Looking back

Ten days passed very quickly. 

I’m happy with my experience at Kalinga Eye Hopsital and glad I took the challenge.  The staff was welcoming and friendly, the accommodation was adequate, there were few mosquitoes, the food was clean, and I was able to complete my photography project.    

It was helpful to have a fellow volunteer, one who was there when I arrived and so could guide me in getting settled and with whom I could commiserate.  It was also a pleasure to meet such a unassuming, compassionate young man.  Thank you, Connor.  

I arrived at an off-peak time of the year when patient traffic is light.  In a way this was disappointing, not being able to see how the staff operates in full swing. On the other hand, the slow pace meant more chances to chat with staff, more time to work on personal projects, and to be able to feel properly rested. 

I hope my time at the hospital was of some value.  I wrote three grants, edited an annual report, wrote an introduction to another, taught a few English lessons, and shot about 1200 photos.

If you are reading this and considering a stay at Kalinga - do it.  Feel free to contact me here if you would like to discuss something further.  Just add a comment and I'll be notified that one is waiting for posting approval.

A big thank you to all the people who donated money to the cause;  to UfS, particularly Rachel Turkel, who guided me through the application and predeparture process;  to Moorfield Hospital Dubai for letting me hang out with their staff for a couple of days, and to all the lovely staff at Kalinga.  May your work continue to grace the people of Odisha.

Jeff

Out my back window

The view from the Operating Theatre sterilization room

Saddening today to see the news about Bodhgaya.  What was once a rather quiet corner of the world will now be wrapped in fences, patrolled by security guards, and made to feel less comfortable than before.  All in the name of religion.  Ignorance seems to grow rather than abate.

I finished writing two more grants, a rather formulaic and (by the third one) tedious process.  The applications are for funds to construct classrooms and lavatories at rural schools, as well as staring a micro-finance project among poor rural women.  Worthy aspirations all. I hope my work helps them secure funding.

In between I shot two surgeries and this time I was able to follow the entire process from registration to completion of surgery.  I was also fortunate that the doctor and nurses I shot today were the same I shot on the first day, so it may be possible for my photography assignment to use the best of both.

Today was Sunday, so that means traffic is typically higher at the hospital.  It was in fact the biggest crowd I've seen yet.  Apparently the rainy weather has mostly passed and people are more likely to get out. In the coming weeks, in fact, several camps are being run – just in time for me to miss them.

Perhaps that will be something to look forward to on my next visit.

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The boss returns

Spent the morning with the hospital manager Sunil, who walked me through the clinics and in many cases acted as my director, suggesting several shots I wouldn't have managed without his authority and direction.  Staff quickly complied with his requests to love here or there, or redo certain actions that we could get a better or different capture.  It was great to have him with me!

The big boss rolled into town last night.  Sarang is the guy who founded the local NGO that made the Kalinga Eye Hospital happen.  His story is inspiring and you can learn a little bit more about him here and here.  In person he’s somewhat charismatic, as a good leader needs to be.  You feel like you've known him even though you've just met him.  He’s good at praising others he’s just met, building them up so that they feel good about helping him.  We had a short chat outside the hospital - we caught him as he arrived – and then he sat me down in his office for something more serious.  He wanted my advice, as someone a bit more mature than the average college-age volunteer, about how to improve Kalinga.  Quite a tall order.

Unfortunately, I don’t have experience running a medical institution, nor any institution outside a classroom of 20-30 students.  I said I’d have to consider it and respond at a later date.  In the meantime, work was waiting, a couple of urgent grant applications.  I got one finished before turning in for the night.  One more to do this morning before one more day of shooting surgery.  Tomorrow morning I leave for a two-day tour of the area’s Buddhist archaeological sites.

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Dhenkanal fauna

Pasture fields surrounding the hospital

The Annual Report

Grinding a lens

I spent three hours this morning editing a 3000-word annual report of an NGO affiliated with the hospital.  The writing was 95% comprehensible but needed a good deal of polishing.  Following lunch and a nap the director and I walked through the hospital so that he could show me what additional photos he requires, specifically directing me on several occasions to shoot from this angle or that, and directing patients and staff where to stand, and how to move or pose.  There’s a room with several spiffy instruments that I haven’t seen used since I arrived.  The director says he’ll be downstairs with the patients tomorrow to insure the instruments are used and we get adequate photos.

I have also been asked to review the hospital’s website and make suggestions.  This was mentioned to me when I arrived but there was little we could do with the loss of internet service for about a week.  If anyone reading this has any suggestions, have a look here and send me an email or add a comment to this post.  Sunil will be most happy to have your feedback.

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Police me

Vision test

I saw the superintendent of police yesterday for what was little more than a meeting conducted out of formality.  I sat in front of his desk and he asked me what state I was from.  Florida, I said. It’s a hot place, much like here.  Is that near Canada, he asked.  No, Canada is in the north, Florida is far south.  Oh, so not near Canada, he said, and switched gears, asking me about my work.  I’m an English teacher at a women’s college in Dubai.  It’s a government school.  All my students are Emirati, I explained.  Those women are all illiterate and their husbands prevent them from getting educated, he observed.  Well, they’re in college, so they completed primary and secondary school to get there, so they’re not really illiterate.  And in fact in the Emirates today females are now better educated than males.  He asked what I was doing at the hospital, and concluded by indicating the meeting was over and I could go.

There has been no demand for English lessons since we completed our second lesson two days ago.  My feeling is the girls don’t really care and were being polite, or were simply curious about me.  Or perhaps my lessons simply aren’t interesting. No one has since approached me to ask if we are having class in the evening.

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I don't much like winter either

Shoe shop, Dhenkanal

Back-posting

Since internet service was not available when I arrived, I was unable to post here for many days.  I'm making that up by back posting entries I saved to my local hard drive.

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Trauma and Conjunctivitis

I've produced two more one sheets on trauma and conjunctivitis.  For the first time in my life –outside of course work – I am photographing on assignment.  I feel empowered by the task and the responsibility and want to do a good job.  The one sheets may not be used by the hospital and were done simply to show how my photos could be used to demonstrate the patient flow for a few example cases.  I will hand over the photos and layouts to the hospital and it will be up to them to decide how to use them.

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Sunset from the roof of Kalinga

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Proceed carefully

The offending image

Followed patients as they registered this morning and captured perhaps a good series of a young man presenting with conjunctivitis.  Haven’t yet reviewed the images so not yet sure.  I was following another couple when Sunil interrupted and said we had to visit the police station to register my presence in the district.  The police superintendent wasn't at home when we called, so we’ll have to visit again tomorrow.  While waiting for Sunil to carry out some other business, I walked around the nearby tank.  The driver told me “no” when I made to move toward the local temple, and when I tried photographing an area of the tank where three old women were bathing (clothed) I was again told “no.”

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A plan emerges

I met with Sunil yesterday.  We went over some of the registration procedures, filled out forms, and later my bill for room & board was presented.  We also had a chance to discuss my work at the hospital.  He wishes to prepare documents outlining the hospital’s community outreach program.  I've already prepared a one page summary and now he wants something more detailed as follow-up. 

He asked again what I hoped to do here.  This is frustrating as I have communicated on more than one occasion, directly and through Unite for Sight, my desire to do photographic work.  I showed him the three page layout I did of surgery a couple of days ago and he told me he wants a set of photographs that can be compiled in a book to demonstrate the hospital’s workflow, including photos of all types of tests and surgeries here at Kalinga. 

Surgery at Kalinga

No direction has yet been offered, so after breakfast I took my camera down to the lobby with the intention of shooting whatever presented itself.  Partly the exercise was to have others get used to me carrying a camera.  It turned out to be a good a day to make my move.  Sunday is the busiest day at the hospital and while there weren't throngs, there was a steady stream of patients.