38 Days and Counting

Another of Jeremy's pictures. Can't wait to get there and take some of my own. This one is the main temples at Kanchipuram. I really expect to be overwhelmed by the sheer number and size of the temples I see.

I have been doing lots of homework on the culture and environment in India and am amazed at the diversity and history of the place. I am incorporating some of what I am learning in the talk I will give tonight at the library in Cascade. There were some very enlightening statistics on the economy, growth of personal wealth, health care providers balanced against health care consumers, education levels and the like. I hope my audience finds it all as fascinating as I do.

I ran the sari that Jeremy brought back through the wash yesterday so that even if I don't have time to sew my other outfits I will have something appropriate to wear getting off the plane and onto the train for the last leg of my journey to Tirunelveli.

I got terribly brave last week and emailed the Indian Minister of Maternal and Family Health. Her name showed up on an official website as having given a talk related to International Women's Day (March 8) so of course I couldn't help myself. I had to see if there is any kind of project going on near where I will be situated where I could offer my services training rural birth attendants. That was one of the things I have read they are trying to focus on. One part of their plan is to reduce the Maternal Mortality rate of over 300 per 100,000 live births (about 1 every 7 minutes). It seems that it is rare for any woman to receive more than 3 prenatal visits during any pregnancy. I will have to see if I can skew those numbers a tiny fraction.

I am amazed at how quickly my departure is approaching. Will I have time to do everything I need to do or will I have to relinquish control and let other people help? Stay tuned and find out!