January 21st, 2009
Pingalwara
My frist day at Pingalwara was absol amazing- I met with a Social Worker Named Gulshan- whom I call Gulshan ji- he is a MSW, who I am working under. He is the only social worker in all of the Pingalwara locations. I also met with a girl named Sweety- who is absol adorable- she has practically fallen head over heels for me- and says it with all her heart. So I visited all the sites with Gulshan Ji; We made rounds to the Metab Meta Niwas- which is the female ward; named after Bhaghat Puran Singh’s Mother-and the Piyara Singh Niwas-which is the male ward; named after Bhaghat Puran Singh’s adopted child- he was Mentally Challenged. I visited with the ward patients of the main location as well. I met with ward no. 1 on my first day and on my second day I met individually with each patient from ward no.2. after meeting with all of the 40 patients- I choose 11 of whom I thought would be able to participate in a group setting- finally on day two we sat out in the sun, under a tree on these lovely white benches- and I ran my first group therap session with patients who are mentally retarded. After sitting with them for over 30 mins I was able to understand who was able to participate and who wasn’t. We went around the circle and I asked the same question to each patient- the questions consisted of what their likes are, what their dislikes are, and if they would sing a song for the group. Many of them would not answer or sing the songs, and then some of them would answer for the others, and the worst patient was who repled “Neeru” to every question- which is her name. This was frustrating at first but then later I realized that it won’t help to get annoyed- infact I chose the patients which I thought would be the best candidates for group therapy and different kinds of experiments. Gulshan Ji and I have decided on doing Clay, Art, Music, Dance Therapy with the patients who I choose. I have finally chosen 6 out the the 11 patients- Lukhbir, Tari, Farida, Satnam Kaur, Shanti, and Kancham.
Lukhbir- She is pretty quiet- seems like she is always embarassed- which is possible because she has a beard on her face; but she is able to sing and interact slowly and vocally is low.
Tari- is a dark colored woman, who is also pretty shy- although once she gets started she starts to talk and comment on others stories. Once Tari starts to sing, she doesn’t want to do anything other than sing.
Farida- Is a muslim woman, who is also a little shy- although she talks of her family- husband and children. She reports she wants to go home. She doesn’t know where “Home” is.
Satnam Kaur- is a brilliant woman- she is not mentally challenged at all- infact she and her husband lived together till her husband passed away- then was unable to care for herself- and was shifted to Pingalwara. Pt is very interactive- and able to sing full songs.
Shanti- Is also a Shy woman- who talks only when asked a question- but she is going to be an interesting challenge- making her more interactive-
Kancham- Finally my fav Patient- Kancham is a VERY talkative patient- who excessively talks, especiall regarding her friends in pingalwara- she talks over the other group memebers- answering questions for them- although when asked to stop talking and let the others finish; she simply stops talking and waits for me to ask her to start talking again. Kancham is able to sing songs, and is aware of the situation around her.
These are the patients of my group.
Later that day I met with Dr.Naki who is a visiting medical doctor- Dr. Naki is a phenomenol doctor- whoo does not have his own private practice, rather goes and volunteers his time at different NGO’s such as Pingalwara. Wemet with a patient who has Neuro Fibro Mytosis. That is a disease where at patint has boils- such as a califlour effect all over the body. She is covered from head to toe. Dr. Naki explained this is a text book case. And hopes to take this patient to the hospital to show his students this case.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Diary
January 12, 2009
12 days in India- Traveling from town to town; I started my trip in Delhi- visiting my In-laws- which in its self is fun. It’s always entertaining to see people after a long time. Then I left for Amritsar- my destination; main reasons for being in India. I have taken a HUGE step by leaving everything I know behind to do charity work. At first getting to Amritsar was exciting, Visiting the Golden Temple and roaming the streets. But then I started to feel wary; and unsure of my decision. I guess I was just feeling a bit dis-hearted- being alone in a new town. Of course I know many people in Amritsar- but to have a companion is always helpful. Any ways, I went to go visit my relatives in Batala- as that was a Sad Trip. I stayed at Kaka Chacha and Rosie Chachie’s house as usual. But this time it was DIFFERENT; with this awful tragedy in our family of losing Sumeet. I still can’t believe he is not with us; it strikes me as unreal. Well this is a battle of life; and sadly we are fighting for our lives in this battle. It scares me, because this tragedy has left Kaka Chacha Broken to pieces, and Rosie Chachie in a state of Depression. Leaving from Batala made me very sad, and at the same time I felt relieved. That evening I went to Darbar Sahib- feeling at peace, praying for everyone around me. The next day I went to Pingalwara- My Final Destination! Getting there was actually very easy from my Hotel- cost me 50rs by Auto (I possibly gave the Auto driver a little too much-but that’s ok). I got there and wanted to meet with Dr. Inderjeet Kaur, although unfortunately she was unavailable- I met with a Mr. Rahi- who in turn made my experience all the sweeter. He met with me and I explained to him what I had done- left my job, and Home to come and volunteer. He was impressed at seeing my enthusiasm, and reading my resume. He immediately offered me housing, which I kindly declined (I want to be closer to Darbar Sahib to be able to go and visit daily- as in America its impossible to go to Gurdwara on a regular basis- therefore I have decided I will try to go Every SINGLE DAY that I am in Amritsar). I was given a tour of Pingalwara in the Amritsar Location- I visited the women’s ward- women who have been picked up from the streets, deaf and mute, and even women who are HIV+. They were all so welcoming and warm to me. In fact they were excited to see a new face. After that, Rahi Uncle offered a tour to the Manawal location as well. That’s aprox 30 min away from the Amritsar Location. A few Military Wives wanted a tour, and I was also sent along with them to see this other location- WHICH WAS AMAZING! I couldn’t beieve my eyes- Pingalwara is so CLEAN! I mean I was under the impression that it was going to be this dirty place- but on the contrary it was entirely different. I was given the chance to meet with deaf/mute children, children who cannot afford schooling; and are being schooled at Pingalwara; I was also given the opportunity to meet the most amazing two children. I met with Conjoined Twins, Sonu and Monu.
12 days in India- Traveling from town to town; I started my trip in Delhi- visiting my In-laws- which in its self is fun. It’s always entertaining to see people after a long time. Then I left for Amritsar- my destination; main reasons for being in India. I have taken a HUGE step by leaving everything I know behind to do charity work. At first getting to Amritsar was exciting, Visiting the Golden Temple and roaming the streets. But then I started to feel wary; and unsure of my decision. I guess I was just feeling a bit dis-hearted- being alone in a new town. Of course I know many people in Amritsar- but to have a companion is always helpful. Any ways, I went to go visit my relatives in Batala- as that was a Sad Trip. I stayed at Kaka Chacha and Rosie Chachie’s house as usual. But this time it was DIFFERENT; with this awful tragedy in our family of losing Sumeet. I still can’t believe he is not with us; it strikes me as unreal. Well this is a battle of life; and sadly we are fighting for our lives in this battle. It scares me, because this tragedy has left Kaka Chacha Broken to pieces, and Rosie Chachie in a state of Depression. Leaving from Batala made me very sad, and at the same time I felt relieved. That evening I went to Darbar Sahib- feeling at peace, praying for everyone around me. The next day I went to Pingalwara- My Final Destination! Getting there was actually very easy from my Hotel- cost me 50rs by Auto (I possibly gave the Auto driver a little too much-but that’s ok). I got there and wanted to meet with Dr. Inderjeet Kaur, although unfortunately she was unavailable- I met with a Mr. Rahi- who in turn made my experience all the sweeter. He met with me and I explained to him what I had done- left my job, and Home to come and volunteer. He was impressed at seeing my enthusiasm, and reading my resume. He immediately offered me housing, which I kindly declined (I want to be closer to Darbar Sahib to be able to go and visit daily- as in America its impossible to go to Gurdwara on a regular basis- therefore I have decided I will try to go Every SINGLE DAY that I am in Amritsar). I was given a tour of Pingalwara in the Amritsar Location- I visited the women’s ward- women who have been picked up from the streets, deaf and mute, and even women who are HIV+. They were all so welcoming and warm to me. In fact they were excited to see a new face. After that, Rahi Uncle offered a tour to the Manawal location as well. That’s aprox 30 min away from the Amritsar Location. A few Military Wives wanted a tour, and I was also sent along with them to see this other location- WHICH WAS AMAZING! I couldn’t beieve my eyes- Pingalwara is so CLEAN! I mean I was under the impression that it was going to be this dirty place- but on the contrary it was entirely different. I was given the chance to meet with deaf/mute children, children who cannot afford schooling; and are being schooled at Pingalwara; I was also given the opportunity to meet the most amazing two children. I met with Conjoined Twins, Sonu and Monu.
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