Six former strangers reflect on time in Mumbai

COUNTRY: India - Mumbai
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Community Health Work
WRITTEN BY: Helen Foster

It is with a mix of emotions that I sit and write the fourth and final blog for the Mumbai team, because it means that our program is officially over!
What a month it has been!

Like a high school science project, six complete strangers from around Australia were dropped into the metaphorical beaker that was our tiny guest house, exposed to one of the most full on cities in the world, and left for a month to see what developed! This could’ve easily ended in disaster, but instead relationships were formed in this short time that we will never forget.

This week the nursing students got the opportunity to spend a few days with Dani, Charishma, and I at SEC, and it was touching to see the way that they too were moved by the beautiful children and staff at the school.

On Wednesday the six of us visited two other SEC schools located across Mumbai. This was a very tough day for us all. Particularly our visit to Antop Hill SEC, as most of the children from this school come from families below the poverty line, so the outcome is often bleak for these children. Some of the children have no parents and travel from orphanages to the school each day, some live in tiny slum houses and others have to deal with the illness of their parents, often AIDS.

Working at Santacruz SEC, we obviously knew that there were children with very sad stories and low socioeconomic backgrounds, yet Farhine the physio who we worked most closely with had deliberately never gone into too much detail with us. By the end of the day we all felt like we had been kicked in the guts time and time again and pretty much all just wanted to cry!
The attitude and commitment of the staff across all three SEC’s is absolutely admirable though, doing their best to re-educate parents about what their child is able to achieve despite their disability, ensure there is regular sponsorship for the children and constantly seeking out donors for resources that are essential for the children. One thing that shocked us was the modified wheel chairs, that were a metal frame with a plastic pool chair mounted on the top.

When we shared our experience of the day with Farhine, she told us that when she first started at Santacruz SEC she went home and cried everyday because it was just so overwhelming and heartbreaking. She said that her mum had encouraged her to leave and just go and get another physio job, but Farhine didn’t want the children to have to go through the process of getting to know someone new and her efforts be in vain so she stuck with it and now the bond she has with the children is just amazing. It was reassuring to meet such a passionate therapist and also know that she too once felt how we had!

Seeing the other SEC schools has sparked passion in all of us and the girls are planning ways of fundraising money for SEC to sponsor children and buy resources once they get back to Australia.

I spent two months fundraising before coming to Mumbai and managed to raise $1000 dollars to donate to the school. It was so rewarding to be able to give to children that needed it so much and also surprising how far money goes over here. With the money raised, I was able to sponsor three children for a year, supply 6 children with a months supply of diapers, and buy three pieces of equipment for the therapy room, including a standing exercise bike, floor mat and a kit box that has different activities for working on fine and gross motor skills. I look forward to working with the other girls on my return to Australia to see what we can achieve when we really put our minds to it!

It was very hard saying goodbye to the gorgeous little people that we had spent the last month working with, we all knew we would become attached but never knew it would be that tough!
Yet we can go away with the satisfaction of knowing that we made a difference. A major highlight was that on the last day, Rohit, a boy whose arms were affected by cerebal palsy, managed to tie his shoelaces independently after Dani had been working with him.

Rachael, Lauren and Johanna farewelled the staff at Sanjeevani private Hospital and had a nice goodbye lunch with Dr Datar.
On Tuesday night we were all invited over to one of the doctors houses for dinner. Indian families eat dinner very late compared to western standards, and when dinner was finally served at 11:30pm, and we’d all had about 4 vodkas, we weren’t really that hungry anymore but more worried about still trying to act professional and not say anything stupid!

On Friday our close group was divided, some staying in Mumbai and some flying to Delhi to see Delhi and Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. It was very sad to say goodbye after becoming so close, but good to know we can always catch up when we all get back home.

I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say that our time in Mumbai has completely exceeded our expectations. The city, our placements, the people we have met and the food have all been amazing and this has been a month we will never ever forget.