Dirty Wall Project

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Nov, Rampura village,Sitapura.

Today we shifted our focus from the main industrial area to the farming community of Rampura. Rampura is 4 kilometres from the IOC fire site, but retains a rural village feel. Farming and agriculture are the main sources of employment and income for most of the few thousand inhabitants.

Leaving Bapu Nagar in the morning we stopped at the teams’ favourite Rajasthani sweet shop. This has become habit forming and most mornings we stop to get a few local specialties.  Kachoris are a spicy Indian snack made from round flattened flour dough stuffed with dhal, peppers and chili, deep-fried and then eaten with sweet chutney. Indians as a whole love their sweets and to round off the breakfast meal we buy a large brown bag full of Jalebis.  This snack is made with batter, poured into a piping bag, and then with expertise, swirled into hot oil.  The batter is plucked from the oil and then immediately dropped into a hot sugar syrup. Jalebis are ridiculously sweet and are too much for me in the morning but the team never lets me go without having at least one. The cost to buy breakfast for the ten of us is 174 INR or $4 CAD.

A few kilometres from Rampura, as we drove over Tonk Rd overpass, the IOC (Indian Oil company) fire- ravaged fuel depot came into view.  We travel this road daily to get to our sites for the camps, but this was the first day police haven’t been on the bridge to keep traffic moving. We stopped the bus in the middle of the road and got out to have a look at the site. Trucks and bikes bottlenecked to get around us with no sign of irritation.  Amidst India’s chaos lies an amazing tolerance.

The fire has finished burning, but the surrounding area is devastated. The trees within 50 metres have been stripped of all foliage and the 11-tanker oil refinery has burned to the ground.

Leaving the highway, turning onto a dirt road, we were soon in farming land.  Women in beautiful, bright-coloured saris dotted the brown fields; water buffalo grazed and cows wandered the road.

We were granted permission to use the local school. In a semi-circle lay the 2-room schoolhouse, 2 temples and 5 family dwellings. Mukesh Chaud had come early and set up our tent in front of the school. Power was not an option today, which left some of Dr. Faruq’s eye equipment useless. Local women gathered as we finished setting up and soon Camp # 4 was underway. Patients and curious onlookers gathered in numbers to see our doctors. The Doctors saw a higher number of women and children than usual at this camp. There was talk of damaged crops and sick animals due to the pollution from the IOC fire.

Our day continued on at a steady pace.  Women walked from all directions with their children in tow. Local women offered buttermilk and chai to our team throughout the day and kept us energized. I was shown around the village by curious children eager to watch me take photographs.

Four hours later, the school day was over and Camp #4 was coming to an end. Our Doctors had examined over 180 people and all had received free medications. We began packing our things and as I looked around, kids ran and played, women smiled and men offered their hands in thanks. The village was extremely grateful to have had medical attention.  Everyone of the 50 people standing in and around our bus was smiling. Another camp finished and a day in a life changed for many, including me.

The results of four health camps are as follows:

– Over 830 people have received medicine.

– Total cost of four health camps: 80,000 INR ($1800 CAD)

– 100 INR per patient ($2.20 CAD)

“Anything is possible” is a saying in India that I have heard many times while working on Dirty Wall Projects.  The people of India truly believe this and live by it.  Every idea is considered and thought to be possible.

Four months ago to have imagined that the Dirty Wall Project would have an integral part in a disaster relief effort here in India was impossible to me. The people of India constantly surprise me with their unwavering ability to adapt and persevere in any situation.

”Anything is possible” is just one of the many ways to describe this magical country…

Sincerely,

Kane Ryan

dirtywallproject@gmail.com

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November, 2009,  Sitapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan

The mercury in Jaipur rose back up to a balmy 28 degrees today and life in the city continued at a frenetic pace.

Today, our site for the camp was the urban village of Bilwa. Seeking locations yesterday, we were granted permission to use the village community center located 2 kms from the IOC fire site and right on the main road. A small one-room building with a small dirt courtyard would provide us just enough room for our doctors and staff. Twenty feet from the gates lay Tonk Rd., a major trucking route leaving Jaipur heading north. Large trucks rattle down the road weaving between people and slow moving cows; groups of men sit around chewing pan (Indian chewing tobacco) and curiously looking in our direction. Roadside eateries, vegetable stands and smiling groups of school children surround the community center.

The team got off the bus and we quickly began our routine setup. Each location provides different possibilities and drawbacks, but we have learned to adapt.  Within 20 minutes our doctors were set up and, Mukesh was advertising the camp via microphone in the rickshaw.  Our medicines  were in order and camp number 3 was ready for action.

Like our previous camps, it started slowly with people timid and unsure of our services. I am always nervous at the start and worry that people won’t come or find out about the camp. The team knows this and always reassures me to be patient and relax. Realizing that by pacing the courtyard I wasn’t helping, I jumped into our auto-rickshaw (3 wheeled vehicle) with Mukesh and we drove through the surrounding area while Mukesh promoted our camp via microphone. We wound our way through narrow alleyways leaving the main road and heading into the village and surrounding countryside. We stopped and spoke to groups of people telling them of the camp.

Upon arriving back at the camp, I was happy to see the courtyard full of people and all three of our doctors busy with patients. As I entered the building, looks from the team said, “I told you so”, but Dr. Rahul put it into words with a laugh.

I relaxed and enjoyed the gracious smiles of the people, and helped where I could.

Every once in awhile I have to pinch myself.  The sight of local doctors and nurses working with local people in need, made possible because of Dirty Wall Project supporters is amazing.

After 5 hours and 220 patients served, the day was coming to an end. We slowly gathered our things and finished filling the last of the prescriptions. The mood is always positive, but after a full day at a health camp we can see the work is not only helping the locals but us as well. 

 We all feel good…”it’s nice to be nice”.

I have come to notice another affect that our camps are having on the locals here. The medications are a very good thing and are helping stem the flow of more serious ailments, but the mental and emotional affects aren’t always talked about.

It means a lot to these people to have a group show up in their locality bringing free medicines with the message that they’re not forgotten. We’re not curing cancer, but the people know that there are people out there who care about them.

Any caste, religion or race… everyone is welcome at a Dirty Wall Project health camp.

DWP is back at it tomorrow morning in the village of Rampura.

Thank you,

Kane Ryan

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 Nov, Sitapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan

I left my guesthouse early this morning and started walking towards the office in Bapur Nagar. Overnight the weather had changed dramatically. The temperature had dropped by 10 degrees with cloudy skies and rain. Winter has descended on Jaipur and the streets were noticeably quiet. It took a few city blocks before I noticed that there were no auto-rickshaws anywhere and the ones I could find refused to take me. Tired, and blaming the early morning for my confusion I decided to walk the 6 km to Bapu Nagar. By the time I reached the office I had learned that the city’s taxi services were on strike.

A few things seemed against us so far and things weren’t any different when I reached the office. Yesterday’s ENT specialist (ear, nose and throat) had fallen ill and would not be joining us today. We were now left scrambling to find a new doctor. Rajendra, Mukesh and Dr.Rahul worked the phones trying to find us a new doctor. When nothing materialized, we drove the bus to Jaipur’s largest ENT hospital and continued to work the phones. Forty minutes later we had a new ENT specialist and his assistant on board.

During the 25 km drive to Sitapura, our bus was pelted with rain and I was worried we would see less people due to the weather. As we approached the industrial area of Sitapura the streets were nearly deserted.  The people that were out were wrapped in their shawls and moving slowly. The heavy gray skies gave these usually lively streets a sullen quietness.

Our site for today’s camp was a small public school one km away from the fire site. We drove the bus through the gates into the bare dirt yard of the school. Our tent had been set up a few hours earlier and by the time we got there the tent was soaked right through and useless. We went up to the small cement three-room schoolhouse to speak with the principal. Because of the weather, he only had 1\4 of his students and agreed to let us use two rooms of the school. Dr. Rahul and Nurse Mukesh and the rest of the doctors set up their areas. Rajendra was busy trying to get some power to the school to run our ENT’s equipment. After several different attempts we ran a wire from the schoolroom to the neighbor’s building. I nervously watched as Rajendra stripped the wires and stuck them into the socket..but thankfully our ENT equipment lit up and we were in business.

The rain continued to fall and I could hear our promotion team winding through the streets, letting people know of the camp via a microphone attached to a rickshaw. Finally a man hobbled through the gates using a long stick for balance. This man explained that when he heard the explosion from the fires, he had started running and tripped in the darkness and had severely hurt his knee. The man was 66 and his knee had been swollen for 11 days. After seeing the doctor and receiving his medication he thanked us and continued on his way. By then more people had started to come. It was assumed that we weren’t giving medicines for free, but once they learned the opposite was true, the word spread.

The wind and rain continued throughout the day and so did we. Families and groups of local labourers continued to come to the camp. By the time the weather got too bad, our doctors had seen over 170 people. As the flow of patients from the local area dwindled, we turned our attention to the teachers and the students of the school. Many of Jaipur’s school’s are currently closed due to a swine flu outbreak, so the teachers were eager to have everyone seen by the doctor.

The day was coming to an end, our doctors were cold and tired and the schoolmaster wished to close the school. Thank you’s were exchanged between our team and the school’s principal and teacher. Dirty Wall Project’s second IOC health camp had been completed. 

Today, our team of Doctors had seen 191 patients and they all received medications.

• After 2 camps our Doctors have seen 441 patients and they have all recieved medicines.
• Oldest patient 77 yrs old.
• Youngest patient 1 month old baby.
• Approx. cost of two camps 40,000 INR ( $920 cdn)
• 110 inr per patient or $2.10 cdn

We are now planning our next camp, which will be in a few days from now, and we are currently working with Vatsalya on a few other projects to be announced shortly.

The team has done a wonderful job so far and we have 2 more camps already planned for the coming week.

Thankyou Dirty Wall Supporters,

Kane Ryan

dirtywallproject@gmail.com

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