View out our front door

First impressions since arriving in India have been great. My flight arrived in the evening at 8pm, and we were greeted by a smiling driver and translator who had our names on a sign and quickly helped us to the car to begin a three hour drive to Amar Seva Sangam (ASSA), where I will be staying for three months. Before I get too far, I’ve been saying “we” because I am here with a classmate and friend, Steph. We will be together for the full three months so can share all of our experiences with one another and will be working closely with each other as well. ASSA is a wonderful organization located in Ayikudy, India which is near the southern tip of the country in Tamil Nadu. It is quite rural, so probably a different environment than you would picture if your idea of India is of busy, crowded streets. ASSA is an organization that focuses on rehabilitation for people who can’t afford it. There are a variety of services ranging from inpatient and outpatient treatment, a spinal cord in patient unit, but there is also a hostel for men and women with disabilities to live, village based rehabilitation, an early childhood center, a elementary school and high school, vocational training, and more. Here is a link to ASSA’s website for more on what they do: https://www.amarseva.org/index.php

The first few days being here have allowed us time to get settled and explore the campus. It is a gated premises and we have felt very safe everywhere we go. We haven’t been outside the campus yet, but are planning to go into town tomorrow evening to get money exchanged and stock up on some basics such as fruit and toilet paper! As expected, toilet paper is a foreign concept here, but thankfully we were prepared with some of our own to last us the first little while. To get a sense of the size, you could walk from end to end of the campus in about 5 minutes Canadian time, or 10 minutes IST (Indian Standard Time – aka slow). I like the pace of things here already 🙂 There is so much that I have seen and experienced over the first few days that I will just provide the highlights.

First, my initial reaction on the drive here was how much I love the sights, sounds and smell of things. They are sounds and smells such as constant car horns honking, questionable road conditions and driving, the smell of dirt, garbage and smoke all combined together. These may not seem like appealing things to everyone, but they immediately brought back such great memories of Tanzania, South America and other places I have been. They are things that I learned to love because they represented the culture and people who I met along the way.

As if I haven’t mentioned it enough, it is incredibly hot here. The air conditioning has shut off on us twice already, I think just to make sure we appreciate it when it is available. We only have it in our bedroom and we only turn it on at night when we are sleeping and use fans throughout the day. I’ve been struggling to remember certain customs here such as taking off your shoes when you go inside. Thankfully between Steph and I usually one of us remembers. I also have quickly learned the technique of eating with my hands, as people do not use cutlery. I’ve actually enjoyed it so far, apart from getting wrinkly fingers some times from the moisture. We eat in the “canteen” (cafeteria basically), and are provided all our meals for the day at set times. I’ve already realized that I may have to start having my own breakfast of local fruit and toast/peanut butter. They don’t exactly serve “breakfasty” foods here, but I have loved the lunch and dinner.

Lunch on day 2

Steph and I walked around ASSA today to do a video tour and check out the buildings for a second time when we weren’t so overwhelmed. Walking around for 45 minutes walking outside was tiring enough to require an afternoon nap 🙂 This campus is so amazing to walk around because most people here have some sort of disability. There are wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and AFOs/splints everywhere. The people are so friendly and either giggle as we walk by or wave and practice their English. There have been many Canadian volunteers before us, so they are familiar with foreigners, but have apparently still been anxiously awaiting our arrival which has made us feel very welcome here.

Kids walkers and wheelchairs outside the canteen as they eat their breakfast inside

Wheelchairs outside the spinal cord unit

It is getting late here and I have my first day of placement tomorrow, so should wrap things up so I can go to sleep. I am anticipating a busy day tomorrow!

Watching the sun set from the rooftop