Christmas at the Ashram

Shoaib and Chote Lal painting the ashram fence

The raging bull, Ray, in the Kabaddi action

View from the apartment balcony

Raju, Sona and Sunil with their new legs

Merry christmas everyone,

Hope you all had a great christmas. We had the best christmas over here at the ashram. It was our second christmas in a row away from family and we both really missed that. But we were surrounded by so many people here, that we've grown so close to over the last 3 months that we weren't lonely at all.

It was so different to the usual christmas we are used to...it started at 1am with a patient who had crawled to our room as he was in so much pain and needed some pain medication the poor guy. In the morning we had a chat to family back home and hung out with the patients.
After lunch we had some real fun games with the staff and patients, highlights were wheelchair races with the patients (see the video below...proof I won even if I was disqualified as apparently it's not ok to push young paralysed boys off the track) and an indian game, kabaddi, which is a rugby/bullrush kind of game. So fun, although def some sore bodies afterwards.

They organised a christmas drama production thing complete with homemade costumes that was performed on the night. I (Jake) got a token role as the only pale face in the drama, as one of the 3 wise men and had to say one hindi sentence. I said it completely seriously but the audience erupted into laughter and applause. Pretty funny. All the patients as I've been walking around the ashram today have been repeating my line to me.

We had caterers cook dinner for everyone. Wed catered for 200 people but word got around the neighbourhood and we ended up feeding about 300. After dinner the real party started. We'd had the idea of having a dance party as indians love to dance so much. So Ruth took it on herself to organise it and get everyone excited about it for the whole week leading up to it. One of the indian staff was in charge of sorting out some speakers and in true indian style had gone all out. Half way during the day 3 indian guys rocked up with 4 huge concert worthy speakers and a mixing desk and proceeded to blast out sounds for the rest of the day and night. All the guys get so into the dancing and bust out the coolest funniest moves with all seriousness.

Last weekend we got to stay a couple of nights in a crazy flash apartment in south delhi that an australian couple from the ashram, Ray and Louise, were housesitting for an american couple. We had to drive through 2 massive sets of gates with guards, drive past the golf course to get to this huge hotel like building. The apartment was on the 7th floor and had 4 huge double bedrooms with ensuites. There was a tennis court, swimming pool and billiards room that we could use and a restaurant that delivered the food to your apartment. Really was another world from any we're used to in NZ, let alone India.
Although we had a real cool couple of days there, we were acually so glad to get back to the ashram. I think it reminded us how the most important thing in life is relationships.
It showed us how close we've gotten to so many of the patients here after only 3 months that we were hanging out to see them again. Made us realise for the first time how hard its going to be to leave here in another 3 months.

One thing that I (Jake) have been helping out with that has been so rewarding is getting prosthetic limbs for 3 of our patients. It's been a mission as we've had to drive a couple of hours each way to this place that was providing us with free limbs and it involved a number of trips. But, they've finnaly got their new legs and seeing how stoked they are when they take their first steps makes it so worthwhile. It makes such a huge difference for them having a limb. One of the young guys, Sunil, who had both legs amputated below the knee was so depressed when we arrived here and was talking about killing himself. But since we started taking him to get his limbs measured and fitted for the prosthetics he's become a new person.

We have both grown to love this place so much. Although some days its hard living in community in a culture that is so so different to our own, this experience has been so rewarding. I (Ruth) feel like I have never laughed so much but have also maybe never cried so much. The good with the bad, the beautiful with the ugly and kindness with the greed. All in a day in the life of India. Love this place.

Much love,
Jake n Ruth

The contrasts.....

Parvi and his new bride!
Wedding rituals
Confetti and fireworks everywhere!
The ladies.....
Jake and I with Parvi-on his horse drawn bling cart...so cool!
Trying to dance Indian styles.....
Sick homeless man we picked up from Yamuna Bazaar
Lil homeless kids on the filthy Gangee river
Jun Jun rocking his new legs!!!

Oh man....this place called India has so so many contrasts...the rich to the poor, the happy to the depressed, the generous spirits and the greedy. I have been truley overwhelmed by this all.

It has been an eventful week. Myself, 2 other nurses from our clinic, and a few other guys from the ashram went into delhi to Yamuna Bazaar. This is where the homeless, druggies, and "the lowest of the low" hang out. This is a stretch of about 1km from under a big bridge in old delhi and along the Yamuna river. They are huddled under holey blankets or clustered in small groups to keep warm over a small fire, or shooting up with dirty needles.

As we were arrived we were approached by police men telling us to quickly get out of here as these are "dangerous people...criminals...".

As we walked through the streets and along the river I was lightly showered with ash-from the burning bodies on their funeral piles along the river.

The homeless people here know we are from the Sewa Ashram now so do not try to hurt us....they tell each other in Hindi "no these are good people....they are ok here".

We walk among the curled up bodies pulling blankets back to see if they are still alive and if they need help. We also ask they small gathering crowd who are the sickest and who need help the most. They quickly show us.

We found two people that needed our help urgently-the first the man in the photo, is severely malnourished and covered in his own poo and wee. The thin holey blanket offers little warmth and he lies on the grass. The stench is potent. He has suspected TB.

If he had been left another day or two he would surely be dead.

The next is a patient with leprosy who has a foot wound. Once back at the ashram with the patients I pulled off his foot dressing that had been in place for over a week to have thick pus ooze out everywhere. He was covered in head lice which crawled over his clothing-we had to burn these to get rid of the critters. The thing that got me was he gripped onto his dirty pus covered cloth that was around his foot as it was one of his only possesions. We finaly convinced him it was ok to burn it and we would provide him with new clothes. Tears welled up in my eyes.

These patients are doing abit better now-the infected foot guy is getting heaps better, and the other man with TB is doing ok. They are both eating and drinking and able to take their medicine so its just a waiting game to see if their bodies can do the rest of the healing.

I am so glad we could help these two men....there is so so many more but if we can help a few it is better than nothing.

The photo of Jun Jun with his new legs is for you Sharlene! He lost his legs when he fell off a train when he was drunk with a friend. His friend died but he survived but lost both his legs. Finaly being able to walk again will be such a great step (mind the pun) for him in terms of his confidance and independance. Yay!!! He was one of Sharlene's favourites and often tells me to straighten my hair to look like beautiful Sharlene. Haha gotta love him.

Last night we went to an AMAZING wedding of Jakes friend Parvi. He got married in a Hindu ceremony. Jake, myself, Louise, Jenny, Ray and lil Hunter went along and us girls loved loved loved getting dressed up in our saris's and bindi's! The wedding place was amazing, a huge lawn adorned with lights, ribbons, countless food tables and stalls. The cermonys they did were so fun and felt like such a priveledge to see. One of my best experiences in India so far for sure!

We danced and ate naan bread made right in front of you, and chatted to the curious Indians who were definatly wondering what the bunch of white people were doing there.

The contrast here is incredible. Am working on where I fit in it and being able to enjoy the luxuries we have, yet knowing where the thin line is of being ignorant to the needy. All in a days work though......Am doing well, keeping reletively healthy and am not too homesick.

So alls good!

Lots of love....Ruth

Another day another dhal

something for me to aspire to


arun and me

making cowdung cakes

Bharwa- Ruths patient who passed away

Destitute patient sitting outside the hospital with maggot infested wound



I was sitting on one of the rooftop's here at the ashram enjoying the afternoon winter sun reading a book. The roof overlooks rural fields where nomad rajastani herdsman and their families often set up camp during the winter months. There was a group of 3 young teenage rajastani girls giggling away while they collected cow dung with their bare hands. They would squat down and knead it as if it was bread dough. They lay these out to dry and then sell them on the side of the road. The life they live is in such contrast from the teenagers I know back home but they seemed so happy in their work. They live in tents with dusty dirt floors and are far from rich in a worldly sense but the strong community relationships they seem to have is probably the one biggest thing that sets them apart from the destitute patients that we mainly deal with in the ashram. So many of the patients here seem to have the same basic story. Mothers or fathers dieing, extended family or parents new spouse abusing them or unable to look after them, leaving home in search of a better life, ending up on the street, getting into drugs or abusive relationships resulting in a major illness and therefore coming to the ashram. The single most important thing, I feel, to prevent this is not more money, but more love. A close knit family and supportive community in most of their cases would prevent their downward spiral of events. The community aspect of the ashram is therefore a major focus. Not only providing healthcare, food and shelter for these patients, but also, a community where they feel loved and valued and where a hope in the future can be restored.
Hearing there stories, it’s actually so amazing that most of the patients here still seem to be capable of so much laughter and smiles.

India is a land of such huge contrasts. With one billion people living in a county, I guess it’s to be expected. A country that has some of the richest people in the world is still home to the largest population of the poorest. Delhi’s malls and metro system are nicer than any of seen all around the world but it’s ‘rivers’ and roads are also the dirtiest.
There are a lot of huge palatial houses in Delhi but 160000 people live without a home, sleeping on the streets (that’s more than the whole population of my city, Hamilton, living on the streets!).

We've had some pretty crazy experiences in the last couple of weeks. Ruth was taking one of our sick patients to the doctor when he stopped breathing. She had to perform CPR on him with the help of a breathing bag in the back of our makeshift ambulance van but when they arrived the doctor was not there. The CPR was unsuccessful and the patient died. She had to turn around and drive back to the ashram with the body. First time a person has died in her arms.
I was at one of the public hospitals with an Indian worker and we found a guy sitting out the front of the hospital with half his foot missing. The bones were all exposed and there were maggots eating away the flesh. Back at the ashram I had to pick the maggots out of his foot with tweezers and try to clean it as best we could before trying to get him admitted for surgery...something you would assume to be simple with this kind of wound.

Stories like these at home would be so out of the ordinary and a few months back would have been so hard to deal with. But, here they seem to be so much more normal and just a part of life. It’s funny how well you can deal with crazy situations when you're here.

jake