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.
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