Toto, We're Not in Maharastra Anymore

As the title says, the last few days in Rajasthan have been absolutely incredible and completely different from what we experienced in Maharastra. Upon arrival in Bikaner, our first stop was the Bikaner Medical College. Right as we entered the building, we knew that everything had changed. The Bikaner Medical College was extremely crowded and disorienting. The masses of people were being rushed from place to place, seeking any type of care they could obtain. The number of patients was so large that some were forced to wait outside the hospital, lying on carpets that they had spread out with other members of their family. When we got to the hospital, we had a very informative meeting with Dr. Sudesh Agharwal, the hospital’s administrator. We discussed issues with the current ANC system in Rajasthan and learned about the technological changes facing the state and Dr. Agharwal’s hospital.

Then we toured the various wards, talking to nurses and ASHAs along the way. The most notable sights included a newborn that was spontaneously breathing but eventually started crying normally (weighed on the pictured infant scale). There was also an abandoned prenatal ward with mice and a rat in it (all of which made Josh very antsy!). Another funny moment we experienced was when one ASHA took particular interest in our device and followed us through the hospital until we showed it to her. This also drew a sizable audience.

 After this, Dr. Acharya secured a meeting with Ms. Arti  Dogra, the district collector. Despite the fact that there was an employee strike that Ms. Dogra had to deal with, she gave our team a lengthy slot because she said the issue of antenatal screening of anemia hit particularly close to home with her and was a major issue in the district. In fact, when we met with her, her main concern was how soon she could get one. As a sidenote, her office was pretty sweet but we were all too intimidated by the labor strike to take a picture.

 

The next day, the team ventured to Naukar Community Health Center. There, we met with the administrator, visited the lab and spoke to an ASHA about her job and her phone. The ASHAs were very happy to meet with us and were quite keen on taking pictures. We also went to a nearby small village to try to see an Aganawandi Center. As the center was nestled in the center of the village, these two school children were fairly keen on the opportunity to leave class to lead us there.

On the road back, the team visited the famous Karni Mata Temple worshiping the rat goddess Durga. As the temple theme suggests, the place was FILLED with rats roaming freely. Josh had to be coerced by our driver to enter and Kevin appeared terrified, but Ashley apparently had no issues with the little creatures.

At night, we had a very helpful meeting with Dr. Kailash, the Jhpiego State Director of Rajasthan. He was certainly very knowledgeable about the issues our project deals with as well as the various programs and distribution pathways that would be involved with implementing the device. The team went back to the rooms early to rest up for the next day as we had a chance to tour Bikaner starting with a camel ride in the desert at 5:45 am. More on this to come!