"Bangladesh is home to 33 million poverty-ridden children -- about half of its total population aged under 17 years -- while about one in four children in the South Asian country is deprived of at least four basic needs like food, education and health.

    These findings were presented Wednesday at the launch of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study styled "Child Poverty and Disparities in Bangladesh".

    The United Nations' children agency said the latest study focused on the multidimensional aspects of child poverty looking at deprivation in seven areas like food, education, health, information, shelter, water and sanitation."

Interesting article. Continue to read, article linked below.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/25/content_12539217.htm

"House speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to speak about Hepatitis B on Saturday, joining Brown & Toland and a growingcoalition of community groups and healthcare partners that are raising awareness about this silent epidemic."Interesting article that goes on to mention the SF Hep B Free. Link provided below.www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS251950+30-Oct-2009+PRN20091030

Even in the 21st century, 150 mil children are engaged in child labor. Where's the change we can believe in? http://bit.ly/PzrlM

I went on this trip full of confidence thinking that in the ten days we were going to be there we would bring about instantaneous changes in the lives of the villagers. But that was not to happen. Day after day, we would talk to the villagers, trying to get a thorough understanding of what the villagers’ needs and problems. At first, it was frustrating that I was not able to help the people out immediately. It was frustrating knowing that had they been in California, they would not be going through some of the obvious health problems they were facing.

But reflecting upon this feeling, I realized that trying to give the people an instant cure or using my own value systems to judge them is not right. Although we spoke the same language I realized that I didn’t completely understand them. In Vadamanapakkam, I saw children running around barefoot and old men going back to work daily although it was the very work they did that caused their physical problems. They knew the consequences of their actions but they still did what they did. Why? I don’t really know why. All I do know is that it is an unchangeable part of their lives. It will not be fair to judge them with my foreign expectations or to force them to change their lives without providing them with an appropriate substitute.

So then, what do the villagers need the most from us? I feel that it’s nothing fancy, just the basic needs: clean water, proper drainage infrastructure, the simple joy of having nutritious milk powder and new notebooks and the awareness of hygiene. I know this can be done and I am eager to start working on it. 

A touch of humanity; to me this the best way to describe the adventures we had in India this summer. Aside from being able to contribute to society, I got the chance to get to know different people, see a new world, live a different lifestyle and explore a whole new side of my own culture. This trip has touched something within me and I hope that I have made at least a small difference in someone else there, even if it is just an extra smile.

A story from one of our members at Project RISHI!

All in all, Project RISHI had experienced better afternoons. We had come to the Government Health Clinic to build a strong working relationship with them. Through this endeavor, we hoped to improve our own village health clinic, but the director had other plans in mind. "I think you should pack your free clinic up and move to a remote hill station where there is no civilization. Maybe you can do some good there," he declared, shocking us into a confused silence. For one long hour, he proceeded to ridicule our project, crushing our hopes and goals. We left the meeting shell-shocked, with some of my fellow members questioning our purpose for working in the village in the first place. My first real hands-on experience with health care was in danger of failing.

I joined Project RISHI in my junior year, attracted to its message of providing health care to the disadvantaged in rural India. Its message resonated strongly with my lifelong goal of becoming a doctor. I traveled with the group to Vaddamanappakkam, a village in Tamil Nadu, India, to assist in our free clinic and attempt to improve the quality of life in the impoverished village. The clinic was only two years old, so there were not many services we could offer patients besides a basic check-up along with standard medication. Despite the shortcomings of the clinic, I loved the work we did there. Connecting with patients on a personal level by giving them some small measure of relief ignited an unknown passion in me that grew day by day. This growing passion suddenly hit a roadblock during the disastrous meeting with the government health clinic. I fumed at the criticisms leveled at us. However, I later realized that this confrontation helped open my eyes to the problems of our project. It was not that we were useless; our goals just needed adjusting. We could never provide the services of the well-funded government clinic, but we could help patients with their chronic ailments, quickly identify and refer sick patients to the proper hospital, and work at disease prevention.  

The rest of our trip was spent working towards these goals. To improve our clinic, we conducted numerous surveys amongst groups of villagers, seeing what they liked and disliked. Also, we were lucky to meet two local doctors who agreed to come and work in the clinic. We also made significant progress in our health education goal. A local women’s self-help group agreed to help spread health care education in the village year-round, while the local school welcomed any advice on how to improve their health education program. Through our hard work and effort, we made significant progress towards achieving our goals.

I came back from the Project RISHI trip more energized than before. Though I faced the harsh truth that we may not be able to cure every patient in the village, I saw that we could still bring some small into their lives.  As in every important endeavor, there were some initial setbacks. Yet, our hard work and dedication turned the project around from a growing disaster to a resounding success. I personally cannot wait until next year to return to Vaddamanappakkam and continue Project RISHI’s goal of striving to bring healthcare to those who need it most.