The end has come :( - March 19, 2011

Hello Readers!

I am sad to say that this will be my last blog post.  I am currently back in the US and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every second of my experience while in Delhi interning with the Human Rights Law Network.  As I reflect on my time in Delhi, I am very appreciative of the wonderful opportunity that  I had.  I would definitely like to thank Northeastern Law School's PHRGE Fellowship for granting me this opportunity.  In addition, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with all of the wonderful lawyers, social activists, and interns within these last few months, they've taught me a lot during my internship. 

I have been back in the US for almost a month now and I must say that I really miss India.  My last week in India my friends bought me a cake and we went out for dinner.

The cake said "Happy Birthday" lol.

I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog these last few months.  I hope that you have enjoyed my stories, pictures and adventures. 


Peace and Love <3


Asia

Mumbai (formally known as Bombay) - February 18, 2011

Hello Readers!

So I am extremely late in posting this blog, but better late than never. :)  During the weekend of February 12th Chloe and I traveled to Mumbai.  Mumbai is the most populated city in India and the second most populated city in the world! Whew.  Although Mumbai is “Bollywood Capital” (Bollywood is like the Hollywood of India), it is also home to the largest slum in India.  

Sky line of Mumbai from a tour bus.

 In Mumbai, Chloe and I stayed wih a lovely couple.  They were extremely generous towards us.  (Chloe knew them through a connect that she has in Ireland.)  The couple, and a friend that was also living with them for a few weeks, were  very loving and welcoming.  I thoroughly enjoyed staying there for the weekend.

Chloe and I with the lovely couple we stayed with and their friend.

Mumbai reminds me a lot of Delhi because of the amount of people, traffic, and everyone is constantly on the go.   I had to constantly make sure I looked both ways 500 times before crossing the street!

A typical road in Mumbai.  Crazy!

In Mumbai, we went to an Arts Festival.  That was a lot of fun. Local artists from across the city displayed their prized works of art.  The art was very interesting.

At the arts festival.

Arts festival.  It was hot so we had to sit and relax for a bit.

A work of art.

A work of art.

Along with the Arts Festival, we also did a bit of traveling around Mumbai a bit to see all of the historical sites.  

The Gateway of India.

The Taj Hotel is in the background.  President Obama stayed there while he was in Mumbai!

Relaxing at the Taj Hotel.

Overall, our weekend trip was great. 

Peace and love.

Ps.  While in Mumbai I found out that my favorite type of "ice cream" brand is a Gelato. YUM!

YUM!

Beautiful Goa - February 15, 2011

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

 

I know it's one day past Valentine's Day, but hey, we should love one another every day! Right? :) This past week I attended a conference that HRLN organized. The conference was held in Punaji, Goa.  Goa is the smallest state in India (with a length of 60 miles). It is located on the Arabian Sea. Before I get into the details of the conference, I must mention that the weather in Goa was absolutely beautiful.  Temperatures averaged a bit above 80 degrees, and it was sunny throughout the duration of the conference and my stay in Goa. Apparently, Goa does not have a winter, persay.

A group of people from the HRLN Delhi office traveled to Goa via train.  It took about 28 hours to get there. If you remember from last weeks blog, I traveled, by train, a total of 90 or so hours to and from Assam for the Sexual and Reproductive Rights workshop.  Needless to say, by this point, I was extremely tired of traveling by train. :/

Neha, Chesapi, and I on the train from Delhi to Punaji.

The view of the country side from the train. Beautiful

There were more than 100 participants from around the world that attended the conference. The speakers discussed a variety of topics. Some of which included: industrial pollution, nuclear power plants, and mining. The conference was very busy.  At the conference, Chesapi, Chloe and I mainly helped to set things up: we organized the folders, hung posters in the room, and took minutes throughout the sessions.

Sanjai closing the conference.

Participants at the conference.

  

While in Panjim we had a bit of time to walk around and see the scenery and different sites.  The first night, Neha (Journalist for HRLN), Chloe, Chesapi and I went on a 1 hour boat cruise. It was very festive. There were cultural dancers and a lot of entertainment.

Dancers on the boat cruise.

One of the Portuguese inspired towns in Panjim.

Looking at the sunset over the Arabian Sea in Panjim.

Because the train ride back to Delhi would take 2 or so days, Chloe and I decided to stay in Goa because we were going to Bombay to visit the weekend of Friday the 12^th (tune in to next weeks blog for the Bombay stories and pictures).  Since we were staying in Goa, we decided to go north to Candolim beach, and subsequently move our way south to Palolem beach.  These few days in Goa were so relaxing.  The scenery was beautiful, and the beach amazing. 

On Candolim Beach in North Goa. :)

Artistic? lol. On Palolem Beach in South Goa.

While in Candolim and Palolem, Chloe and I did a variety of things. Some of which included: shopping at the famous Wednesday Anjuna market, hanging out at the different beaches, working on assignments for the office, and attempting to learn how to drive a scooter (I know. Random. :).

Relaxing on Palolem Beach

Beautiful Palolem Beach.

Sunset on Palolem Beach.

A taxi driver teaching Chloe how to drive a scooter.

Although we were very relaxed while traveling through the different beaches in Goa, it was definitely not a full blown vacation.  While on Palolem Beach, Sukti e-mailed me the topic of the next petition I was assigned  to write: access to medical treatment for women in prisons.  I have already started researching this topic and it is very interesting.  Although the ratio of women in prison is significantly less than men, imprisoned women still deserve access to health care services while serving their sentence in a male dominated and male structured facility. No woman, whether imprisoned or not, deserves to be shackled during delivery, not given the proper nutritional services during and post delivery, etc.  This is a very interesting topic that I actually am enjoying the research of.

Reading some of my research on the beach.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Goa. As I think about my time here in India as a whole, I've realized I only have 1 week left! :( - Saturday the 19th will be my last day at the HRLN office in Delhi, then I head home to Georgia on the 24th, and back to Boston on March 1rst. Time flies!
 

On a random side note: Congrats to Caitlin Chan (my fellow classmate, friend, and law office member :). She received the honor of becoming PHRGE’s HRLN summer fellow. If you would like more information on the PHRGE fellowship, please visit: http://www.northeastern.eduphrge/resources/phrgefellowship.html

Until next time, peace and love. <3

Sexual and Reproduction Workshop - Guwahati, Assam- January 28, 2011

Hi Everyone!

I have so much to tell all of you! These last couple of weeks have been extremely busy for me.  I’ve been working on a Sexual and Reproductive Workshop for young adult girls and NGO’s.  The workshop was held in Guwahati, Assam  (a state located in the northeast of India).  Karuna (head of the trafficking department at HRLN), Sukti and I created and implemented the 2 day workshop with the help of HRLN Guwahati Chapter.  It took Karuna and I 50 hours on a train to get from Delhi to Assam.  It usually wouldn’t take that long, but the train kept on stopping, and in the beginning there was an 8 hour delay.  Needless to say, it was a loooong journey to Assam, but it was well worth it. :)

Waiting for the train to come.

40 hours later. . .  STILL on the train. :/

The word "Sexual" was not allowed on the banner.

The first day of the workshop was for young adult girls between the ages of 18-22 years old. There over 90 participants!!! The purpose of the workshop was to teach the  girls in the state of Assam about their rights. Specifically, sexual rights, reproductive rights, trafficking, and STI’s (including HIV/AIDS).  Day 1 was held on a local college campus in Guwahati.  Although the workshop was about sexual and reproductive rights, we were not allowed to put “Sexual” on the banner because it included the word “Sex”. That topic is still not socially acceptable to talk about in India: especially for young adult girls.  Needless to say,  in creating and implementing this workshop, Karuna, Sukti and I were doing something brand new. We were the first to have a workshop of this nature in Guwahati.  We may have ruffled some feathers, but letting young adult girls know that they have sexual and reproductive rights is very important. They have the right to know about different diseases; they have the right to know that they have a right to health care; and they have the right to know there are governmental schemes that make sure they get help if and when they get pregnant: they need to know.  The situation is Assam is devastating.  Assam's maternal mortality rate (which means the amount of women that die during childbirth) is double that of India's.  Why are these women dying? Well most are below poverty line, or have an infectious disease, no money to pay the hospital, no transportation to the hospital, etc. etc. All these factors contribute to hospitals turning these women away. 

Quick side note to give you a glance of how some below poverty line women are treated by these hospitals (and they reluctantly accept this treatment because they do not know their rights).  Okay, so,  HRLN Delhi worked on a case regarding maternal mortality.  In this case there were 2 women that were below poverty line.  The first woman was shuffled from 4 different hospitals with a dead fetus for over five days until she finally received medical treatment: the hospital wouldn't treat her because of her status.  During her next pregnancy, she suffered her 3^rd miscarriage and delivered a 7 month premature baby girl and died immediately after delivery.  The second woman in the case was a  young homeless who delivered under a tree in full public view in Delhi after repeatedly being denied treatment from public hospital. In this 2010 ground-breaking judgment, the Delhi High Court recognized maternal mortality as a human rights violation, and the right to reproductive health as a core component under Article 21's Right to Life in the Indian Constitution!  This is why we had this Day 1 workshop.  Young girls need to know that they do not have to keep quite and silent just because society expects that from them: they have rights!

Okay, back to the workshop --> I led the session on sexuality and reproduction, and STI’s, Sukti led the sexual and reproductive rights session and Karuna led the trafficking session.  It surprised me how much the young adult girls did not know about their sexual and reproductive right prior to us teaching them.  Prior to the first session in the workshop, the girls were given a 10 question questionnaire asking them, for example, to name 3 different sexually transmitted diseases, the definition of sex trafficking, whether or not child marriage is illegal, etc.  The purpose of this questionnaire was for Karuna, Sukti and I to assess what the girls knew prior to the different sessions.  We handed out the same questionnaire at the end of the day, and I was amazed that most of the girls were now able to answer every question correctly!

The girls were really paying attention! lol

Teaching my session.

Still teaching my session. . . the girls were really into it, and so was I!

Another pic of me teaching the session.

Sukti teaching her session.

Karuna teaching her session.

 During my session regarding Sexually Transmitted Infections (in the States we call it STD's), after the lecture I had the girls create posters in groups regarding what I just taught them.  Some topics included: prevention of STI's, symptoms of STI's etc.  This was a fun activity for me to assess whether or not they understood what I was saying.  I liked the poster-making process because the girls seemed as though they were enjoying creating the posters, AND they were being very creative.

A group creating their poster.

This poster said: "Prevention is better than cure." - They made that up on their own! :)

Close-Up of above poster- they drew me in the corner, it says "Asia Di" which means "Sister Asia".

Overall, the Day 1 workshop was a success. There was an amazing turn-out and the girls learned a lot while having tons of fun. 

HRLN Guwahati Chapter gave me a gift for helping to organize Day 1 of the workshop. So sweet.

Over 90 participants!!!

Doing the introduction for Day 2.

The purpose of the second day of the workshop was to Build partnerships with local NGOs engaged in reproductive, sexual, anti-trafficking, and HIV/AIDs advocacy efforts with adolescents.  The workshop focused on an information exchange between local NGOs as to ground conditions on sexual, reproductive health, and trafficking issues in the Northeastern States, and legal awareness of a rights-based approach to addressing sexual and reproductive rights violations.

Day 2 did not contain any actvitios because the participants were mainly NGO’s that were well-versed in the law already.  The purpose of the session was to learn from the different NGO’s on what is happening in Assam regarding violations of reproductive and trafficking rights.  The information will then be used to file different petitions in the courts. 

Sukti leading her Day 2 session.

Karuna leading her Day 2 Session.

Other than working on the Sexual and Reproductive Rights workshop, I must say that the weather here is still AMAZING. 

Beautiful Weather in Assam!

 So now I am about to leave Assam and hop on a train back to Delhi. I really hope that the train ride isn't 50 hours again! :/ We'll see though.

Until next time, peace and love.

It's time for a change. - January 16, 2011

Hello Readers!

I am happy to report that the weather is absolutely lovely here in Delhi. I cannot believe that winter is pretty much over: it only lasted a month! In talking about the end of winter, I am extremely excited about the warmth: no more pea coat for me [until I get back to the states that is]. To celebrate the end of winter, and to celebrate the harvest, there is an Indian celebration called Lohri.  [<-Let’s see how many times I can use celebrate in one sentence? Lol]

Lohri is a Hindu festival and celebration in many parts of Northern India.  Usually people celebrate Lohri by making a bonfire with family and friends.  At the bonfire, people sing songs, eat food, and genuinely have a good time.  During the middle of the workday, the whole office went outside and set up a bon fire in celebration of Lohri. Afterwards, we all went inside to eat snacks of peanuts and popcorn.  It was fun.

On an unrelated note, for all of my readers that were concerned about Chloe, as a quick update, she is doing a lot better.  She came back to work last week and is in good spirits. Prayer works!

Last week was an extremely busy week for work.   I definitely had to multi-task while doing my assignments.  On Thursday, Sister Delphy and I went to visit 2 women’s shelters for a fact-finding investigation.  Throughout the week I visited a total of 4 shelters to find out information regarding an HRLN case.  Thursday stood out as interesting because I had to ride the metro in order to get to the women’s shelters.  The metro in India is very similar to the MARTA in Atlanta, or the T in Boston.  It travels from one side of Delhi to the other. I actually wish I would of found out about the metro sooner because traveling on the metro is a lot cheaper than getting an auto rickshaw.  The funny thing about the metro is that there are a lot of signs everywhere about fines for doing certain things.  For example, there was a sign that said:  “Spitting is a Rs 200 Fine!” [Which is equivalent to $4.42]  <- I thought that was funny. 

The metro contained separate cars for men and women. The women sit in the front of the train and the men sit in the back.  The men’s section is definitely more crowded than the women section. The funny thing is, women are allowed to sit in the men’s cars, but the men are not allowed to sit in the cars designated for only women.

This past Saturday Chloe, Chesapi and I went to yet another protest for the release of Binayek Sen.  [Read my earlier blogs for the details of why he was put in jail.] It was a very peaceful protest that lasted from 2-7pm.  There were artisits that sang songs and read poems, it was great.

"Artists for solidarity."

One group singing songs.

During the protest I met Dr. Binayak Sen’s brother.  In addition, , Chloe, Chesapi, I went to dinner with his brother (and others as well): I thought that was kind of cool. We had dinner at a place called the “The Press Club of India”.  In order to eat at The Press Club of India you  must have a membership,  or accompany someone with a membership, and further membership is obtained if you are a part of the press. Luckily, Chloe, Chesapi and I went with members of the Press Club that work at the HRLN office.  

Chloe, Chesapi, and I with Dipankar Sen (Dr. Sen's brother).

 

 On yet another unrelated note, Andi and Mark went to the state of Sikkim for work and won’t be back for a month or so.  For their, ‘going away party’, Andi cooked us dinner. It was delicious.

Anusha and I ready to eat.

Final product-spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce!

Chef Andi.

Last week I decided to do a video blog and unfortunately I could not post pictures, :/ I’m not sure why, but here are the pictures from my blog last week. Enjoy. :)

I tattooed my whole hand! . . .

Just kidding, it's henna :).

 

Anusha (intern from America) and I at Jayshree's b-day party.

Andi, Anusha and I at Jayshree's house.

Picture is blurry, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYSHREE!

During the upcoming weeks I am taking 2 trips with work.  I am really excited about the trips. For the first trip I am traveling to the state of Assam for a reproductive rights workshop. I’ve been working these last few weeks on the adolescent sector of the workshop.  I enjoyed planning the adolescent day because I could finally use my Teach for America skills.  I planned different activities, games, lectures, etc. all for the purpose of teaching the adolescent girls of Assam about their sexual and reproductive rights. Specifically, the fact there are laws protecting their right to health care no matter what their socioeconomic status may be.

After Assam I am traveling to the state of Goa for a conference regarding Special Economic Zones. You should definitely stay tuned for my next blog update for all the details and pictures about these two trips.  

On a random note, on my way to work one day I decided to take pictures. 

Action shot on a Rickshaw.

Little stores like this one are common in Delhi.

People buy their vegetables from farmers that sell them on the street.

Until next time, Peace and Love! :)