Photos! Just a taste...

The Middle Of Nowhere, Orissa, India. This is the view outside the campus where I first stayed. The desolation is beautiful, in a way, but doesn't make for very good lives or opportunities for the local people.


The "grannies" (and grandfathers) of the Adopt-A-Granny program (sponsorship program linked with the UK - kind of like a foster family program). This group came in from the local village to be interviewed, but we ended up conducting more of a group meeting where they shared their problems with us and each other. They all thought this was the greatest thing ever, since their family and village members often don't listen to them or sometimes even notice they're there. It was helpful but also a little frustrating for me because I realized they never meet like this in their own community, even though they have regular meetings where issues are supposed to be addressed. Apparently half of them don't show up, and the half that do just hand over their 20 rupees to group's savings fund, don't even consider using it for income-generating project loans, and then everyone leaves. There's such a difference between the ideals of a program on paper, and actual implementation in the field...


The new Indian lady. (sorry if it's sideways, I can't rotate on this computer)


Me with some funny, affectionate patients (post-op). They love being interviewed and getting the personal attention; in return I get 10-fold the personal attention from all of them, in the form of lots of arm pats, chin squeezes (equivalent to a pat on the head), and hand massages. Everyone wins.


School screenings. This photo is totally posed; normally I'm at the other end of the room pointing to the eye charts, while one of the Oriya-speaking nurses talks to the kids. The kids were all too happy to oblige for this photo, though. I'm glad I have a digi so I get to show all of them the photos afterward. Same goes for all the patients; they love seeing the pictures. Although sometimes they can't recognize themselves and point to another person in the photo, going "mu? mu?!!" ('me?' - nope, sorry dear, guess that bandage over your right eye isn't helping your binocular vision too much right now...)