Reset search
IndiaIndia
SatelliteEdit route

India

February 2019
Going to India to volunteer and thought I’d share a few moments on here! Read more
  • 21footprints
  • 2countries
  • 14days
  • 103photos
  • 13videos
  • 92.1kkilometers
  • 65.5kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerIndia
    Day 2

    Arriving in Delhi

    February 3, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌫 17 °C

    I arrived at the airport and after struggling to find my taxi driver, I managed to eventually make it to the volunteer house! Me and a new South African friend arrived together and got a tour of the family home, it was colourful and I was put in a 10 bed dorm! We spent the day chatting and getting to know each other and the other volunteers. We then had a slightly dodgy sweet corn curry followed by a trip to the supermarket to stock up on essentials (oranges and biscuits in my case). We came back and sat on the terrace with this sunset whilst chatting and having a yum dinner! 🇮🇳Read more

  • TravelerIndia
    Day 3

    First day of project

    February 4, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌫 17 °C

    Today we woke up and had orientation followed by a trip to the local craft and art festival market in Faridabad! We then went for a walk outside the house and as our house is literally right in the middle of the slums, we walked through and met the children and people. Staying in a house in the slums gives us such a unique experience to see the daily life of the local people here, it was amazing. I had asked Vishy (the man in charge of the volunteer house) if there was any surgeries today and he said that there would be 2 at 6pm however he wasn’t sure what these would be. Never the less I decided to go as I wanted to get as much exposure as possible! I went to this tiny slum hospital and the conditions were just a million miles away from england and the western world. The surgeon walked in in bare foot and in home clothes, before sitting down and starting surgery on his first patient. I first watched a prostate be removed and then a bladder tumour be removed. A sample of the tumour cells were removed to be used for biopsy. We then watched another surgery of a similar tumour removal and were about to leave when the surgeon said there was a C - section coming in! We stayed and it was the most INCREDIBLE thing I have ever seen. I was literally stood over the patient with the surgeon holding instruments as they cut open this lady and pulled out a tiny 32week old baby. We waited for it to cry as it was blue and so tiny! The amount they stretch the skin once they have made the incision was fascinating! I was literally stood over the lady when the baby was pulled out next to the surgeon, it was amazing. We then watched them stitch the uterus and stomach and everything back up and they showed us how to stitch the uterus etc together properly. The patients friend then said we could go and meet the baby whose leg was slightly deformed and so we did and he was gorgeous. It was one of the most surreal and incredible experiences I have ever had. It was amazing how one minute the baby was still in the uterus and the next it was crying in front of us!!Read more

  • TravelerIndia
    Day 4

    An amazing day

    February 5, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌫 21 °C

    Today I had an incredible day. It was my first time going to the slums to the proper area that PMGY have set up. We arrived and the free slum clinic and local school were right next door. First we went into the school and watched the children’s assembly where they sung and danced for us, it was so sweet. I then Went to the slum clinic and sat with an amazing doctor who volunteers here 5 times a week. We met about 40 local patients all in about 2.5 hours and then I would take their blood pressure and details and the doctor would write prescriptions. All the medicine that was given out is funded by PMGY so it is an incredible free health clinic for the local people. It was right next to a slum school and basically Vishy the guy who runs PMGY funds the slum school and slum clinic and all the medication they give out, it’s amazing! We then went outside and played kebaddi with the children for playtime, played skipping and then they sung to us was so funny! In the afternoon we went to an orphanage and the children were so cute. We sat with them and gave them questions as homework and then we danced and played with them! Was so fun :)Read more

  • TravelerIndia
    Day 5

    Day 3 on project

    February 6, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today we decided to go back to the slums as we had such an amazing day yesterday. We woke up about 9am and managed to find some Nutella in the back of the cupboards so had a break from curry for breakfast, it was divine!!! We then rode on the back of tuktuks to the slums and I started off with the women doctor at the free slum clinic today. It was amazing to see, about 20 women from the slums came in, each with different reasons, from struggling to conceive to contraception to pain during pregnancy. I took each of their blood pressure and the doctor explained to me the course of action. I then helped the lady hand out pregnancy tests and contraception it was amazing. I was even there to witness the moment a lady found out she was pregnant after struggling to conceive for 5 years. I then went next door and started giving out the free medication that was prescribed by the doctor and donated by PMGY. I sat with the doctor in there and cleaned and dressed 3 wounds for patients. I was then asked by a teacher to come help in her classroom and I had to teach an hour lesson on decimals. It was amazing to see how much they needed help, I even had to explain to the teacher that some of the work was incorrect so felt like I was actually making a difference! I marked a comprehension and was asked to do a decimals part two lesson tomorrow. We then played kebaddi with the kids again and then came back in a tuktuk. We spent the afternoon at a Bollywood dancing class it was hilarious! Then we came back and me and Hannah had eaten like 200 rusks so we did a workout lolRead more

  • TravelerIndia
    Day 6

    Day 4

    February 7, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌫 17 °C

    Today was such a busy day!! this morning I woke up early so I could have the best breakfast but we got taken down to pray downstairs and it took 35 minutes, I had to rush my breakfast in the end lol! The priest threw water on us and gave us a bindi! I first went to the slums and went to the children’s assembly where they sung and danced for us! The female doctor then took me with her to the medical slum clinic and today there were more women than yesterday. I gave out 4 vitamin D shots and cleaned wounds again, it was so interesting! We even saw an infected C-section wound from 3 years ago that the doctor assessed and explained what the course of action would be. I was then asked by the same teacher as yesterday to teach a second part to my decimal lesson in the tiny classroom. It was actually amazing, at the start they couldn’t understand how to order decimals in ascending and descending order and by the end they could do it, I even had to set them homework and promise the teacher I would come back tomorrow after the slum clinic to help again! We then came back for some needed lunch and half way through eating Vishy ran in saying there is a surgery if anyone wants to go. Me and one other girl were like we’ll go so we got in Vishy’s car and drove to a different slum hospital. We watched a lady hAve a hysterectomy where her uterus got removed. The surgeon said there would be another C-section later on so we waited not knowing how long it would be. The lady was induced and unfortunately she needed a C-section so we were lucky we waited! We then watched the C-section and it was just as aamazing as last time. The lady did lose quite a lot of blood which was stressful but she was okay and the baby was a gorgeous healthy baby girl! It was amazing. We then came back and had samosas they were so yum! We had been told that there was a boys orphanage next door that we could go to any time so Hannah, Bri and Summer went next door and played UNO and did magic tricks with the boys, it was so fun! We are definitely gonna go back in the evenings!Read more

  • TravelerIndia
    1
    Day 7

    Last day on project before the weekend!

    February 8, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Today I decided to go to the dispensary instead of the slum clinic and as I was the only one going I was in the tuk tuk on my own! Yesterday there was a hailstorm in the evening and so there was so much water on the roads! We drove about 10 minutes to a different slum than usual and ended up picking up the doctor on the way. She was so nice and her English was actually quite good! The place we drove into was absolutely covered in rubbish with water everywhere I couldn’t believe it and there were houses lining the edges. We walked about 5 minutes into the slums and came to a small room which was the dispensary. A huge array of patients came in from the local community and as the doctor had been doing this for 2 years she gave me full patient history’s so it was so interesting. She made me do so much, take names (which was hard guessing how to spell the Indian names haha), ages, blood pressure, blood glucose, administer vitamin shots, give out nebulisers to children and even clean out and dress 5 super infected wound - the one on the mans foot being the worst! After a super busy day of patients I headed back to the house and had some lunch. I then sorted out all my things and pack a weekend bag as we were heading on our golden triangle trip this afternoon! We then headed out to the slums next door to our house to play with the children for an hour before we left for our trip. We got in our taxi about 3 and had the 4.5 hour journey to Agra. After arriving at our hostel called the Moustache hostel haha, we planned our day trip for tomorrow. We then went for a super yummy dinner of pasta and chips - a welcomed break from curry for breakfast lunch and dinner!Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English