunity to learn about how various physical conditions are managed at home and how organizations like ASSA and their field work team has helped.

PS - Pictures hopefully to come! Technical difficulties...

Welcome to ASSA.

2010-07-16T06:29:00.002-04:00

We arrived at our second placement on Sunday and we knew right away that there was going to be a lot to explore at this large facility. Amar Seva Sangam Ayikudi truly is what its founders set out to create: a “haven” for the differently abled. Past its gates, you see plenty of wheel chairs, hand-operated bicycles, callipers, people walking or crawling with different gaits and rhythms – essentially, you see people finding their own unique way of getting around independently. It all fits very well with ASSA’s mission statement:
“To empower the disabled citizens by establishing a “Valley for the Disabled” as a Rehabilitation and Development Center for the region and to develop models for self-help initiatives by integrating the disabled individuals with the society for improved living conditions in the Village.”
The compound is six kilometres away from Tenkasi, the nearest city, and is surrounded by a serene landscape of wind turbines, open land, and distant mountains. It being a weekend, things were relatively quiet when we arrived, except for the sudden torrential downpour that lasted about an hour (it is rainy season after all!). After that, we took a quick tour of the facility. We met the children who live at ASSA first, as they congregated for a midday snack and greeted us with smiles and hellos. The children’s home is for those with physical disabilities who live, attend school, and receive physical therapy and ongoing care on site. ASSA also has a hostel for disabled youth and vocational trainees. The Sangam’s several services, however, are open to hundreds of people from the surrounding area that live off-site. These include physical therapy and medical screening, vocational training (we visited the tailoring and handicrafts workshop, the book binding machinery room, the typing workshop and the computer labs), an integrated primary and middle school for children with and without physical challenges in the area, and the newly constructed School for Special Children attended by 50 children in the area. This is all in addition to the field work done by ASSA in its several neighbouring villages. With all of that and a small dairy farm on the premises, it was a lot to see in one tour!
Since then, we’ve had quite a busy week and have tons to share with you! We’ll be updating the blog over the next few days with the details so stay tuned.

Adventures in Kerala!

2010-07-11T09:22:00.004-04:00

We have just returned from a lovely, five day vacation in various parts of Kerala, a state adjacent to the home of our first two organizations in Tamil Nadu. We began the vacation with nothing short of craziness, as we got up at 3:30am to catch a 5:30am train from Coimbatore to Cochin (a.k.a. Kochi) and nearly missed our train! We asked for direction from a staff member at the train station, only to find ourselves literally launching our bags through the door of the departing train...a train that turned out to be the wrong one! Luckily we met some very nice, English-speaking people on the train who told us when to get off to meet the proper one.

Despite the early-morning drama, we arrived safely in the main city of Cochin and were greeted by some very friendly residents who happen to be “friends of friends” of Pranavi’s family. They were amazing and arranged our entire five-day Kerala accommodations, travel, and sightseeing! We stayed for two days at the Abad Metro Hotel in Cochin, very nice accommodations for us! We were so excited to have comfortable beds, nice pillows, a hot shower, flushing toilet, and TV to watch the World Cup! Our second day in Cochin, our friendly driver, Shaiju, took us sightseeing around the city. We visited the old Cochin Royal Family palace in the morning, before spending the afternoon and evening in Fort Cochin. We visited many museums, learned some Indian history, and finished the day by watching a Kathakali Dance performance.

Our Kerala friends also arranged am overnight houseboat trip for us in Alleppey. This was the highlight of the trip for us so far, as we enjoyed our very comfortable float down the Kerala backwaters. The staff served us three full, Kerala-style meals, complete with prawns we bought in a village along the river. The houseboat dropped us off the next day at Rice Village, a resort run by a family in a village that’s only accessible by boat. The owners two young daughters took us on a little tour around the village, which was complete with many nerve-wracking trips across rickety wooden plank bridges. All around, the stay at the Rice Village Resort was a very relaxing one, and everyone took great care of us~! We completed our evening by watching the Indian version of “Deal or No Deal” with the owner and his daughters.

This afternoon we arrived at Amar Seva Sangam, our second organization in Tamil Nadu. We will be here until Saturday morning, and hope we can see everything in the short amount of time we have to be here! Stay tuned for details!

Your Donations, Hard at Work.

2010-07-08T02:00:00.001-04:00

As you already know, we have finished at FFC and left Coimbatore, and are currently enjoying our stay here in Cochin. On the recommendation of IHI 2009 we are taking some time in between each NGO placement to recharge and reflect on our experiences at the last placement.

Since we’ve been frequently sharing some of the hands on stuff we did during our stay there, we also wanted to share with you what some of the monies you, our amazing and generous sponsors, donated will be going towards here at FFC.

This is something that we didn’t take lightly at all. We have a large donation of about $2,500 we have for FFC and we wanted to spend it all wisely. Much of our time here was spent getting to know the facility, and asking the staff, the people who know best, where our money would best be spent. We got an amazing response from the staff here of things that they need.

Luckily we were able to purchase a number of things requested right here in Indi and we spent one of our mornings navigating the city, with the help of FFC’s awesome driver, Mani, purchasing these things. We bought rexin and rubber mats for the floors and the cribs, respectively, in the baby rooms, a pressure cooker, and a food processor and blender for preparing baby food. We also had a digital camera donated to us in Canada that we were able to leave with the FFC school.

For the remainder of our donation we split it into a wish-list of sorts, indicating where we would like to see our donation money going. A lot of the money has been designated to basic supplies needed to keep FFC running from day-to-day. These include school and art supplies, diaper materials for the baby rooms and special care sections, cooking supplies, and some new toys for each of the sections.

We mentioned that a lot of our time was spent assisting and observing with physiotherapy rounds here at FFC and we have seen a major need for funding here. Mukil Singh, the head PT here, identified that he could really use a new set of parallel bars and a standing table for the physio department here. He kindly looked into it and got a quote of how much it would be to have these supplies made and decided it would be feasible for us to donate the full amount to get each of these made. We have included this equipment in our wish-list and sent it off to Sandra Simpson, the amazing founder of FFC, who will consider our list and make the final decision on where our donation will be allocated. We are hopeful that these needs we identified with the help of the staff at FFC, will be met using the money we are so fortunate to be able to donate.

We thank you again for your generosity that allowed us to donate such a considerable donation to this amazing place.

Jeremy, Kayla, Marissa and Pranavi

Farewell to FFC.

2010-07-07T02:00:00.005-04:00

If you are reading this we are either on the train heading to Cochin, or we have arrived and have started our little four day break before we get started at ASSA.

We really enjoyed our time at FFC and met so many amazing people over the past two and a half weeks. Everyone was so kind and generous, always willing to help us out as we were trying to get settled and find our place her at FFC as well adjusting to a new environment and culture.When we first arrived everyone asked how long we were going to be staying here and they were all so surprised when we responded with two and a half weeks. We later found out that generally volunteers here stay for long time periods, often months and months at a time. We can now see why this is the case. It is as though we are only beginning to get settled here and started on some of the things we wanted to accomplish and now we have to leave.

I think the consensus among the four of us is that we are truly going to miss it here. The whole place is truly amazing. The concepts and philosophies behind it are something that we have never seen before. None of us have ever spent much time in an orphanage before, however we each had a picture in our mind’s eye of what an orphanage would be like and this, FFC, definitely does not fit the image that any of us had created.

It doesn’t feel like we’ve spent the past two weeks in an orphanage – instead it feels as though we have been spending time with a family. It feels as though this family has opened their doors and their home to us and welcomed us in as one of their own. The kids who live and go to school here, the men and women who both live and work here, and the various other people who keep this place running such as the teachers, the kitchen and office staff, are all one big family and now even after two short weeks, we feel as though we are also members of this large family.

That, as we’ve found, is the beauty of this place called Families for Children. We can say with absolute certainty this place lives up to its name 100% and like a family, it will be in our hearts forever.

Jeremy, Kayla, Marissa and Pranavi

Fun Times at FFC

2010-07-06T10:22:00.007-04:00

Today marks our last full day at FFC. Our train to Cochin leaves tomorrow at 5:30 am so today we have been saying our goodbyes, packing up our things, handing out photos that we have taken here and generally getting ready to leave tomorrow.

It hasn’t been all work in our two and half week stay here, we have found some time to have fun as well. We thought it would be a good time to reflect on some of the fun times we’ve had during our stay here at FFC.

On campus at FFC we started every day off with the Canteen ladies and their delicious breakfasts (chippathi, dosas and idly). No breakfast was complete without sitting to enjoy a tea afterwards before we got started on our day’s work.

A lot of our time was spent providing extra hands in the special baby room and that often meant we were able to play with these babies, read to them, take them outside to play in the school yard or for a walk in the strollers.We occasionally found ourselves on the playground at recess, playing with the school aged children. Running around with them, pushing them on the swings and relearning what it is like to be a kid. We often found on these little play breaks, that bubbles were a big hit with kids of all ages.

We also braved the rickshaws, the...exciting...Indian driving experience and the bustle of downtown Coimbatore to have some fun too. We experienced Chennai Silks, the huge clothing store downtown and got ourselves some salwars, tunic tops, and saris. It is a good thing they have amazing staff there to help you out because what a process it is just to buy a few articles of clothing. Upon walking through the facade, it looked like chaos to us. There were people everywhere and it seemed as though there was at least one staff member for every customer, it didn’t take long to realize however that this store was run like a finely oiled machine.

Today we got to get off campus with some of the special care boys in the wheelchairs that last year’s IHI team funded. We took a short walk down the street for some coffee, tea and savoury treats.

Sundays were our days off here at FFC. We took our first Sunday to head up into the mountains to visit the charming little city of Ooty. Our second Sunday was spent in Coimbatore. We treated some of the staff here at FFC to the good seats in the theatre to see a Tamil movie. We saw Raavanan starring Aishwarya Rai and the crowd-pleasers Prabu and Karthik. Later that night, the four of us enjoyed a fancy dinner buffet (including meat we felt comfortable eating) at the Residency Hotel.

One of the most interesting things we were asked to be a part of during our stay here was a wedding reception for a girl who grew up here at FFC. The reception took place right on the main FFC campus and everyone got to participate and they all got dressed up in their best party frocks, salwars, saris and suits. The food was amazing and was probably one of the best meals we enjoyed during our stay here. It was really cool for us because a lot of the older kids came back for the celebration – people who are now away studying at college, working or who have families of their own now. It was amazing for us to see them interact with each other and with the younger kids still living here at FFC.

It was also really cool to see them with all of the staff. We can see how that would be a very rewarding aspect of working here – catching up with these kids that they worked with who are now adults. It would be amazing to see the person that they have grown into and know that you had a hand in helping them get where they are today.

Love Kayla, Jeremy, Marissa, Pranavi

FFC SWAG!

2010-07-04T02:32:00.000-04:00

The FFC Women's Co-op employs some very talented seamstresses who create one-of-a-kind hand-made bags, each with a unique Indian flavour! Today, we picked up a few items that we will be selling when we get home to support this wonderful place we've called home for the last two weeks.

We love every single piece! There are small passport bags, messenger bags, awesome yoga kits that include a mat bag and a backpack, and hobo-style purses to choose from. We will post more details on how you can get yours when we return home.

Love,
Pranavi, Marissa, Jeremy, and Kayla

Hospital Visits

2010-07-03T09:55:00.007-04:00

To better understand the nature of healthcare provision in India, IHI will try to visit area hospitals at each of our placements. Last week, we visited a new small private hospital called the Rajam Medical Centre in Coimbatore. It is a 40-bed hospital with physicians of virtually every specialty available on call, two operating theatres, and a delivery room. We felt that Rajam’s atmosphere was a warm and inviting one and that the small size of the hospital allowed for the personalized care of the each patient. The staff mentioned that they see several patients in their cardiac care unit that travel from neighbouring countries for that very reason. Though they are a private institution, they do provide some emergency treatment to patients who can’t normally afford their services.

Today, we had the opportunity to tour the government hospital in Coimbatore, which happens to be celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year. It truly is a massive facility and it serves over 4000 outpatients a day! As we walked from building to building we were a bit taken aback by the crowds and the hospital’s size. The government hospital provides free medical care to the population, including medications, and it has every department you can think of on the one campus—dental surgery, physiotherapy, vascular surgery, neonatology, paediatric surgery and medicine, trauma, ENT, psychiatry, cancer treatment, ophthalmology, leprosy treatment, diagnostic imaging including a CT and MRI lab, all of the inpatient wards...everything down to the coroner’s office can be found at this one large medical education and treatment centre. Several children from FFC regularly visit the neurology department for the ongoing treatment of seizure disorders. There is also an STD clinic on site that provides free anti-retroviral treatment for patients with HIV.

We also did some shopping for FFC today. We drove through the busy streets of Coimbatore and picked up some essentials for the baby rooms: waterproof bedding, a pressure cooker and heavy-duty blender for preparing food for the little ones. We ended the afternoon with a snack – plaintain bajii, yum!We only have a few days left here at FFC and they are quite busy. We have a few blog posts that we are planning on sharing with you to keep you all updated about what's going on with us here in Coimbatore. Then we are off to ASSA after a short break in Cochin. We really appreciate all of you who read this blog . It means a lot to us that all of the people who have supported us and supported this initiative are connected to this trip. We want you all to see exactly what your donations are doing in this country. So we thank you!!

Jeremy, Kayla, Marissa and Pranavi

On Holiday.

2010-06-29T10:54:00.008-04:00

Coimbatore was home to the International Tamil Conference last week, so things have been a bit different at FFC during this district-wide holiday. While classes were on hold, FFC held activities for the children all week, such as drawing and writing competitions and fancy dress-up days. This past Saturday, we had the pleasure of being the “guests of honour” at the event that wrapped up the week’s festivities – an awesome variety show held in the girls’ living quarters. Dozens of children sat in rows on the floor or atop of the bed frames stacked along the back of the room. Everyone was super-excited to get the show started, including all of the FFC teachers that were MC’ing the event. We watched as the pre-schoolers danced for us in their frilly dresses. The grade one and two classes performed their own numbers as well. A few of the little boys dressed up as old men (complete with painted on moustaches) and put on a short play. Some of the teen girls at FFC performed some impressive dance numbers from popular Tamil movies...the FFC kids are certainly an adorable and talented bunch! At the end of the show, prizes were awarded to the winners of the various contests held throughout the week, and every teacher was gifted with a new tiffin (a metal lunch box). On their way out, every child got some candy, a colourful pencil and ruler, and a sticker. No one went away empty-handed and everyone had a great time!
While we were watching the show we couldn’t help but think of how if we were putting this show on with our classmates at school, our parents would be in the audience taking our picture, waving at us, and telling us how proud they were of our performance afterwards. We thought how hard it must be for these kids to not have that. But the reality is that they did have it. The people watching them dance in the audience is their family. We have to remind ourselves continually that while these kids may not have a family in the conventional sense, they do have a family in the staff at the school, the mom’s who take care of them in the girls house and the boys house and in all the other little boys and girls that they live with.

For us, the most memorable part of the whole experience was seeing, again, how much of a family FFC really is. All of the children and staff here treat one another as their own and you can see that as they cheer for their brothers and sisters at performances like this one, or on any other day in the classroom or in the yard. The teens are mentors to the younger ones, and the little kids look after the even littler ones! In the special-care rooms, the senior students look after the more challenged students and they all learn from each other. Some of the staff themselves grew up at FFC and now continue to give back to the place they called home. During Saturday’s show, we felt like we were allowed into a family gathering and we really did appreciate the opportunity to be a part of such a loving and supportive environment.

We took a bit of a holiday ourselves on Sunday and explored more of Tamil Nadu with a day trip to Ooty –a popular tourist spot a few hours away from FFC and home to the highest mountain peak in all of Southern India. The drive into Tamil Nadu’s mountainous region was a scenic one and we took plenty of photos of the area’s lush greens, bustling hill station areas, and small villages nestled in the steep slopes. The day was really lovely and it was nice to get away for the day and to see a completely different part of the country. We saw monkeys and elephants on the drive up the mountain, and the expansive tea fields on the way home. All in all it was a really lovely day. love Kayla, Marissa, Jeremy and Pranavi

Physiotherapy at FFC

2010-06-25T07:37:00.007-04:00

Mukhil Singh, the physiotherapist at FFC, has been very welcoming and invited us to join him for some of his therapy sessions with the kids. Mukhil, along with a few PT students, provide therapy to many of the children living at FFC. Since there are so many children who would benefit from PT, he explained that he has to focus on those with the most significant needs. Most of his clients live in Special or Extra Special Care, and range in age from infancy to adulthood.

We observed Mukhil provide PT to five children in Extra Special Care, and found that most of the focus was on preventing or managing contractures and promoting mobility. Therapeutic equipment used for his clients included Ankle-Foot Orthotics (AFOs), leg braces, walkers, wheelchairs, and a therapy ball. Here, we met seven year old Senthil sitting in his new wheelchair. Last year’s IHI team donated $2300 towards the ‘Mobility India project,’ which allowed FFC to purchase 15 wheelchairs. Many of the chairs that were available before this time were adult-sized, so these child-sized chairs were very much appreciated and are clearly being put to good use.The main difference we’ve noticed between the sessions we observed and those in Canada is that a single piece of equipment may be used for a number of children, and is not customized to fit a given child. In Canada, it seems that there is more of a focus on equipment being the perfect fit for the child. Although this isn’t the case at FFC, the children really seem to benefit from the therapies that are provided and are flourishing given the circumstances. Each of these children lit up and were so proud to be able to walk independently (using the walker or while wearing leg braces or AFOs). There are so many children here who move around very functionally and independently without any adaptive equipment. It really seems that children are very creative, and will find a way to do what they need to do, regardless of the equipment they may or may not have access to.When speaking with Mukhil, he explained that the individuals at FFC would greatly benefit from a standing table, as well as equipment to use for electrical stimulation. His department is also in need of more small equipment like therapy balls, foam wedges and rolls. Near the end of our time with FFC, we will look at the needs of the different care areas and split up our $2500 donation accordingly.

Families for Children or Our Adventures thus Far.

2010-06-23T06:23:00.004-04:00

We arrived at our first placement on Saturday, June 19th. Families for Children is an orphanage located in Podanur in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The more we explore it, the more we fall in love with this incredible facility and all of the projects underway here. Our guest house is right across from the small and middle boys section – a building called Harry’s House. Every morning we wake up to the sound of sweeping as the little ones get up and help clean the grounds before they sit in rows for breakfast. In our mission to befriend our adorable neighbours, we mixed some dish soap and water, curled some of the pipe cleaners we brought as part of our school supply donation into circular wands and blew bubbles! Of course, it was a hit. Soon we had dozens of kids chasing them, blowing their own, and calling all of us Auntie or Sister (Jeremy included).

Close by are the Special and Extra-Special Care buildings. Here, children with cognitive disabilities are cared for. Anyone who walks by is greeted with many smiles and waves from the girls out in front. Upstairs are the “Extra-Special Care” rooms, home to children who require increased attention and help with mobility and personal care. We will be spending quite a bit of time there helping the friendly staff care for the 28 children that stay there. The Special Care Boys section is located in a separate building and is home to 45 people ranging in age from 3 to 35 – each with their own unique talents, needs, and personalities. There are always a handful of friendly students sitting on the stoop ready to strike up a conversation with us when we come visit. Their teacher, Chandraleela, helped them prepare a yoga and dance demonstration for us where the students showed off their skills and cheered each other on. Their classroom was filled with the crafts the students created, the toys that help with their manual dexterity and coordination, and the hand-made soap bars and greeting cards from their vocational training workshops. We hope to spend more time with their class next week and potentially go on a field trip off the grounds.

As a joke, the staff often says that they can always track down their FFC children because they smell like goats. We didn’t understand what this meant until we were shown the FFC goat farm. The facility provides all of the milk for the children on the site, as well as the soap everyone uses here. Jeremy and Pranavi are determined to each milk a goat while we’re here, and Kayla and Marissa have agreed to watch from a safe distance. We’ll keep you posted about how this goes.

Last year’s IHI team often mentioned their “favourite ladies in the co-op across the street.” We were introduced a couple days back to these ladies and the amazing handmade purses and handbags they make and sell in the market. This co-op is a place for some of the women of all abilities who grow up at FFC to work and have an income when they are no longer in school. We’re all super excited to purchase some purses to bring home with us! The ladies have recently begun a new project – dyeing fabrics in intricate batik patterns using all-natural dyes.

Close to this co-op is the home for the older boys, who can stay on the compound until the age of 21 when they find jobs and move off site. A group of boys can always be found in the front yard reading or playing. The facility is also home to vocational projects for the boys, including a paper-making project and greeting card station. We were amazed to see a bunch of the guys hand-embroidering and hand-painting designs onto these greeting cards. They were a very talented group, with one gentleman sewing wonderful flower designs even without any vision!

A short walk away and across a busy street are more FFC buildings (FFC is basically a little village of buildings within a village). Each day we walk over to this section to visit the canteen for our meals – the ladies here are so very friendly and even accommodate Marissa’s sensitivity to wheat products. Each morning we have our dosas/chapattis/pooris and sweet tea before heading off for the day’s adventures. We recently also met Thangaraj, the man who runs the FFC lending library that is open to everyone in the town. We hope to spend some of our down-time there helping him catalogue the growing number of books in his library.

This section is also home to the FFC school (pre-kindergarten to grade 3), the baby rooms, toddler area, and the middle/older girls building. Many of the girls here are eager to show off their English – something we have yet to reciprocate well in Tamil (beyond “unga par anah?” – what is your name?). Pranavi has been doing a great job of translating the Tamil she knows, and the rest of us just smile, bob our heads, and manage to use “vanakum” (hello) and “nandri” (thank you) as much as we can!

We spent Monday visiting with the babies and toddlers, as well as some of the classrooms. The babies are so cute – if we could, we would seriously sneak some home with us! The staff at FFC do wonders with these babies – many of them come here with various medical and physical challenges, and many are malnourished when they arrive at FFC. The little guys we have met are so bright-eyed, interactive, and playful (although there are definitely a couple little babies who are terrified of us crazy strangers). We dared to venture into the pre-school and came out exhausted! The kids are so much fun and are eager to play with us. In the grade one class, we were pulled into a round of “Are You Sleeping?” and “Wheels on the Bus.” The kids also showed us how well they know their English numbers!

This week we will continue to learn more about this amazing project here and try to find our place in it all. We have a few planned appointments (helping PT in the extra special care section, going for walks with some of the kids here, visiting a government and a private hospital in Coimbature, planning a field trip) throughout the week but much of what we will be doing here is finding out where an extra pair of hands are needed and situating ourselves there. We have had a lot of discussion this week amongst ourselves about what our role is going to be here and often find ourselves caught up with the need to be ‘doing’ something to help out. We forget that by being here, being with the children, socializing and playing games and by assisting with even the smallest things, we are being helpful. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we do not have all of the answers and a big part of our mission here is to learn from these amazing people about their culture and the way they do things here. There are so many amazing staff members here (we have already met a number who have been here since it all started over 30 years ago) that all have some valuable knowledge to share with us.

I think it is safe to say we are all very excited about the opportunities that FFC holds for us and we can’t wait to find out what some of those opportunities are.

Update!! or Waiting in Abu Dhabi.

2010-06-18T12:39:00.000-04:00

We (three of us, Jeremy, Kayla & Marissa) are currently sitting in the Abu Dhabi International Airport waiting for our connecting flight to Chennai. Our flight was long, but manageable, with the longest leg of the trip over with. The airline was pretty amazing with OnDemand movies, tv and radio, and overall good service. We would definitely recommend Etihad Airlines to anyone looking to travel in this direction.

It is currently 8:23pm on Friday June 18 and our flight leaves at 10:15 so we thought what better way to spend our time than to update our blog?!

You’ll notice we said three of us are waiting here, Pranavi is already on route to Chennai and will arrive a couple of hours before us tomorrow. We miss you Pinky and we’ll see you tomorrow!

Ok. Hopefully the internet will be good to us on our trip and we can update regularly but if not we will update whenever we can. So stay tuned for more.

Jeremy, Kayla and Marissa

This time next week…

2010-06-14T23:15:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it feels like just yesterday we took this picture, and other times it feels like a lifetime ago. But, this time next week, all of our hard work in planning and fundraising will be paying off when we will finally be in India working away at FFC. We are very busy putting together final preparations for our trip, making sure that everything is in order for when we arrive.

We recently had a meeting with a Speech/Language Pathologist who travels to India frequently and warned us that we will probably fall in love with the country and the people. She told us all about her trips to India, what we could expect, things we should do and see etc. and now we are all very excited to get to India and start our work there.

The past 7 months have been a whirlwind of planning and fundraising and we can hardly believe it is finally come time for us to get on a plane and go to India. There were times when we wondered if this day would ever come and now it is upon us. We fly out on Thursday night and will be in India early Saturday morning.

We really want to thank everyone who has been there for us and supported us over the past 7 months during the planning stages of our trip. We couldn’t have done it without you – both our financial supporters and those who have supported us in other ways with time, wisdom and travel tips. Thank you so very much – you all mean the world to us.

We want to remind you that donations can still be made either online or by cash or cheque in the mail. Please follow the directions in the right hand side bar to make a donation. Any donations over $40 will still be eligible for a tax receipt and any size donation will be very helpful in making the final amount of our fundraising goal. Donations can be made now and even after we leave for India.

Also, one final thing. Please bookmark this blog site. We have had some technical difficulties with the site but we seem to have them worked out and we will be updating the blog from India. We will be keeping you posted on what we are up to and how we are making out on our travels and how each of our volunteer opportunities are going. We will be sharing pictures and stories with you, our supporters, we really want to make an effort to keep you all in the loop so you can see how your donations are being put to work.

Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers both now and as we continue on this journey.

Jeremy, Marissa, Kayla and Pranavi.

(and bookmark this page!!)

EII Recap

2010-06-14T23:05:00.001-04:00

An Evening in India went off without a hitch on Saturday April 10 and anyone who attended will tell you that it was a fantastic, entertaining night of fun and culture.

Here are a few pictures from the event. IHI 2010 team with IHI 2009. Our amazing DJ, and IHI alum, Larissa! Two of the amazing people who helped us in planning and running EII 2010 – Dr. Bhayana and Dr. Prasad.

We want to say a huge thank you to all of our supporters who came out to enjoy the night. It really meant a lot to us. We also want to thank everyone who helped us put the night together, without their help EII could never have happened. There are a few people who deserve special mention:

Dr. Prasad, Dr. Bhayana and Dr. Venkatessan who were instrumental in planning and assisting with the night. The staff at W. Sherwood Fox Public School who were amazing at accommodating us in their lovely space and assisting with clean up afterwards. Larissa and family for supplying the DJ supplies and DJing for us. All of the ladies who made and donated food and drink as well as all who donated supplies and silent auction items. IHI 2009 who were extremely helpful with all aspects of the night but always seemed to be making sure there was someone at a ticket, food or merch table. And also a big thank you to all of the performers. You were amazing! Thank you for taking the time to put together such wonderful performances and truly making our night as special as it was.

There are so many people who deserve to be thanked, and if we’ve missed anyone please charge it to our head and not our heart. All who helped out mean the world to us.

We also want to remind you that EII 2010 was filmed and DVDs can be purchased. For just $10, you can relive all of the acts of the night any time you want from the comfort of your own home. To order your copy email us at indiahealth@gmail.com. Simply tell us how many copies you would like, as well as your name and address and we will get back to you. Order quickly because copies are going fast.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to support us. Love Jeremy, Marissa, Pranavi & Kayla

It’s Coming Up.

2010-03-13T16:37:00.001-05:00

Just a friendly reminder that the Evening in India fundraiser is coming up very quickly.

Call or email to get your tickets!!

Help Promote IHI

2010-02-25T20:50:00.001-05:00

We’ve said it before – that we are a completely student run organization. That means we need all the help we can get to promote and fundraise for our cause. We would be so appreciative if you would post one of these buttons on your blog or website. It’s easy all you need to do is copy and paste the code provided into your website and you’ll link all of your friends, visitors and followers to our website.

<a href="http://www.indiahealthinitiative.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr352/justme_jeremyk123/blogbutton-small150x60.jpg" width="150" /></a>
You can also get the same code on the right side bar of this blog just under our email link. If you have any questions about how to do this you can email me at jkroes[at]uwo[dot]ca.

As always if you have any questions feel free to email us at indiahealth[at]gmail[dot]com or you can click the link in the right sidebar.

Thank you!!

Jeremy, Kayla, Marissa and Pranavi

An Evening in India 2010

2010-02-25T19:36:00.002-05:00

To help meet our fundraising goals this year, IHI will continue the tradition of hosting “An Evening in India – A South- Asian Inspired Gala of Cultural Shows and Cuisine”. In the past this event has been a fantastic success featuring some of the top South-Asian musicians and dancers in South-Western Ontario.

This year we plan to build on the past success of this event by delivering and evening full of South-Asian inspired acts, food, fun and even a silent auction. We would love it if you could make it. To reserve tickets email us at indiahealthinitiative[at]gmail[dot]com or you can use the link in the left hand side. You can also call 519.854.3943 to reserve tickets.

If you are interesting in performing or offering your support in any way, please don’t hesitate to email us.

We hope to see you there.

Jeremy, Kayla, Marissa & Pranavi

The Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)

2010-02-25T19:20:00.006-05:00

The NGOs are the reason we go to India and the reason the IHI is in existence. There is mutual benefit for both us and the NGOs. While we are there we are volunteering at each agency as well as providing education and resources to the staff and volunteers. Also while we are there we have the opportunity to learn about the culture in India, observe how things are done and hopefully become better, more well-rounded and culturally sensitive health professionals.
For this summer of 2012 we will be visiting three NGOs in India (click the name of each to be directed to their website).

1 – Families for Children

Families for Children (FFC) is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian agency operating homes that care for hundreds of destitute children and women in India and Bangladesh. FFC was founded in 1971 by Sandra Simpson, of Montreal, Canada, when she became aware the plight of children in Vietnam. There, she facilitated many adoptions of mixed race and handicapped kids to the USA and Canada, and helped raise funds and supplies for homes run by Rosemary Taylor in Saigon. Today, Sandra still supervises all the organization's activities, and runs the sponsorship program. Her work for children has received official recognition in recent years by the award of the Ontario Medal, and the Order of Canada.
This year we will be assisting by donating school and childcare supplies to the organization. While there we will provide classes and workshops on pain management, feeding techniques and wound care (all needs for information and resources are self-identified by the agency). There is also an opportunity for the OT students and the nursing student to assist in providing care to the children and mothers in need.

2- Amar Seva Sangam

Located in a beautiful valley in the state of Tamil Nadu, Amar Seva Sangam (ASSA) is literally a haven for the underprivileged and disabled to excel. SSA is dedicated to providing, rehabilitation and education to Indian Youths on its 26-acre campus which contains clinical, primary school and vocational training facilities.
This year we will be involved in a sensory integration unit in the school as well as working with the physiotherapist in the development of a training program for parents of children with special needs. We will also continue with projects that past IHI teams have started in this organization.

3 – Comprehensive Rural Health Project Jamkhed

The Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed, Maharashtra, is an innovative community-based model of health care delivery focused on extending care to the rural, poor, and marginalized populations of the area. The project consists of a 50 bed secondary care hospital in Jamkhed, which annually treats about 20 000 outpatients, as well as many projects extended to the smaller villages around. These include mobile health teams, training village health workers, and providing various education and public health initiatives. There is a large focus on community-based care based on the principles of equity, integration, and empowerment.
This year, the team will be volunteering at the Jamkhed hospital and where ever we can with the mobile health teams. This is the first year IHI has worked with the Comprehensive Rural Health Project, and we hope to build some strong relationships that future teams can build on.

NGO affliated with 2011 team - Lifeline Express

Lifeline Express is a mobile train “hospital” run by the Impact India foundation; it has been specifically created to address the growing numbers of undiagnosed and untreated persons with epilepsy living in rural India. The team of volunteer physicians, nurses, elders, and family members from each region participate in the running of free clinics and provision of free therapy. In addition, there is a large counselling and educative component to this project, for patients and families (removing stigmas, addressing faith healing, etc.) and also for local doctors to increase their proficiency in treatment and recognition of epilepsy. Their goal is to build up local networks of epilepsy caregivers that can provide support and relief to the many patients in need.

Donate to IHI

2010-02-03T01:05:00.009-05:00

The India Health Initiative is a 100% student run charity. Therefore we rely entirely on the generosity of our supporters to reach our goals and continue this important initiative. Donations made will go towards financing the cost of our projects including supplies, educational materials, travel and accommodation expenses.
Donations made are eligible for a tax receipt and can be made in one of two ways: donating online or donating by mail. Please see instructions for both below.

1-Donating Online

1 – Go to the UWO Donations page at Western Makes a Difference.

2 – Under ‘Direct my gift to’ select ‘Alternatively, I would like to direct my gift to:”

4 – Now enter ‘India Health Initiative’ in the text box and continue through the steps of donation.

2 - Donating by Mail

Cash or cheque donations can be sent to us by mail at this address:

India Health Initiative

c/o Michelle Edwards

695 Talbot St, Apt. 307

London, ON

N6A 2T8

Please make cheques out to University of Western Ontario with “India Health Initiative” in the notes section.
Be sure to include your Name and contact information if you would like a tax receipt.
We thank you in advance for your generous support in this initative
Michelle, Paige, Ashok, Aleshia, and David

The 2010 IHI Team

2010-02-02T23:50:00.002-05:00

Hello!

My name is Marissa Van Brunt and I just started my first year of occupational therapy at the University of Western Ontario. Most of my education and experience in the past few years has been focused on working with people who have special needs. With an Undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation, I have a specific interest in holistic health. Having had a brief opportunity to travel internationally and work on a community development trip in Costa Rica, I am looking forward to the array of new experiences to come. As an occupational therapist and health care worker, I know I will be challenged regularly to be creative and also to be culturally competent. Traveling on an interdisciplinary team to a country very different from Canada will likely help me to develop some very useful skills! Thank you so much for your support!

Hello, my name is Kayla Bennett and I am a first year Occupational Therapy student at the University of Western Ontario. I am an alumnus of the University of Waterloo, having completed an undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Business in 2009. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I worked with several individuals with a variety of physical and developmental disabilities, at summer camps, group homes, and personal residences. This past summer I travelled outside of North America for the first time to Chile and Argentina. I am excited to be a part of the IHI team, to expand my knowledge and skills as an Occupational Therapy student, and to learn about health care in India through this opportunity.

Hi.

I am Jeremy Kroes and I am currently in my third year of Nursing. I entered university straight out of high school and completed the first two years of my degree at Fanshawe College in London. Much of my experience in nursing so far has been in geriatrics but I am always looking for new experiences, and ways to broaden my knowledge and skill base – I see my membership on the IHI 2010 team as a perfect opportunity to do both of those things. Global health is something that I have known about for some time, my mom works with an organization that organizes short term mission trips to all areas of the world. I have had a lot of vicarious experiences in such travel through my parents and the work that my mom does. I would love to gain some experience of my own in this important area. I am so excited to be apart of the team this year to help out a people who may not be as fortunate as we find ourselves, to gain experience in global health and to expand my knowledge of nursing.

Hello!

My name is Pranavi Ravichandran and I'm a first-year medical student at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at UWO. I'm originally from Toronto, where I completed an undergraduate degree in Human Biology and English Literature.
I admire the rich culture and diversity that defines India, have always been interested in global health issues, and strongly believe in the ability of students to collaborate and bring about change in our international community. Needless to say, the India Health Initiative was the perfect project for me to become involved with and I'm extremely excited to be a part of this interdisciplinary team this year. Myself and the other future healthcare professionals that make up IHI 2010 are passionate about supporting the invaluable services that NGO's provide to marginalized communities in Southern India and we're looking forward to the experience of a lifetime this summer!

About the India Health Initiative

2010-01-24T15:10:00.001-05:00

The India Health Initiative (IHI) was born out of a volunteer trip made by two UWO students in the summer of 2003. They researched and volunteered at an organization called Amar Seva Sangam (ASSA), which is dedicated to providing rehabilitation and education for the disabled in rural India. The students felt that follow-up was required, and wanted to see continued improvement in programs for the disabled in India. Hence, they formed the IHI whereby future health care professionals would be sponsored to go into India yearly to work with such non-government organizations (NGO’s) to make differences in the lives of the under-privileged.

Our mission is to provide medical and social services to the people of India and to model well rounded, culturally sensitive health care professionals for the future.

Now, each year the IHI sends a team of 3-5 medical, dentistry, nursing, and occupational therapy students to various sites in India.The India Health Initiative has two chief mandates: Education and service.

IHI aims to encourage the education of well-rounded health care professionals for the future by providing opportunities for the development of clinical, research, teaching and communication skills in various cultural and socio-economic settings, and by exposing students to complex public health issues, the healthcare systems and the ailments experienced by the inhabitants of an extremely diverse and developing country.

IHI tries to contribute to healthcare and health promotion in India by assisting the efforts of organizations working in this field. This is done by:

Developing and fostering relationships and projects with key individuals and organizations
Developing and gathering educational materials
Collecting medical supplies, equipment and monetary donations for these organizations, and
Increasing awareness of India's culture and the problems faced by its people at the University of Western Ontario and the local Canadian community.

Learn more about past IHI teams (2003-2007) here and about the 2009 team here.