Before the Bronchitis

Apologies that this is my first actual update from India. Thing is, everything was great once I got here, until about 7 days in- when I got bronchitis. Being sick in a foreign country really puts a lot into perspective for you. It makes you vulnerable, tires you out more than usual, and quite frankly- makes you a little depressed.

Upon landing in India, I was warmly welcomed by my roommate and two drivers who took us to our apartment in a black air conditioned SUV. For a minute it felt like I was still in a dream; that I’d wake up in the US. It didn’t actually settle in until a few days later, when my roommates- Andrew and Ashley, along with Brad, and Tessa decided that my first day out would be spent in Chandni Chowk. For those of you who don’t know what Chandni Chowk is, it is one of the most congested and rowdy marketplaces in India. Upon arriving there- about 7 men started pointing out their saari’s to me, doing everything but grabbing me and pulling me into their shoppes. If that wasn’t overwhelming I don’t know what is.

Apart from that, my NGO has been simply amazing to me, they offer so many services that it’s hard to say what I’m even working on here. Maitri provides many underprivileged populations in India with education, healthcare, and food- and has several ashrams around the country. They have travel clinics, counseling services, HIV testing sites, a learning institute for kids in the slums, stitching classes for young girls in the slums, they provide food to widowed women and Vrindavan, and on top of all this, they support women who have gone through domestic violence by individually meeting with them and finding them housing solutions. Upon arriving at work, I had been told it would be a whirlwind (and trust me, it was). Maitri, had just been featured on Aamir Khans: Satyamev Jayate (the Indian version of Oprah) and was receiving public attention from all parts of India. Winnie Ma’am, our Executive Director had kindly invited us over to her home to watch the airing of the show, however, phones were ringing off the hook with generous people hoping to donate, and employees were literally running from room to room trying to ensure the paypal account was properly set up and that donations were correctly coming through. Things are slowly dying down, however marketing from the Aamir Khan show is proving to be one of Maitri’s biggest assets right now. And working there has been a pleasure so far- that is, until I got bronchitis :P