Week one done...bring on week two!

It's the middle of the night here in Goa and I thought I would take a moment to reflect on the first week of our clinic. This is my first time in India and can honestly say that it is nothing like I expected. I had no idea that Goa is heavily portuguese influenced. Many of the people here are Catholics with names like Maria Hernandez and Fillipe Mendoza. These are people who in everyway appear traditionally indian and the way the two cultures have blended seamlessly is fascinating to me.
Goan people are open and friendly and all go out of their way to assist you in anyway they can. Everyone I have come across has overwhelmed me with their generosity. Even the local shopkeepers and taxi drivers are anxious to assist the "doctors" from the clinic. I have tried to explain that we are not all doctors but it doesn't seem to have any impact so for these two weeks at least I am Dr. Anneke (pronounced in various hillarious ways).
Our first week of clinic was in South Goa. The heat and humidity were a problem for many of us but the organizers and volunteers kept us cool by supplying extra fans and endless amounts of water. It's surprising how much water one person can consume in a single day and still be thirsty. There were 60 or so volunteers that helped with the clinic and their assistance was invaluable. Most of the younger people speak English but many of the clinic recipients came in from the smaller traditional villages in the surrounding area and they spoke little or no English.
One thing that really stood out for me was that all the recipients have been incredibly appreciative for what we are trying to do here. I young medical center worker told me that the average income of the clinic recipients was about 8000 rupies (165 dollars) per month. I was thanked profusely and repeatedly throughout the clinic days and if I took everyone up on their offers of free room and board if I wanted it then I would be able to stay in Goa for a year. It feels great knowing that the efforts we are making here are really making a significant difference to the people of Goa. Next week we do 4 days in North Goa where we have been told we will be seeing the "really poor " people. I cannot imagine what that means but am excited to be able to help them.
The trip has not been all work. Shopping here is amazing and cheap. The streets are lined with little shops that sell anything and everything and any price can be brought down through serious haggling. Besides being able to shop I have been able to swim in the Arabian ocean and eat jumbo prawns under the stars with my toes dug in the superfine sand of a Goan beach. Tomorow we have dinner with Governor (I love how that sounds! LOL) and then we get ready to begin all over again.
Stay tuned for further updates!

Anneke Rozs
GM LC901...calgary, AB. Canada.

Curry, curry, everywhere, and vendors hawking their wares.....

Now that we have been in India for a week, most of our bodies have adjusted to the time frame. Not really sure about the food. We have come to close on the first week of clinic, proudly proclaiming that we have helped 8,500 people. Our days are met with 90 degree heat and 90% humidity, along with early mornings and late nights.
Our adventure starts at 6:30 everyday with breakfast, followed by a 45 minute bus ride to clinic. Along the way we encounter various stray dogs, untethered roaming cattle and buffalo. The streets are narrow and packed with three wheeled cars, motorbikes, scooters, buses, trucks, and cars. Driving on the opposite side of the road does not help with our traffic sensibility.
Once at clinic we are met with eager patients and volunteers. Our team has formed a close knit bond, despite all the language barriers. We have team members from England (Will), Germany (Kristina), Italy (Gabriella and Matteo), India (Harvinder,Gunjan, and Bharti) along with Canada and United States.

The travel begins.....

As we are all getting ready to depart this morning I thought I'd give you a taste of what is involved. First, you start by packing your suitcase and hope that everything you have decided to take will fit into it. You've thought about this day since the announcement came out letting you know you had been selected for a clinic. You then go into survival mode trying to figure out just how big a suitcase you can lay your hands on to ensure that when the day arrives you will have packed everything in your closet and then some! After all, once you've managed to cram your entire closet into a single suitcase you still need to have enough room for the trinkets and treasures that you will be gifting to the local volunteers, then there's the gifts for the children that come through the clinic everyday and then the all important.... can't survive without it ... snacks! At this point you're torn between beef jerky and chocolate....which shall it be? Heck - why not both - after all you bought the biggest suitcase known to man!

The trick is to start packing well in advance of your clinic so that by the time the day arrives you have it down to a science. One thing that works is to buy the space saver bags...that way you put your clothes into a giant ziploc bag and then squish all the air out so that your clothes now resemble a brick. Mission accomplished - you can now cram more things into the suitcase! As the day draws nearer you start having the clinic conference calls and are repeatedly reminded that you need to pack light. English translation....empty out the previously packed suitcase, downsize and start again.

Now you start re-thinking and wonder what you can possibly do without - hey I don't need that extra pair of socks...that will save some room. Again, the idea is to pack light. Okay, start again (after all they say that the third time is a charm). So do I really need 6 pairs of shoes? What about the clothes? Am I really gonna be able to wear something different every day??? Can't forget the makeup, hair products, various perfumes and lotions (after all, you don't know what you'll feel like wearing each day) and again you look at your pile of snacks. The reality is, is that you are not going to be a fashion maven and everyone will be in the same boat as you.... wrinkled and tired, but with a renewed understanding of what is truly important.

So as you are reminded once again to pack light you toss out half the clothes, half the shoes, nearly all the toiletries and fill the emptiness of your suitcase with more snacks (after all, who knows what the food will be like). You are now ready to start the adventure! You get to the airport and pray nothing goes wrong. You meet up with others who have also gone through the trials and tribulations of packing ... and you start chatting to find that commonality that will make this two week trip as easy and comfortable as possible. The excitement is a natural high and lasts throughout each leg of the journey.

This morning I will meet Wendi Dishman, Renee Reinhart, Tika Burton, and Scott Hamey at the Cincinnati airport to start the trip. We will land in Newark (NJ) and wait for the rest of the team to arrive before all 30 of us board the plane for Mumbai (India) and then proceed onto Goa. We hope you will enjoy the daily updates as we move into clinic mode and begin making majic! For anyone that would like to help us in our fundraising efforts, we have a fundraising page located at www.onesight.org. You can search by our team name "Team India" or by typing in the team captains name "Kathy Kozsely" (me).

We wish to thank you all for your support, well wishes, and encouragement! Feel free to leave us messages, questions or comments and we'll do our best to work them into our blogs.