Indian Antics II - "Arrested"

Greetings! I've now been here in Malkangiri for over a week. The week has been packed full of visits to villages and surrounding towns as well as work at the clinic here in Malkangiri. Today I'll introduce you to some more patients, share the culture as I am experiencing it and leave you with some more prayer points. But first I'll give you my postal address here, not because I expect letters but just to help you put me on the map better.

Hamish Graham
c/o Dr Paul
Reaching Hand Society
Malkangiri P.O.
Malkangiri (Dist)
Orissa - 764045
INDIA Ph:06861-30231

Recent News
Sitting here, in the quiet and peace of a Sunday morning I can't help contrasting it to the last two days. Friday was a national holiday, celebrating the birthday of a Sikh religious leader, Guru Nanak. It was also the start of a local Hindu festival, in which unwed women pray for a husband (though I think it was just another excuse for a party). The house where I am staying is right next to the town square. Each morning at about 6:00am a troupe of singers and musicians march past, yelling and banging on their drums as loud as possible. On Friday, since it was the start of a special festival, they started at about 4:00am. Not only this, but it was broadcast by big screeching speakers set up around the square. Two shrines had been set up in the square. The traditional Hindu shrine picked a couple of the 33 million Hindu gods to worship. Children and adults danced around the shrine, chanting loudly. Opposite this there was a shrine put up by the reformed Hindu group, which sees all of the 33 million gods as equal so doesn’t focus on any specifically. Here, there were two women chanting, with a group of other women and children seated around echoing the chant. In and around these shrines throngs of Indians walked, watched and joined in with the festivities. The result was a raucous noise as the drums, out of tune piano accordion thingy and voices all combined as one. [I must admit that I do not have any appreciation for the 'music' during the festival.] Starting at 4:00am on Friday, the festivities continued non-stop right through Friday day and night, finally stopping at about 9:00pm on Saturday (the singers and dancers working as a tag-team). And though the music did nothing for me, I really liked colourful set-up they had, especially at night when the lanterns lit it up.

Santali Village
This last week has been really eventful, so I'll start at the beginning and work through slowly. Last Sunday, I accompanied the rest of the Reaching Hand Society team to a village about an hour's drive away. This is the Santali village where Dr Iris and her husband first started their work, and today they had a special Harvest festival church service. The local Christians all brought money and produce to give to the church. The produce, assembled at the back of the simple cement and brick chapel, included bags of rice, green vegetables, hand woven bags and even a chicken. After the service, they were sold to the Christians in attendance so the money could be used by the church.

It was also a special day because two women were getting baptised. Here in Malkangiri this is a very big commitment. By officially rejecting Hinduism, converts lose all their government allowances, including the right for free schooling at a government school and the right to register a piece of land (this means they can be kicked out of their house at any time). It also makes them the target of local persecution, by other villagers and by the Hindu authorities. Yet, despite this, the Christians are generally cleaner, healthier and even wealthier than most of their counterparts. Reasons for this include the rejection of expensive and destructive habits (e.g. chewing tobacco, alcohol) and the development of constructive habits (e.g. saving money, improving personal hygiene and sanitation). Many of these changes come from a change in mind-set. They begin to understand that they are valuable and that they do have power to change for the future (undermining the Hindu assumptions regarding karma and castes).
When the church service had finished we all joined in a traditional meal. Seated cross-legged on the floor, a washed banana leaf was placed in front of us. Onto this was placed a heap of rice and then an assortment of curries. Mixing it around using my hand I used four fingers like a scoop bringing it up to my mouth. I learnt later to use my thumb to push the food from my fingers into my mouth. It was a wonderful meal I we headed back to Malkangiri with full stomachs.

Clinic
Monday was my first day at the clinic. The clinic consists of three small rooms, used as a lab, consulting room and examination room. The whole clinic is only about the size of two normal consulting rooms. Patients wait outside, up to twenty at a time. After Iris takes their history Matthew or I do a physical examination (unless it is a woman, then Iris does this also). Treatment is limited, but many miracles have been seen. Opposite the clinic the Reaching Hand Society is building a hospital. It will hopefully have about 12 beds, including a maternity suite, with the capacity for expansion. Unfortunately, funding is becoming increasingly difficult to find, and almost all RHS programs have stopped, except for the medical work.

Monday was quiet, about ten patients, but the work was interesting: malaria, infected wounds, tooth infection and pneumonia to name a few. Tuesday, which is Malkangiri market day, is always much busier. We saw about 25 patients, most of who came in from the surrounding villages. Patients presented with TB, malaria, pneumonia, kidney disease, typhoid, veneral diseases and even one man with leprosy (standing at 175cm but weighing only 35kg). Also, Lakshmir (the baby with the huge infected wound) returned for a check up. She was looking very good; the wound is continuing to heal miraculously. And, although they refused to wear gloves, her parents seem to be dressing the wound well enough.

The infamous photo
We were able to finish at the clinic late afternoon and I headed home for a quick snooze. We were due to run a program for local and surrounding tribal kids at about 6:00pm. I left the house early for the 15-minute walk to the clinic where the kids program would be held. I dawdled through the town, snapping a few pictures of people and scenes. Passing a field I remember Dad asking me to get photos of the local agriculture. In the late afternoon light there was a lovely view over a few paddocks with the mountains in the distance. No sooner had I taken the photo before an angry Indian on a motorbike confronted me. After yelling at me for some time I finally understood something about reporting me to the police. I said OK and he took off on his motorbike. I continued walking and after five minutes had all but forgotten the incident. A group of six kids joined me and I had the opportunity to practise some Oriya. "Tomoro nam kso?", I asked one child his name. He replied with an unpronounceable name - but at least he understood me! As we continued toward the clinic I saw the police jeep coming down the road, with the angry Indian on the motorbike pointing enthusiastically at me. I went and met them, the kids still at my heels. After being told that I had to come to the station for questioning I hopped into the jeep and we headed off. At the station I was delivered to the head honcho who started asking me about the photos I had taken. Finding his Indian English very difficult to understand I managed finally made some sense of it. The angry Indian had reported me for taking a photo of a woman "answering call of nature". Meanwhile, the kids who were following me, ran on to the clinic and breathlessly reported to Iris that the doctor had been taken by the police. She and Remo promptly headed for the police station. Having understood the complaint, I was now told that I had to hand over the film, I said that I would wait for Remo to come. He seemed happy with that, so I decided to stick my neck out and ask if I could take a photo of him. He obliged, so now I'll have a photo of my interrogator! Remo and Iris arrived and I ended up handing the film over for them to develop. I still have not heard back from them but hopefully I’ll get my photos back without any more trouble.

Remo and Iris had both told me how closely the Christians were followed and how valuable information was to the Hindu authorities. But until this incident I thought they were exaggerating. Since Tuesday I've seen the angry Indian a number of times. Just sitting on his bike watching me or one of the others. Matthew, the doctor from NZ, must give a daily account of his movements to the authorities. And, since last month, the Reaching Hand Society must submit regular reports to them also. It seems strange from a Western perspective, but I guess Christianity is so different to the Hindu foundations that India has, it must seem very threatening.

Remote village
On Wednesday afternoon, I had my first visit to a village. We stopped at the side of a dirt road and walked along a worn track for about 15 minutes to a single house on a hill. The other village houses were nearby, but I did not see any. This village had about 20 people, though some may have over 100 residents. When a man gets married, he usually moves away to claim a piece of land, much like in the animal kingdom. This particular trip was a special one, done weekly or fortnightly, to a girl called Tula. Tula is about 15yo and presented about a month ago with a grossly distended abdomen. The swelling was so huge it compromised her breathing and an aspiration was necessary. After two aspirations it was clear that her condition, some sort of malignant cancer, was worsening. So aspiration is only done if her breathing is affected. Otherwise she survives with the help of vitamins, drugs for the oedema and prayer. Weighing only 35kg, her legs and arms are completely wasted. To begin with, Tula was very depressed and unhappy, and her parents were going to leave her to die. Now she has stabilised and has great faith that God will heal her. She now lives at home, together with her father, mother, sister and two brothers. Her other sister died about three months ago without reaching medical help. She may die at anytime, but every extra minute she lives is a blessing to all she encounters. Her peace and grace is unbelievable and really is an inspiration to all of us.

Kalimela Clinic
On Thursday we went out to the market at Kalimela to set up clinic. We had a busy day of over thirty patients presenting with complaints including: infected foot wound, venereal disease, a whole family inflicted with scabies, TB, pneumonia, lobulated kidney (as visible on ultrasound), Type II diabetes (very rare here) and glomerulonephritis. In the latter case a 12yo boy presented with oedema of the face and a grossly distended abdomen, including a palpable liver. After ruling out hepatitis and judging from the significant amount of protein in the urine, Iris began treatment for glomerulonephritis. Treatment available here is not adequate by Western standards and he will really need a miracle to recover - but I’ve already seen that miracles occur.

After a rest day on Friday, Saturday was another village clinic day, this time at Balimela. The clinic here was in a school classroom, so we had the cries of the playground to accompany us. It was a quiet day, only about ten patients but included and epileptic; a brain damaged boy (after having meningitis as a baby and also being deprived of oxygen at birth) more venereal diseases and more infected sores. We arrived home at about 9:00pm and I was glad to see the festival was closing down. Joining Iris, Remo and the other volunteers, we sat on the toilet roof eating and watching the stars before finally retiring to bed.

Closing
It remains quiet and still here, just the sound of birds chirping on the roof and kids playing in the street. I’ve enjoyed my time here so far but a family emergency in Iris' family may disrupt my plans. Her mother is very sick and has been admitted to hospital in Chennai (Madras), possibly to have her legs amputated. Iris is quite upset and is wondering about going to join her there. If she does go to be with her mother, the volunteer medical team, including myself, will not be able to continue work here (since we cannot dispense medicine or administer treatment). Things are a bit up in the air but I trust they will work out to the best.