Three months in India

Aashirwad

The first Maitri project sight that Ben and I went to see was Aashirwad. Aashirwad is a sort of rest home where elderly people can live when they have no where else to go. When we got to the sight everything was under construction and we found out that Aashirwad was first started by Winnie’s father and after he passed away he left it to Winnie. Since then Winnie had decided to expend and improve the program which is why everything was under construction. One change they were making was adding a yoga room so that a yoga instructor come to teach yoga to the elderly living in the home. After we got back from the sight I updated and edited a brochure that included all of the new additions and changes to Aashirwad. I didn’t get to add pictures to the brochure because I thought it would be best to use pictures after the construction was completed.

Old Delhi and the Red Fort

For our first outing in Delhi we went to the Red Fort. It was fun to walk around and see the structures and read about the fort.

After we finished at the Red Fort we went for a tour around Old Delhi. Our guide told us that there is a street for everything in Old Delhi. There is a spice street and a shoe street and a Sari street and so on and so forth. Our guide showed us an old building that used to belong to a rich man and that the man had about thirty wives and that is where they lived. Our guide also took us to see a Jainism Temple. We also tried to go see the largest Mosk in India but they were closing it for prayer right when we were arriving so we decided we would have to come back another day. It was a very culturally enriching day.

Lotus Temple

The Lotus Temple was one of our favorite outings in Delhi. Everything from the grounds to the buildings were clean and kempt. We had to take off our shoes to go inside the Temple. Once inside the temple everything is so quiet and peaceful. There are some people that will sing and it sounds amazing with the acoustics in the building.

Taj Mahal

You can’t spend 4 months in India and not go to the Taj Mahal Ben and I went to go see it while we were on our way to a project for Maitri. The project was in Vrindavan which was just a short train ride from Agra so we left a day early so we would have enough time to visit the Taj.

Vrindavan Widows Healthcamp

When we got to Vrindavan it had been raining so much that we had to take a boat to get to the widows. Once we got there we prepared and served lunch to all of the widows. Maitri provides a healthy meal every day for all of the widows. After lunch was over the doctors gave all of the widows a check up and medicine for those that needed it. They also made a list of all the widows that needed eye surgery so that they could come back later and operate on them free of charge. I helped put together packages of soap, food, medicine, and saris so that they could be distributed to the widows. While we were waiting for the boat to come pick us up we listened to the widows sing. By the time we were on our way home it had been a long and productive day.

DCWA

The Delhi Commonwealth Women’s Association (DCWA) is another Delhi based NGO that provides health care for people at no or minimal cost. They are one of Maitri’s partners and I met some of the doctors while I was at the health camp in Vrindavan. When I told them I was studying nursing they invited me to come volunteer a their health clinic. I talked with Winnie and Sonal about it and we worked it out so I could volunteer at the DCWA a couple of mornings a week. Most days I would either take blood pressure or work in the pharmacy. One day they let me volunteer in the operating room and I got to see a hernia operation. It was a very cool experience for me.

Rajasthan

Mr. Jolly, one of Maitri’s advisors, invited Ben and I to go on a weekend vacation to Rajasthan with him and his family. We drove there all the way there from Delhi. It was a long drive but we got to see and do a lot of fun and wonderful things in Rajasthan that made it worth it.The first thing we saw was the Jal Mahal. It looks like the palace really was floating on the water. We also got to go on our first camel ride. We also went to see the Amber Fort and the snake charmers.

The Children

My favorite part of working at Maitri has been teaching the children. Every day between 3 and 5 children from the slums would come to get help with their school work. Most of the children are the first members of their family to attend school. Since their parents can’t help them with their homework they come to Maitri to get help. I was amazed at how hungry the children are for knowledge. They love to learn! Even after we have been doing math problems for an hour and I tell them it is time to go home they beg me to stay and give them more home work. A lot of the time after we have finished studying we will play games and sing songs. It always gives the children something to look forward to and is a great way to end the day.

Another fun experience with the children was during the Delhi Common Wealth Games. Since all the schools were closed during the games Maitri decided to have activities for the children in the morning. We had to walk through the slums to let the children know about the activities. I saw a lot of the children that I had tutored. It was fun to see them because they would all say hello and hold my hand as we walked around the slums.The activities in the mornings were a huge success. There were so many children that came that there was hardly enough room for everyone to fit in the room downstairs. We played some games and I taught the children a couple songs. Then all the children took turns dancing and singing for each other. It was like a talent show. I also did a small presentation about Christmas. I told them about Santa Clause and Christmas trees and snow. We got crayons and paper and gave them to the children to draw pictures about Christmas. Some of the pictures were very good and we decided to make them into Christmas cards that we could sell to raise money for the children to go to school.

Amritsar

Winnie and the General invited Ben and I and several other Maitri workers to go with them to Amritsar and see some of the sights. The first thing we went to see was the changing of the guard at the India and Pakistani border. As we were driving there we saw a long line of people waiting to get in but since we were friends of the General we got special treatment and got to skip the line and go strait to our seats.

After the changing of the guard we went to the Golden Temple. It was really fun to be there at night and see how the lights reflected on the gold and the water. We didn’t go inside the temple that night but we went back the next day and attended one of their religious services. After every service they change and clean everything. I even got to help polish a statue! We spent the rest of the day shopping. Ben got a turban and I got some sunglasses.

Golf Tournament

The annual golf tournament is one Maitri’s biggest fundraising events every year. The earnings from the event go to the widows in Vrindavan. To help prepare for the event I sent out emails to a lot of the General’s Friends and contacts. Ben was in charge of making several standees for the event and I got to help by finding pictures for them.

The day of the tournament we had to be at the Maitri office at 6:30 in the morning to get a ride over to the golf course. After eating breakfast and the opening ceremonies all the golfers went out to play. Ben and I were stationed at hole #1 which was the long drive competition. Our job was to take pictures of the golfers and inform the golfers that they could buy a mulligan. We walked around the golf course and took lots of pictures of the event. We even got to drive one of the golf carts and they gave us free hats and stuff. After the players were done golfing lunch was served and prizes were awarded to the winners. They also had an auction where they sold two beautiful Kashmir hand made rugs. I think every one had an enjoyable time and it was a successful event.

Time is Flying

It is hard to believe that we have been working here with Maitri for over two months now. In the office, we have had the chance to teach slum children who are receiving no formal education, tutor first-generation students whose parents are unable, plan and design marketing for fundraising endeavors, and visit project sites to really understand how Maitri works, and affects those involved in its programs.

We are currently really excited be taking on one of Maitri's latest projects which is a Social Business Plan to help raise funds for Maitri's Widows of Vrindavan project.

Outside of the office we have been racing around New Delhi trying to see everything we can. We are well behind schedule if we hope to see all the attractions before our time is up in December. We have been fortunate enough to work small excursions into our schedules as well. We have been down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, up to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple and the changing of the guard at the Pakistani-Indian border, as well as to Rajasthan - the land of big turban-like head wraps, lots of monkeys, elephant rides, camels, huge palaces and forts, and snake charmers. Photos coming soon.

Life is good.

The Beginning

Well, the last batch of interns certainly left big shoes to be filled.  And even though my wife and I have a starkly contrasting cultural compatibility to that of the previous interns, we are excited to be interning here at Maitri and living in New Delhi.

I have had a decent amount of travel experience in my life; South America, Africa, and a little Europe, but nothing could have prepared me for the deep, exotic culture of India.  The smells, the sights, the tastes and sounds of the streets here in Delhi are almost overwhelming.  Walking down the street, we've had to dodge cows, hide from mischievous monkeys, and stay clear of camels and elephants.  It is hard to believe that all of this happens within the boundaries of the sixth largest city in the world.  It is different and beautiful.

The office here at Maitri has been very nice.  While we are not able to be quite as social as the previous interns due to our language barriers, the administrators are extremely helpful and friendly, making sure we stay busy.  Currently, I am working on reformatting and populating the new website, which should be up and running in the next week or so.  I am also working on establishing an office network to help streamline efforts and organize projects.  I was given these assignments because I have had (though very limited) some experience with web development and IT.

The apartments that Maitri recommends to us are very nice and in a great location.  We have the President of India's Yogi (Yoga Master) come to our flat a couple times a week to teach us yoga in exchange for English lessons.  A pretty good trade if you ask me.  Life is good.

Reflection of Maitri Internship

At the end of work last Thursday, I was caught off-guard with just how quickly this summer has passed. The Singhs surprised us and ordered samosas and a cake to celebrate the time of each intern and volunteer at Maitri this summer and spoke kind words reflecting on our experience. I leave Delhi for the U.S. late Tuesday night and it really had not struck me that I am physically leaving this internship, the projects, the experiences, and all the amazing people that I met who are now like family. Home is coming soon and although I am definitely excited to see my family and friends and start my next journey in life, I will miss my time with Maitri and everything I love about India-- more so than any other travel experience I have had. As I think about talking with friends and family back home about my internship experience, I realize I have too much to say in response to some of the questions I am sure I'll be asked—so I’m dedicating this blog entry to summarizing my experience this summer in response to the questions I expect back home.

What did you do on a daily basis?

My weekday routine varied each month when I had new projects and depending on how many other interns or volunteers were present. Waking up became more challenging as the summer progressed. I went from having at least an hour of spare time to rushing out the door after eating breakfast (usually Duliya, Poha, Upma, Halwa, or eggs) prepared by Shakuntala. One consistent factor in my morning routine was that my brain never fully functioned until I drank my morning chai… early afternoon chai… late afternoon chai… and if I was lucky evening chai.



We are expected to be at the office at 10:00 a.m. each day and stay until about 5:30 p.m. During this time we work on projects; my major initiatives included conceptualization and recommendations for the new website as well as a draft for the online content, management of social media, analyzing research studies, etc. Around 1:00 p.m. everyone usually took a half-hour to eat lunch and catch up on the day. I loved becoming friends with members of the Maitri staff including Bhim, Silky, Anita, Mr. Mathur, Resham, Rajrani, Deepak and my intern companions during this time. During the first two-months when the volunteer program with Sarthak, Divya, Jill and Hannah had not yet begun, I tutored a set of children ages 7-8 and another set ages 12-13 in math and english. The children were fun, eager to learn, and interactive-- easily one of my most memorable experiences.



Each day in the office was a little different in terms of tasks and duties and even people since we had visitors for a few days at a time, such as Dr. Joe Thomas, in addition to the intern and volunteer personnel that rotated. After work we would go home, relax, eat dinner (again prepared by the amazing Shakuntala) and plan the rest of our night.

What did you think about Maitri? How does an internship with it compare to the experience you would have had with NGOs back home or in the rest of the world?

Maitri has all the ingredients that make a NGO great; it also has unique aspects that make it unlike other organizations. Maitri has great people in terms of its staff including the members I named earlier and its executive leadership including General and Mrs Singh, Sonal, and Mr. Jolly. Each person is dedicated to the projects and causes that give Maitri purpose. Every member of the organization has gone out of his or her way to make us (the interns) feel like we're part of the Maitri family. The projects are all genuine and meaningful to the community.



Interning at Maitri meant using analytical research skills, learning how to adapt for each task (e.g. tutoring), and being a part of the fieldwork in Vrindavan, Paharganj, and Sonia Vihar. The main things that made Maitri a unique internship compared to other opportunities is the sense of family that emerges and the extra effort put in by the Singhs to ensure that we experienced India as much as possible. Seriously though-- how many internship opportunities include the chance to not only travel to amazing places like Vrindavan and Amritsar (see previous blog entries) but also receive explanations of the significance of everything, have meetings with members of parliament and historical specialists, attend cultural events at places like the New Delhi Rotary Club, have secure housing in close proximity to the office in a major metropolitan city, and the list goes on. Essentially the Singhs and their above and beyond execution of hosting the internship program made Maitri an unbeatable experience.



What did you do for fun?

We had fun in many different settings: seeing the city/country, socializing with friends and co-workers, and immersing with Indian culture. Long-story short I had way more fun than I can explain in just a few paragraphs.

* In the Office:

I mentioned the family feeling within the Maitri office, the interactive and entertaining children, and the lunch breaks; fun in the office also included random jigs during a quick break (I sincerely hope the Jeevan, Hannah, and Jill rendition of Soulja Boy's "Crank That" will end up on the internet one day...). During lunch breaks sometimes we played music based games like Antakshari and even got into deep discussions with the staff about cultural comparisons and differences between the U.S. and India. Needless to say, the office was a fun place to be in and work.

* Good Old Fashioned Tourism

We went around to MANY of the renowned sites in Delhi but I can honestly say that I have a great deal left to see and learn about Delhi. We took trips to Gandhi Smriti, Rajghat, Lotus Temple, India Gate, Chandni Chowk, Sarojini Nager, Janpat, and other famous classical shopping areas, Qutab Minar, various Parks (Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park, etc), the westernized malls (Select City, DLF Promenade, etc), religious areas for Hindus (Akshaydharm), Sikhs (Bangla Gurudwara), and Muslims (Nizam Uddin); Outdoor areas like Canaut Place, Priya Market, Khan Market, and the list goes on.

I have family in India so I took a weekend trips to go visit in Chandigarh and Lucknow in addition to the trips planned by the Singhs to Amritsar, Vrindavan, and Agra.

* Cultural Immersion

My parents are both Indian and I had been to India previously with my mother; however, coming alone opened me up to the culture in a way I never experienced before. I saw several Bollywood movies in theaters including “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai” "Rajneeti" "I Hate Love Stories" "Raaven" "Udaan" "House Full" and "Kites"; 99% of what we ate was traditional Indian cuisine often cooked by Shakuntala and at times we went out-- I will never forget our delicious Dhaba experiences-- more on food later. We did lots of singing from Karoake lounges, where Jeevan became VIP since everyone was a huge fan of his vocal talents, to singing in taxis, cars, and with friend.



We talked to a variety of people and my Hindi drastically improved (thanks to people in the office coaching me here and there). Each of us grew closer to Indian culture than ever before. I am thankful we spent a great deal of time exploring India and getting immersed in the rich, amazing culture.

Why does food get it's own question?

The food was SO amazing. I am near tears when I realize that I won't be eating a few mangos a day back home-- even if I do it just won't taste or be the same. I admit I am probably legitimately addicted to chai (which will also suffer in quality back home) so I apologize to everyone in the next 2 months that I am cranky to as I go through withdrawals. I will never forget the (unhealthy but when in India...) taste of "desi khana" and "dhabas" including Parantawala's gobi, daal, gager, aloo filled parantas, the unique, unbeatable taste of Indo-Chinese cuisine, the home cooked meals prepared with fresh produce that tastes fresher than produce back home, and the endless unique preparations of common dishes that kept us from ever getting bored with a particular meal. My personal favorite meals were the ones as dinner guests at someone’s home. The Singh’s had us over a few times and each dish was great.

This is getting long... wrap this up with key takeaways.

Ok this entry is indeed long enough and although I have plenty more to say, I will wrap it up with some main final thoughts.

*** The people I am sharing this experience with are amazing. Chelsea is one of the smartest, most dedicated workers I have ever met, and has contributed to the fun and cultural enjoyment of the internship. I'm beyond impressed with the amount of Hindi she has picked up in such a short time and how she embraced many aspects of the culture with an open-mind and great interest. Jeevan is smart, hard-working and one of the most fun and outgoing people I have ever met. Seriously he can talk and befriend ANYONE… and he does so. He has been here the whole three months with me and we live near each other back home so I am hopeful we will keep in touch. Jill and Viraj are beyond impressive and I am excited to see the amazing things they will accomplish in the upcoming years of college. The people I spent time with made the experience even better.



*** One could spend a lifetime traveling and discovering India. I can tell people with confidence I have been to India and seen some great sites like the Taj Mahal, Golden Temple, been around Delhi, etc; I have "kind-of" seen "some" areas of North India but could easily take another 10 vacations to India and still have only seen part of the picture. Every city has its own flavor; every culture and geographic area takes time to experience and each one is worth getting to know. I spent 3 months in Delhi and made some short trips to amazing areas but I could easily come back and spend 3 months in west India seeing Rajasthan; the south seeing Hydrabad, Goa, and Kerala; the east and see Assam and Manipur; I also want to see the major metropolitan areas like Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai.

*** The NGO sector is important, challenging, and fulfilling work that requires dedication, teamwork, and vision. Maitri has set a great example for me since the organization as it stands is a culmination of a vision to help people and enact change in the community; it exemplifies teamwork and dedication from the staff, executive leadership, and interns to accurately research and learn about the relevant issues and populations. I never have doubted the passion that the Singhs have for the work they are doing nor have I ever doubted the fact that they love the work they are involved with.




I am thankful to the Hinckley Institute of Politics for setting me up with this great opportunity and I am especially thankful to the Maitri Family for all I have learned, seen, and gained from this experience. I have no doubt Maitri will continue its success and I cannot wait to stop by and see the progress when I come back to visit in the next couple of years.

Oh, Hai There.

My name's Viraj, and although Jill mentioned me in her post, I've never written on this blog myself. And now, on my second-to-last-day, Suneil has demanded blog posts from both me and Chelsea, so here goes nothing.

As usual, my experience with Maitri has been interesting - in the good way. This organization is amazing in the amount of responsibility it gives meager high school interns like myself, especially with it's own diligent team of employees and college-level interns. It's a little intimidating, but enormously fulfilling to see something you start and work towards become a reality. That's the feeling I got while contributing to Project Jagriti (for a description of the project, look at the previous post by Jillian). WE determined the content of the workshops. WE put the presentation together. WE led the seminar. And WE created the closing reports to give others insight into the project.


That's me trying to answer a question. I hope I got it right.

One thing I loved about these workshops is that despite how much I might tell myself that I'm the teacher in these workshops, I'm often the one who ends up learning more. All of the students we interact with have such a different background from mine, and offer perspectives through their stories and beliefs that I've never considered. I learn about their culture, one that despite my skin color, I still consider foreign. I learn about the Indian approach to dealing with certain topics that aren't as taboo in the states. I learn about what sort of pressures these students have (because all teenagers feel unbearable amounts of pressure, globally), what kind of families they come from, what their mindsets are. And I'm always surprised.

Back to our job: teaching. I loved these workshops because they provided us with immediate satisfaction that we were helping. I found that the students we talked to were, for the most part, lacking in knowledge on certain key topics involving sexual health. Watching their clueless faces turn to those indicating comprehension was definitive assurance that on an extremely small scale, we were making a difference. Which is a cool expression. In my mind, it means taking the difference (what's been subtracted), and filling it. In our case, that's filling in certain essential pieces of information which the excessively conservative taboos in Indian society restrict.
We bring these issues to light.
We talk about them.
We increase awareness.
And we make this acceptable, hopefully encouraging discussion and getting change off the ground.

This is all starting to sound a bit idealistic. But hopefully it made some semblance of sense. Thank you for an amazing experience this summer, Maitri, and I hope that I'll continue to be able to work with you in the future.

- Viraj

P.S. Here you can find the reports from our two latest workshops:

Project Jagriti

One of the ongoing projects of Maitri is Project Jagriti. This project focuses on educating High School student about various issues including HIV/AIDS, Drug and Alcohol abuse, Safe Sex, as well as many other adolescent issues.
Me, Viraj, Hannah, Sarthak, Divya, and Vibhor were all part of these amazing workshops. The first school we went to was the Guru Harkrishan Public School on July 15th, then we went to Mt. Saint Mary's School on July 21st, and most recently we did a workshop at Modern School Vasant Vihar.
We started off discussing different situations and decisions that students face to get the students comfortable and open. We then transitioned into a power point where we talked to the students about STDs and STI's with a focus on HIV/AIDS as well as substance abuse. After giving them the basic issues about these subjects, we decided that it would be best to seperate the students by sex for the adolescent issues portion. This was a time where we could talk to students candidly and they could talk to us about any thought, feelings, or questions about growing up. Finally we had an anonymous question portion where students wrote down their questions and we read and answered them in front of the whole group. Being teenagers ourselves we understand how their are some questions that you do not want everyone to know you are asking although you are dying to know the answer.
We started off to a rocky start at Guru Hakrishan, it was our first time doing this workshop and we were all extremely nervous. It didn't help that many of the students were not eager to talk and interact with us. This was a good learning experience though and helped us tweak our workshop for the better.
Mt. Saint Mary's School was the largest group that Maitri has seen for a workshop yet, their were about 250 students. It was a lot of fun and the students were super interactive once we broke the ice and got them to laugh and talk to us. This was a great experience and definitly got us excited to do more workshops. I think that we all would deifnitly do another workshop there.
Our most recent workshop at Modern School Vasant Vihar was a little shy but relatively interactive. The workshop went well and we got really good responses from the students. It felt really nice to know that the students were appreciating the work that we were putting into the workshop.
All in all, the workshops were a success as well as an amazing experience.
-Jill

Intern Excusion to Amritsar

On 10 July, Mrs. Singh offered the intern and volunteer cohort (Me, Chelsea, Jeevan, Jill, Hannah, and Virginia) a chance to visit Amritsar. We were all excited to go for the opportunity to see a city of such historic significance with some of the most impressive sites in India. We took a train early Saturday morning and reached Amritsar by the late afternoon. Mr. Anant Ram went along with us and we stayed at a guest house being run by the General's brother, Mr. Bubble. The accommodations and food were wonderful and we had a blast getting to know Mr. Bubble and his wife. We were in Amritsar during the consolation World Cup match between Germany and Uruguay and stayed up late watching the game with Mr. Bubble.



The evening we arrived, we went to the Wagah Border where the Singhs were able to arrange some seats for us. The Wagah Boarder is the only road border between India and Pakistan. Each night there is a traditional lowering of the flags ceremony in addition to a parade by Indian and Pakistani border patrol officers. We were all fascinated by not only the parade and ceremony, but also by the large gathering and energy of the crowd on both sides of the border. Wagah Border was an interesting and enjoyable experience. I loved every minute from the disciplined marches and rituals the guards showcased to the energetic crowd pridefully shouting in response to the intercome "Vande MATARAM" and then "Hindustan ZINDABAD".



At night we had our first visit to one of the most famous destinations in India, the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib, a Gurudwara, which is a religious place for the Sikh religion). The temple was easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; the entire group was deeply impressed by how the lit temple looked in the middle of the surrounding water. We walked around the area with Mrs Singh and she took us inside while explaining some of the significance of the Golden Temple and Gurudwaras.



The next morning we went back to the Golden Temple, which was a completely different, although equally amazing, experience. Both times the Temple was packed with people coming primarily for worship. In the morning we spent more time inside the Temple and saw and learned more about Sikh practices and traditions. We were fortunate to have seen the Golden Temple both in the morning and the night.



In the afternoon we went to Jalianwalla Bhag, which is the memorial for the massacre of a peaceful gathering in Punjab back in 1919 when 50 British soldiers opened fire on between 1,500 and 2,000 Indian civilians-- one of the worst massacres of a peaceful gathering in world history. It was haunting to see the location in its present day-- bullet holes in walls brought a sense of realism to the independence struggle faced in the early to mid 20th century.



After visiting the memorial, we spent our last moments before our train ride home wandering in the nearby markets and then ate at Brothers Dhaba, which was great food to say the least.

Our two day trip to Amritsar was an amazing experience-- Amristar is now easily one of my favorite places in India. The trip was full of enjoyable company and the best possible sight-seeing. We are all very thankful to the Bubble's, who were our gracious hosts and the Singhs for planning this opportunity for us to come see this great city.


--Suneil

Project Jeevan Slideshow Video

Click on the below video to view the slideshow of the Project Jeevan launch.





This is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jzZ0cDk1bU

Project Jeevan Reflection

My first visit to Vrindavan opened my eyes to a social custom that is particularly prevalent in West Bengal and Orissa. Traditionally, as soon as a woman’s husband, she has to deal with a second bitter reality – losing her identity, her family, and her home. She becomes an untouchable such that she cannot be part of any social event or ceremony in the family or community. In many cases, the widow is brought and left in a state of destitution to beg and fend for herself in Vrindavan and Varanasi. Why Vrindavan? Because it is the home of Krishna, and in the minds of these women, he will be their savior. The widows believe that by singing hymns in his praise they will get salvation from the karma of life and death.

I was left stunned by the sheer misery and the state of their health. Their faces haunted me for weeks thereafter. The women were fighting for survival without any energy. The frail women were getting pulled and pushed for a handful of grain and dal. It was the utmost indignity to which a human can be subjected. I spoke with my husband, General Bhopinder, who was also consumed by the thought as to what we could do to bring these widows respect and dignity.

With the germination of this idea and the support of Ashok Jolly, our Maitri Board Members, Ulf and Joe, we decided to put a nutrition and health program in place. It took brainstorming and plenty of hard work by Maitri staff, Silky, Anita, and Captain Anant Ram; Maitri interns, Jeevan, Chelsea, and Suneil; and Maitri volunteers, Jillie and Hannah. On 4th of July, we finally saw the program launched.

What a delight it was to see the happiness on the women’s faces when they got a fully cooked, nutritious meal – rice, dal, vegetable, and halwa – for the first time in probably months and years. At the same time, I was sad to hear the doubt in their voices, as they feared this was probably a one-time donation. After repeated assurances from our team that this program would be continuous, they broke out in a song and dance. They sang in praise of Krishna that they would now have a proper meal every day. Life would be a bit better.

In addition to the mid-day meals, Maitri is providing the widow mothers with other services such as health camps, medicines, clothing, and advocacy. On the 4th of July, Maitri organized a health camp with a few doctors who did checkups with the widows and gave them essential medicines. Many of the widows are infirm, and bone diseases are a common issue. Maitri gave each widow daily multivitamins and supplements, including calcium, folic acid, and Vitamin C.


I hope we can make the widows happier by providing them with nutritious meals and other essential services. All that they want is respect, dignity, love, and caring. It is not too much to ask. As they say, Krishna will take care, and I hope he does.


--Winnie Singh

Another Perspective of the Launch of Project Jeevan

My third real day in India, July 4th, brought with it another completely new experience. The staff and interns, including myself, arrived in Vrindavan that morning to greet a small group of widows who were already sitting, their white cotton saris surrounding them, their bodies small and frail. As each new woman came they were given a dish and once they were all there and seated the food was served. Soon the room was filled with music as the nearly 200 widows began to sing in perfect unison; their weak bodies contrasting with their strong voices. That moment was one I know I will never forget. The realism of what I was doing and the true hardships of these women hit me then as each voice chanted in a language foriegn to my ears. It was heartbreaking, but also very beautiful.
After their meal, the widows had the oppurtunity to go see the doctor. I found this a wonderful plan for the project since the widows are in such need of medical treatment. Almost every woman there, young and old, suffered from arthritis and felt constant aches and pains. We were able to supply medicine as well as referals to a nearby hospital.
I'm happy that I was able to do my part to help these women who have been left with virtually nothing after the loss of their husbands. It definitely showed me a world different from my own and taught me more about the culture. I was so grateful for the oppertunity to get a first hand look at this ongoing project and I am excited to see what else India has in store for me.
-Hannah

The Launch of Project Jeevan

The 4th of July, the interns along with many of the other people from Maitri went to Vrindavan for the launch of Project Jeevan. This was my second day working with Maitri and my first real experience with one of their many projects. What an adventure. This launch will supply the widows with meals, doctors and medications for their various ailments. Getting to Vrindavan was an experience. We woke up bright and early and as soon as we got outside we were welcomed by the monsoons. This did not, however, deter our journey. We arrived in Vrindavan and a few of the widows had already started to arrive. Thankfully, a few Maitri workers had been in Vrindavan for 3 days previous to the launch in order to set up. So we got to work right away.
We were posted at the medicine counter. We got off to a rocky start because we were severely out numbered by the widows, not to mention my Hindi is limited to just a few words. Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for us to get into the swing of things and soon enough we got into a really good rhythm. The widows would come to us after being checked out by the doctors. They would hand us their information card which had their name, age, address, picture, etc. On the back their would be the medications as well as any referrals that they needed. Every widow would get Calcium, B-Complex, Vitamin C and for many of them multivitamins as well to take for 10 days, at which time they would get enough medication for the next 10 days etc. We would then send them to get their other more individual medications for cough, cataracts, etc. Aside from their individual ailments, many of these women also suffer from aches and pains which we helped them with as well.

This was overall an amazing experience. I had never really heard about the terrible treatment of widows before I started as an intern with Maitri. Seeing these women first hand was extremely sad, not only were many of them very thin from lack of food, but their clothes were dirty and many of them did not have the proper care and medication to live a happy and healthy life. Although I just got here and just started interning with Maitri, I still felt an amazing sense of success at the end of the day.

-Jill

Project Jeevan

From June 16^th - 19^th , 2010 Chelsea, Suneil and I went with Miss Anita Gupta and Mr. Anant Ram to Vrindavan to begin some of the ground work for Project Jeevan, which will begin on July 4^th. This new endeavor started by Maitri will work to provide food for elderly widows living in difficult circumstances.

Vrindavan is located in Northern India in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is also situated near the Yamuna River, which is one of the tributary rivers of the Ganges. Vrindavan is significant for Hindus because it was the site where the Lord Krishna spent his childhood. In this area, there are hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Krishna and Radha (the famous lover and companion of Krishna.) The religious value of Vrindavan attracts devotees and tourists from all over, as well as widows seeking refuge after being abandoned by family and community.

Vrindavan is sometimes referred to as the “City of Widows” because of the large population of women who migrate there after losing their husbands for various reasons. In India, there is a stigma associated with widows. They are often viewed as unlucky in society and are connected to their husband's death. Many of the widows living in Vrindavan originally come from West Bengal, where there are less opportunities for widows to earn money. Once in Vrindavan, widows are able to make a small amount of money by singing religious songs in temples, or by begging. Although the living situation for these widows is an improvement from their lives in West Bengal, they still live in difficult surroundings. Illness, poverty and hunger are common trials for these women, along with being removed from society.

Project Jeevan (meaning “life” in Hindi) was first inspired by a visit to Vrindavan by General Bhopinder Singh and his wife Mrs. Winnie Singh in 2009. General and Mrs. Singh were extremely touched by the living situations of the widows in Vrindavan and believed it would be a perfect environment to initiate a new project for Maitri. Project Jeevan will work to provide essential needs to these widows. Maitri has identified 300 widows who live in Meera Sehbhagani Mahila Ashram. Most of the widows are very impoverished and require a tremendous amount of nourishment. These women will receive identification cards to show their participation in the project. With these identification cards, the widows will receive a mid-day meal consisting of a seasonal vegetable curry, daal (lentils) and rice. This meal will be provided seven days a week. By December 2010, the Project hopes to increase the amount of widows from 500-700, in hopes of one day reaching the over five thousand widows in Vrindavan. This project will receive food from Akshaya Patra, which is an non-governmental organization providing food for millions of school children across India. Food will be delivered by Akshay Patra directly to the ashram.

Working in Vrindavan allowed us to see the struggle and poor living conditions of some of the widows in India. It was very saddening to know that many of these women have families who had completely cut ties with them. Some of the widows we met even had wealthy children living around the world who wanted nothing to do with their mothers. All of these women have to depend on themselves for survival. This situation has made them entirely focused on earning and saving money to gain some sort of stability. Women are even willing to starve themselves if it means they can save money. Project Jeevan will ease the burden for such widows who will not have to worry about using all of their expenses on food.

Trip to the Taj Mahal

The office provided a car to take us to Vrindavan and arranged for all the interns to take the car to Agra before beginning our work in Vrindavan. Agra and Vrindavan are both in the state of Uttar Pradesh and are about two hours apart from each other. Our pit-stop in Agra allowed us to see India's contribution to the wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. We arrived at the Taj Mahal in the afternoon and were greeted by hundreds of vendors preparing to make a deal with some unsuspecting tourists, camels waiting to carry loads of passengers from the parking lot to the entry gate, and the biggest welcome of all was, of course, the blazing sun.

The Taj Mahal was constructed in the mid-1600's by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal after her passing away during childbirth. The Taj Mahal serves as the tomb for the Emperor and his wife. The entire tomb is made of white marble with exterior decorations of paint, stone inlays, and carvings. The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas.

Our visit to the Taj Mahal was definitely worthwhile. Even with the crowds of people taking millions of photographs and the feeling of hot stone burning your feet, it is surreal being there. It is almost as if that area is set apart from the rest of the India, it is special. We all were glad that we could get a chance to see this monument.

-Jeevan

Project Awaaz

On June 8, 2010 all four of us went with Mr. Resham Pathak to central Delhi in order to see the field-work for Project Awaaz, which is Maitri's project that helps address many of the issues faced by Rickshaw pullers a daily basis. India has millions of Rickshaw pullers, who are generally men move to a city in search of opportunity and ultimately are left with few employment opportunities and thus end up renting a rickshaw from someone who contracts them and provides transportation services for people within the city in exchange for a small amount of money.

The Rickshaw pullers face a plethora of issues including lack of hygienic conditions, nutrition, no property or shelter, risk of tuberculosis (because of the hard manual labor in highly polluted areas), risk of HIV/AIDS (because of the stressful living conditions and access to prostitution), and other difficulties. The problem is further exemplified because this is a continuous cycle since the Rickshaw puller does not make enough money for basic needs and often accumulates debt, which can be a tremendous burden-- especially if the result of losing or breaking a rickshaw he rented. The manual labor is extremely strenuous not only because of the pollution and breathing difficulties from the labor, but also from the pain accrued after years of pulling a bike with "heavy cargo" for 8-10 hours a day for years on end.

We first went to Paharganj and met some rickshaw drivers. The first person we met was Nandkishore, a rickshaw puller who was HIV positive. Maitri has encouraged him to seek treatment and go to the hospital once a month for check ups. He told us that the medicine made him feel better but he was starting to develop severe joint pains and feared being constrained to home in the future. We visited other sites and met with other rickshaw pullers and were all emotionally moved each site we went to. Seeing the living conditions and the difficult life that many rickshaw pullers live was powerful and we immediately understood the need of more services and rights for the workers.

The field work is only one part of Maitri's involvement in Project Awaaz. Maitri holds health camps throughout the year for rickshaw pullers and teaches them about the importance of maximizing health conditions and encourages them to refrain from engaging in risky behavior such as drugs, alcohol, or commercial sex.

We met with General Singh today who gave us further background about the project initiatives. "Awaaz" is a hindi word that means "voice of the common man." One of the main initiatives is to give Rickshaw pullers identification cards so that they can have access to government rights that require a permanent address (health-care, food rationing, voting, etc). Rickshaw drivers currently do not have identification and cannot vote; they are faceless and voiceless. Maitri is making an initiative to help rickshaw pullers live a better life but it is constrained by financial resources. Maitri hopes to increase the magnitude and reach of its program in the future.

We also had the opportunity to see a little more of Delhi; we usually spend time in South Delhi (where we live, work, hang out, etc) but we grabbed a quick bite in West Delhi and noticed many things on the drive back to the office. The locations we visited were all near Canot Place, which we noticed was under intense construction, probably in preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth games.

It was great to see the field work yesterday and have clear images and a strong sense of purpose about what this project is about. Working in the office has been productive and insightful so far, but seeing everything firsthand was of great benefit.


-- Suneil

Welcome to the Maitri India Intern Blog!

Maitri receives 2-3 interns from the University of Utah each semester. This blog includes their writings about experiences regarding their work at Maitri and India in general.

In the summer of 2010, 3 students came from the University of Utah: Suneil Bhambri and Jeevan Moses are interning for the summer and Isha Gupta is volunteering for 1 month. Chelsea Harris, from Brown University, is interning for the summer as well.

This is an exciting time to be in India and especially with Maitri who is pursuing several endeavors and has plenty of great opportunities for the interns to experience the work Maitri is involved in.