Week 3 in Palampur, India

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

Namaste! Over the last weekend the group went to Amritsar, which is about a 6 hour
drive through roads that had massive pot holes, construction, detours, cattle, and the odd overturned truck as obstacles. This didn’t make for the smoothest of trips, but was definitely entertaining. When we got there the busyness of the big city was instantly noticeable, the traffic making it near impossible to cross roads- making a fun game of chicken for those brave enough.


On the first afternoon in Amritsar we went to the changing of the guard ceremony. As with so many people there it made it so difficult to see what was going on. The energy of the crowd however, was infectious. While waiting for the ceremony to start, the crowd that was supposed to be seated, jumped onto the main road and started dancing, chanting, singing along to the Indian tunes that had been pumped up to the max. A few of us
who couldn’t resist it, joined in with the celebrations- which the crowd loved. The changing of the guard ceremony was located at the boarder of India and Pakistan. India has a chanting crowd and so does Pakistan, both just as eager to show off their love for their country.

Later that evening we went to the Golden Temple, as this was at night time the gold temple itself looked so majestic for how bright it was. It was amazing to see the Sikh believers singing along to the hymns played and worshiping their gods and to see the love and devotion that these people had.

Throughout the third week of placement some of the volunteers were able to visit different areas to again gain an understanding of different practices. With the Health Science students being able to participate at Karan Hospital, as well as to view a surgical procedure that most likely would not be possible at home. The Dentistry students being able to work with Bobby our host and were able to see numerous extractions, and had practice with prepping medication. As this being our last week of
placement, all the volunteers mentioned how great the experience was and how close we all became to the staff we had been working with.

On the Friday, it was Megan McDade’s birthday! We all had a great night out at an awesome restaurant and all got dressed up in the traditional Indian outfits. Was so much fun, Hope you had an awesome Indian birthday Meg!

Another great week, talk to you soon!