May 11th to May 14th in Jakhdhar, Chakrata

Friday, May 11^th, 2007:

This morning, a few of us did yoga on the roof with Dr. Sachin, from 5:30-6:30am. The sun rose at about 5:40am, and was breath-taking, or perhaps that was the yoga pose at that particular moment J

For breakfast we had roti, bananas, sweetbuns, and black tea, and it’s amazing how much more hungry we feel up in the mountains; must be the fresh air!

At 8am, we left SMTA, and had our first hike down the mountain. One word to describe the climb? Steep. Upon reaching the village called Fediyana, the group split into two subgroups, one being disability and the other being traditional medicine & women’s health. We each went to separate houses and conducted separate interviews. I could describe our findings and what we learned, but that would take up about 4 pages J

After completing the interviews, we met up again and rested at a stream, soaking our aching feet and cooling off. Surrounded by rice fields, whose colour is the most vibrant green I have ever seen, and banana trees, and singing birds, and of course the immense mountains, the whole setting was surreal, like out of a national geographic documentary. I’m in love with the scenery!!!

The climb back up to SMTA is a whole other story. It took about an hour, and may have been one of the biggest challenges ever! Shortness of breath, backs soaked in sweat, legs aching… no amount of time at the gym could have prepared us for this! Many of us find ourselves doubting our ability to do this every day. But, according to Dr. Sachin, we will all be ready (physically fit) for the Himalayan trek that starts June 5^th. At least he has hope in usJ

Upon return to SMTA, Maggie had lunch ready for us, and after lunch we had 3 hours to rest. Some chose to rest on the roof, others in the room, but we all appreciated the time to just relax. This is definitely NOT a carribean holiday!!!

Post-dinner, we debriefed for about 2 hours, and each group shared their findings. It was a long first day, but very exciting and I feel so priviledged to be able to learn about the health system and methods of healing of the Juansari people, as well as share my own medical insights with them.

I hope everyone is doing well back in Canada,

Lots of love,

Nora

May 12^th

Hello everyone! Before I begin to tell you what are second day living in the Himalayas has been like let me say a huge HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY on behalf of all SIHI members to all of you awesome moms out there!

The scenery here is incredible, everytime we open our eyes we can’t believe to we get to live in such a beautiful place like this for the next 20 days! Imagine the prettiest movie backdrop of mountains that you’ve seen, this is a small taste of what we get to experience! This beauty also has its downside, climbing them to get to the villages is very physically demanding! We are all managing and getting fitter each day and also gaining insight and appreciation for the lifestyle of the people here as they walk these mountain trails everyday!

It was the second day of our interviews. The physical disability group met a man who had been in a trucking accident and as a result has a severe bone infection in one leg. We also met a man and his family who deal with the challenges of living with epilepsy. The other group met with a variety of women and learned some very interesting ideas surrounding women and children’s health. For instance what do you think about the notion of the more painful a woman’s labor, than the more beautiful the child will be? Or the less a woman works during pregnancy, the lazier the child will be! Has anyone ever sacrificed a goat when they have a son? These are some of the practices and beliefs of some village people that we have discovered through our interview sessions! There are also opportunities for us to share about what we do in Canada surrounding disability and women and children’s healh as well as other areas! This makes for much more interactive dialogues and learning opportunities for everyone!

Hope everyone in Canada is doing well!

Trish

May 13^th 2007

Today, as usual, began with yoga for the majority of us – minus the boys – we can generally always count on them to sleep until the food is ready (haha). India has a 6 day work week and today (Sunday) is the day off for everyone – including us J. As a group we decided to get a little hiking to practice for the trek – after breakfast we made our way up the mountain. Those who were feeling ambitious hiked for half the day while the rest of us went back to the hostel and had a laundry party, and also bathed for the first time in a long time (haha).

One of today’s highlights was today’s afternoon surprise – French toast! It was minus the syrup, but we used ketchup instead. Every day Maggie makes us a pot of tea – today we had tea and French Toast.

- Peace and love, Chelsea

May 14^th, 2007

Today was a very promising day for both groups. The name of the village we visited was Tumroli.The traditional and women’s health group learned lots about the different customs surrounding pregnancy (ie – birthing customs à cutting the umbillical cord is different for boys and girls). The disability group had its first encounter with disabled children. We learned about Sanjay (a deaf and mute child since birth) and Sunil (a child who stammers) and their lifestyles. Mohini absolutely fell in love with the boy and wanted to pack him in her suitcase and take him home! The group was really enlightened on how well disabled children were treated in these villages, something that many of us did not expect. Overall a very productive day for both groups – a very productive and learning experience.

- Nishu