Valuable experience for volunteers in Palumpur, India

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Community Health Work
WRITTEN BY: Rachael Brooks

Namaste!

For our first weekend away, the volunteer group went trekking through the foot hills of the Himalayas. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day allowing us to see - what seemed to be all of India. As we started the trek at around 2000 meters altitude and climbed up to almost 3000 meters, we all physically suffered from the noticeable thinner air and throbbing headaches. It took about five hours to reach the peak which took a huge amount of mental strength to just keep going. The view was well worth it, at the top it felt as if we were on top of the world with the views of villages and towns 100’s of kilometers away. Not to mention the view of the surrounding snow capped mountains- up there all of the international volunteers completely appreciated and understood the well deserved fame of the Himalayas.

That night the temperature fell down to around -5 degree Celsius which was definitely noticed. The bon fire, cabins, and hot Chai tea were all appreciated. Being away from the lights of the bustling little towns we were able to see a magnitude of stars that otherwise would have gone unnoticed, this including the Milky Way and a multitude of shooting stars.

As we are more settled into our volunteering placements over the second week and understanding more of the way things are run. In particular, at Karan Hospital the patients are required to have blood tests even for simple tests like blood glucose levels and blood type. At home this can be gone with the smallest prick of the finger to find out these results instead of a syringe full of blood. This, however is awesome training for us nurses who are not able to take blood until fully qualified back at home but are doing so here.

We have all been able to observe and be involved in interesting procedures that have been taking place. The girls studying dentistry have been able to volunteer at day camps allowing them to gain a broader view of the practices done here. The girls studying speech pathology have commented on how amazing it has been as they are now starting to see small improvements with the lovely children they have been working with. They say it is also amazing to see the team work building amongst these children while they are working hard.

Overall it has been another fantastic week, with each day being an amazing adventure and a completely new experience.

Talk to you next week!