Our elective at the rural hospital is now over, and we arrived in Mysore for a week of seeing the different programs dealing with urban poverty and health. We arrived on Saturday, and as there were not really any opportunities for having a night out in the Nilgiris hills, we went to the club at Hotel Santhosh The Prince. Sunday - recovering from the club at Hotel Santhosh the Prince. And then yesterday we went to spend the day at the Holdsworth Memorial Mission Hospital. We had been warned not to expect to much from the hospitals here but actually I was pleasantly suprised - it seemed to be well run, with extremely knowledgable doctors who took us on rounds with them and told us all about the patients - saw many very nasty looking ulcers (from diabetes which is so common here), tuberculous meningitis, assaults, burns, and one thing more common than all - organophospate poisoning (a type of pesticide.) Not something that would have crossed my mind to read up on before coming, but apparently the hospital sees about 3 or 4 a day. The doctor obviously went on about the treatment and the medicine of it. But he spoke at length on the social reasons behind it. They are mostly farmers, apparently, hence the easy access to this rather nasty poison, and they can't keep up with the pace of production nowadays, get into debt, and see no way to survive in the country or the city. "The human face of globalisation." said the consultant, pointing at a limp, ventilated man in the ICU. . His wrists were bound to stop him pulling out the tube if he woke up. But pulling my eyes off him, I appreciated the effort that had gone into the development of this hospital - it's clean, reasonably cheap compared to many other private hospitals (although the government hospitals are the only option for many people), and seemed like they really cared. As you go in you are greeted by the daily bible quote above your head.. Yesterday it was Proverbs 15:3 - "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good."
Today we went to the organisation, RHLP, who work to improve all aspects of the lives of people who work in the slums - education, health, human rights, sanitation, work, gender equality. Quite an eye opener. There are 80 slums in Mysore. 4000 in Banglalore. And in Mumbai - well, just less than half of the 16 million people live in slums. The figures are mind-boggling. I came away humbled by the work that they've done. Mostly by hearing about the homes they have set up for street children. I asked to visit, I hope to go later this week to see for myself and to bring them any supplies that I can afford!
Now back to the Green Hotel - one of the nicest places I've stayed! Not for the luxury - it's fairly basic - but for the eco-friendliness, the food, and the gardens, breathtaking at night when the lights come on and twinkle all around you.
Today we went to the organisation, RHLP, who work to improve all aspects of the lives of people who work in the slums - education, health, human rights, sanitation, work, gender equality. Quite an eye opener. There are 80 slums in Mysore. 4000 in Banglalore. And in Mumbai - well, just less than half of the 16 million people live in slums. The figures are mind-boggling. I came away humbled by the work that they've done. Mostly by hearing about the homes they have set up for street children. I asked to visit, I hope to go later this week to see for myself and to bring them any supplies that I can afford!
Now back to the Green Hotel - one of the nicest places I've stayed! Not for the luxury - it's fairly basic - but for the eco-friendliness, the food, and the gardens, breathtaking at night when the lights come on and twinkle all around you.
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