Chad is our reporter in the field and is keeping us connected to the team through his I-phone. He is also keeping a blog for his friends (www.cagindia09.blogspot.com). He gave me permission to use that text too and this annecdote about visiting a rural village vividly portrays life in rural India.
It is now Tuesday night. This morning we went to a village called Kassamita. It was only about a 10 minute drive from Puttur, but it made Puttur look like New York. They guess that the population of Kassamita is around 1,000.On the medical side, we gave out over 50 shots. The camp itself provided medicine to over 200 people. The people in the village make bricks for a living. Very primitive. For a 12-16 hour day, they make less than one American dollar.While the camp was going on, I got to tour their village. No electricity. Sewer ditches. Mud and brick single-room structures. Each place had a hole dug in their yard about 3 feet deep. A pipe carrying water came out of the hole about 2 feet down. 3 days a week water came out of the pipe for people to use.Because they were so poor, there was a great demand for our medicines. Imagine if you only made $1 per day! I am struck by these parents that bring their children in. Despite such poverty, they have great smiles of thanksgiving. Like any other parent, they are so proud of their children. It is interesting to see that they have some of the same basic parenting mannerisms that we do. It is tough to explain, but I probably don't act a lot different when I introduce my own child to someone else.On the way back, I saw a motorcycle where the driver was carrying 3 Indian rugs. They appeared to be wrapped around cardboard and strapped to his bike. (I take it that they don’t have OSHA here.) Because they were rigid, the rugs probably extended about 4 feet on each side of his bike. He was only on a motorcycle, but he was wider than our van!Anyway, thanks for reading. I am having a blast!