Today marks the end of three whole weeks spent in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, South India. Wow. With just 16 days spent at Sankara Eye Hospital, I have learned to expect the unexpected. While our first four days of the Fellowship consisted of plane food, checked baggage, and temporary stays, our very first day at Sankara was an eye-opening experience.
The front entrance sign to Sankara!
Stepping on the larger-than-expected Sankara campus, we were quickly met by blank stares. I could immediately imagine what dialogue was happening inside people’s heads: “Who are those people? Where are they from? Why are they here?” I have lost count of how many times Maggie and I have made someone double-take, that is, make someone look at us twice! Meandering through four floors of the massive hospital, I could not help but notice how busy the hospital headquarters were. Everywhere we looked, there were patients, attenders, security guards, vision care technicians, doctors, and medical students – all under the same roof. We had a series of meetings with Dr. R.V. Ramani (the founder of Sankara), Mr. Bharath Balasubramaniam, and other Sankara personnel, who welcomed us with such kind hospitality that I quickly felt at home.
Dr. Pooja Sanghvi, our awesome Sankara contact, has made it so easy for us to adjust to life on campus. Upon our third day of arrival, we were already invited to observe a local field camp in Coimbatore. As I had studied this past spring quarter, I was thrilled to see how the field camp functioned because this is a crucial way that Sankara obtains their non-paying beneficiaries. We joined a team of 3-4 vision care technicians (basically nurses), a doctor, and three volunteers, taking photographs of the field camps. This was so cool! Since this was an eye camp frequented by Sankara, the locals were familiar with the eye camp process and children awaited us eagerly – but this time, they were in for a surprise: Americans! While neither Maggie nor I could speak Tamil, the primary language of the state, the children were proud to show off the limited English that they learned in school. “What is your name? Where are you from? I come visit you in America! Oooh, camera!” were many phrases the children used, but the most unexpected phrase I encountered was when a little girl asked me: “why is your skin so white?” While the old Jana would have probably taken offense to this question, the new Jana was soaking in everything about India with an open heart. Laughing at her question and commenting at her keen ability to make observations, I knew that I would enjoy the field research aspect of this fellowship.
All smiles at our first eye camp!
During our second week, I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions as “fitting in” at Sankara proved harder than I thought. As I learned that the web application was a bust, I felt as though compiling case studies was going to be a little bit too easy. Was it normal to feel somewhat bored? How am I going to last eight weeks here if we are just doing case studies? These questions bothered me, as I was discovering that I wanted to do more with my time in India. I found myself wanting to contribute something that would require meticulous thought and planning; something that Sankara would gratefully accept after my eight-week fellowship experience.
Then, it hit us. After multiple conversations with Pooja, I learned that our research project was something far different from what we had planned it on being. Better yet, in addition to a few case studies, we are expected to complete two social impact assessments and research an archival system that Sankara can use. Wait… what? I felt overwhelmed with the nature of these assignments and probably had my first “freak-out moment” in India. However, I then slowly started to realize that our assessment had actually pivoted in becoming something that I already love doing – experimental quantitative research!
With our assignment is being understood pretty early on in the fellowship, Maggie and I were extremely busy perfecting a pre-operation assessment before our Friday deadline. We were off to go to another two eye camps, which would take up an entire weekend of festivities. However, this time we would actually be collecting data for our project – so much excitement!
Patients waiting to be called up for registration.
A long line of patients waiting to be interviewed by us.
Screening 177 patients in Mangalore village is no easy task. Yet, the patience these patients have is ridiculous!
One familiar scent throughout South India: fresh jasmine flowers in women’s hairs.
We visited two villages: Vikravandi and Mangalore in Tamil Nadu. After a long weekend of sweaty bodies, squatting toilets, interviews with patients, and bonding with vision care technicians, our mini road trip throughout Tamil Nadu was inspiring and fun!
My first three weeks have been a smooth transition into the South Indian lifestyle, and I am thankful to God that I have not gotten sick yet (fingers crossed). I feel that we are meeting our research goals, and Sankara has definitely kept us busy. Currently, #teamIndia is planning our independent travel, with the hopes that we can see parts of Mumbai, Goa, and Kerala! Although we have yet to venture far beyond the walls of the hospital, we plan on going on an elephant safari sometime soon.
Until next time, please enjoy more casual postings of my experiences in India at: https://chaitimewithjana.wordpress.com/.