Week 8:
Saying See You Again

September 3, 2018

Busy Bee Week

My last week in Jamkhed was a complete whirlwind. I tagged along on community sessions in different villages almost every day, and I helped both the Adolescent Boys Program and the Adolescent Girls Program on the weekend (I’m just glad they were on different days). The Adolescent Programs are particularly tiring for the staff because they have to teach the kids about diabetes while also keeping them entertained. Although this can be taxing on the adults who are with them all day, it is always a lot of fun seeing them bond and joke around, and I’m always impressed by how quickly the kids learn important information about diabetes.

The fellow and I were also very busy with our own work, namely the annual report. We gave up on Photoshop (mostly because a subscription was required and the director felt it was unnecessary to pay for something we only use once a year), and we switched to Canva. The fellow has a lot of experience with Canva so she took over most of the formatting, and I helped write blurbs as well as the rough draft that was sent into the government long before the final draft is due. I also looked through hard drives to find pictures we could use, and sent the best ones to the fellow for her to put into the document. It is still not finished, but we made staggering progress in just a week and it looks amazing – if I do say so myself. I also kept up on social media posts, the WDF activity log, the attendance records and lab register for the community sessions, and other odds and ends that popped up.

All in all it was a really great last week. I went into town and visited villages, I kept busy and productive, and I’ve said it before, but I really have learned so much from this internship; to me it has been invaluable. I’ve now had some experience in the exact field I want to go into, and I recognize how difficult that is to find for anyone, and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity and that I was able to benefit so greatly from it.

Chili Powder and Sugar

My last full day on campus and in Jamkhed was nothing short of perfect. It began with a community session in Nimbodi. There was a decent turn out, and I clapped along with the song like usual; I always enjoyed just sitting in a place that was new to me because even though I didn’t necessarily bring anything to the table, it was always an adventure. Afterwards the staff, fellow, and I went to the Rajanikant Arole Demonstration Farm for lunch. The VHWs and the MHT made curried chicken with rice, bhakri, and chapati while the fellow and I sat and watched. They told us the names of different foods in Marathi and we passed time creating mnemonic devices for each one. It smelled amazing and as we watched them cook we saw two or three heaps of chili powder poured into the pot, and we knew that it was over for us. I cannot explain how content I was to sit on the floor and eat with the people I had spent almost every day with since I had been in Jamkhed. The food was absolutely delicious and I almost didn’t notice my lips burning because I was just so happy to be there with them.

I knew that this lunch together at the farm was a sort of going away party for me, and I was so appreciative of that, but I assumed that lunch was the extent of it. After lunch, however, two of the VHWs collected flowers and made the fellow and I each a small bouquet. They put kumkums on our foreheads and Jayesh gave a short speech. He thanked me for my help with the community sessions and the Adolescent Programs, and I’m sure he said some other kind things but I can’t really remember them because I was desperately trying not to cry. After he spoke everyone clapped I shook the men’s hands, and I turned and Surekha held out her hands to me. I took them and started crying immediately. I wasn’t leaving until the next day but I felt so loved and grateful that I didn’t know what else to do except start hugging them. The women hugged me and kissed my cheeks and when I looked they all had tears in their eyes too.

They sat me down in a chair and Ratna gave me sugar because “sugar helps with the sad”. Rekha came and hugged me, then she wiped my eyes and cheeks with her sari. We all sat on the ground to eat some bananas and they asked me when I would come back. I told them I would love to come back next summer and they all switched to “see you again” instead of “good-bye”. I was far too overwhelmed to think of anything to say to them in the moment, but since then I have had time to think about what I could say that would address what I was feeling. I would have said that I am so lucky that I was able to meet such kind, brave, and generous women. I am so proud that I have been able to see them work, and I am so impressed with what they do. These people let me into their lives and their work and it means everything to me that I was able to make even a small impression on them. They don’t have celebrations like this for everyone, and I felt truly honored.

Burning Lips, Burning Thighs

But the day wasn’t over then! After the farm we went back to campus where we stayed for all of 10 minutes before Surekha, Babai, the fellow, the campus librarian, and I got back in the car to go to a waterfall. It was a beautiful drive up, and the views once we were there were stunning. The three older women stayed at the top while the fellow and I walked down shockingly steep stairs to the river and the temple situated on it. We crossed and went up a different staircase that was less steep, but longer, and killed my legs nonetheless. It was well worth the pain though – we had beautiful views of the waterfalls, the river, and the ravine covered in lush greenery. I could have stayed there a lot longer. When we got back to the rest of the group we bought roasted corn with salt and lemon (which tasted as amazing as it sounds), and we stopped for tea on the drive back. Surekha was laughing as she talked about women’s empowerment – the tea was being brought to us instead of us having to make and serve the tea.

Again we arrived on campus, where the fellow and I spent some time in the intern’s office before going to Surekha’s home for tea. She had invited us a few days earlier to say good-bye to me, and I was looking forward to it. She showed us her home and we looked at family photo albums and letters and notes from past visitors. I showed her pictures of my family, and of my sister and I when we were little, while we drank tea and ate cashew cookies. I felt so content with the whole day, all the things I had done and seen, the people I had spent time with. And I felt honored to be invited to Surekha’s home for tea. It was a more than perfect send off for me.

The final activity of the day was dinner with the director. I didn’t eat much because of all the corn and tea, but I enjoyed sitting and chatting with him. The three of us talked about movies and cassette tapes and VCRs and had a good time. I thanked him for everything before I left and he was equally appreciative of the work I had done which made me happy. The fellow and I Skyped the IPM before heading to bed, and the next morning I was up bright and early to say my final good-byes and pack.

Final Thoughts

My time in Jamkhed was the best thing that could have happened for me. The work I was doing was meaningful and I learned so much about teamwork, organization, responsibility, compromise, and adaptation in a context I had never been immersed in before. I am so lucky that I was able to find an internship that prepared me in just the way I needed before I graduate from Cornell. Because of my time with CRHP, I feel adequately qualified to work in my dream job. Does that mean I have learned everything I will ever need? No, of course not. I will always need to learn new things and adapt to new situations, inside and outside of work, but what is valuable is that I learned how to adapt within the workplace – a skill I have not had much experience with previously. There were days when I was tired and frustrated, but even on those days I felt like I was contributing to something bigger than myself; it was worth it to me, and I know that I will be happy as long as I am working in a field that is making a difference.

A Long Drive Part 2

I put my bags in the car, and hurriedly told Atul that I needed to say a couple of last good-byes before I left. I ran into the MHT office and said good-bye one last time to Surekha, Madhu, Rekha, and Babai. They hugged me and wished me a safe and happy journey (and birthday) and they waved as I jogged down the steps and across the hot courtyard. I said my other good-byes and got into the car. As Atul drove out off campus I looked up and saw that Surekha and Babai were still smiling and waving to me from the upper floor of the old hospital. I waved back, and blew kisses, and struggled to keep from crying. It was a sunny day and although I was glad for the warmth and the light, it made it that much harder to leave this place I had grown so accustomed to. I couldn’t believe that I wouldn’t be waking up there the next day, or that I wouldn’t be able to go on drives with the team, or walk through town.

I watched for hours as we drove past motorcycles, women dressed in the brightest colors, men drinking tea – all the sights and sounds and smells that had first overwhelmed me now pulled at my heartstrings. The first time I drove through Mumbai it was the middle of the night, and though I was excited, I was also nervous and even scared. Now as Atul and I drove through the winding, congested roads of Mumbai I felt like I was somewhere familiar. I watched as people went about their daily lives, weaved through traffic, walked with their hands intertwined and their arms around each other. I felt content and sad and happy to have spent so much time in this place only to leave. But what an adventure it has been.

“You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

Miriam Adeney