Herbal Medicine?

Today has been a really busy day. I have started work at my N.G.O. here in Udaipur and so far am really enjoying  myself. I woke up early this morning, went for a run in the mountains, played guitar on my balcony, and got a timeline of my work for the next 6 weeks or so. This week I'll be at the N.G.O headquarters doing research before moving again to an even smaller village to work in an herbal medicine garden there. I will be focusing on women's issues and through research today found a topic that i'll be looking at in the field. In India, 540 of every 100,000 women die after giving birth. Because the cost of medicine is so high women tend to go untreated after giving birth and are really prone to diseases. The herbal garden I am working at makes something called Bartissa's. It is a mixture of 32 herbs used to help women regain strength after childbirth. Traditional medicine is a big deal here, and I'm excited to get into the field and start learning about the process. From what I know, I'll spend the next  6 weeks basically job shadowing the doctor in the village also known as the Gooney and learning about the practices.

With that, I probably won't be around a computer very often anymore. In 2 weeks I have a week or so off for Divalli (equivilant to Indian Christmas) and will be coming back into town for a day or two before going to Gujurat to see Gandhi's biggest ashram and the ocean.  I'll be in town again after that for a mid- internship seminar with my teachers and then again at the end of the program during a wrap up phase. I can already tell how fast time is going to fly while I'm here.

I am both excited and nervous to move into a small village. The idea sounds so great,  but I think missing the comforts of home will be intensified when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere. I am up for the challenge though and need to keep asking myself when I'll have another opportunity  to do something like this. I know that 6 weeks isn't a lot of time so I hope I don't panic. Everyone think good thoughs and send them out to the boondocks for me.

Miss you all. I'll write in a week or two.

Jen