An overwhelming flood of warm emotions began the moment we embarked on our first village visit. A community-based rehabilitation (CBR) worker gave my colleagues and me a thorough introduction to village life in the Koppal District. We visited the homes of the beautifully decorated Lambani tribal women who were making clothing in bright colours of pink, red, purple, and blue, as well as traditional dessert for the Diwali festival (pronounced Divaly). Before I knew it, the entire village’s population had surrounded us. From infants held by their pre-school siblings, to old tribal men—everyone’s attention was focused on the “foreigners.”
I was caught off-guard by a little girl dressed in pink, wearing jingling glass bangles and orange flowers in her hair. Every time I looked at her, she would giggle. She followed me for the rest of the day. Although we had no language in common, I did eventually get her to smile and even wave for a photo. I will never forget the utter happiness she displayed despite her impoverished lifestyle. I quickly learned, however, that the lifestyle to which my hosts and clients were accustomed was in fact very functional.
After each morning’s traditional South Indian breakfast of rice with nuts and chilis or oput (a cream-of-wheat-like savory dish with onions and more chilis!), we left the compound on motor bikes or jeeps to visit our village clients with the local CBR workers. Our clients had myriad disabilities, including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, stroke, and intellectual disabilities. Our role was to work on difficult caseloads with the CBR workers and together establish a functional treatment plan that catered to our clients’ beliefs and lifestyles. Most of our treatments consisted of education, exercises as well as designing functional assistive devices such as ankle and foot orthotics, forearm crutches and wheelchairs using local resources and craftsmen. After our midday lunch break, we would sit in the shade, avoiding the excruciating heat as much as we could before embarking on more evening appointments.
I experienced some unforgettable and rewarding moments, gaining some deep insight and valuable lessons. Here are the three most important lessons I learned on this journey.
Be in the moment. No amount of preparation or advice can prepare you for something that is outside of your comfort zone. Embark on your journey, but make sure to leave expectations behind. The smallest things, such as a woman beading a flower necklace, children playing with old tire tubing and sticks, and even the sight of a cow crossing the road, can turn out to be unforgettable memories. You can easily overlook these exceptional events if you focus on certain expectations and outcomes.
Take every opportunity. Calculate the risks and before you start analyzing them too much, go ahead and take them. I quickly adopted the popular mantra, “have no regrets,” when debating whether to visit a local ashram and city markets solo, following the Mumbai terrorist attacks that occurred while I was abroad. Although most things are better when shared, some journeys and adventures can be experienced on a deeper level on your own.
Finally, the world is not a small place. It is huge, with so much to do and see that is different from your everyday world. It is fascinating how mankind has developed an avenue through technology and resources that provide the opportunity to go out there and visit, communicate and see how similar we as humans really are. We all feel love, pain, hot, cold, sad, happy, hungry, and sick. We all have different abilities and disabilities. We all have the capacity to learn languages and find a way to communicate with each other in order to share what we can.
On that note, if not to have stirred up some interest, reactions good or bad, I am happy to have had a chance to reflect on an experience that was completely out of my zone, and share it with the world, for this I thank you for reading my story.
Thank you to the wonderful and generous NGO that hosted us, SAMUHA, our supportive clinical instructor, Hilary Crowley, and my colleague Faraley VanderSchilden whose patience and support made this experience an unforgettable one. If anyone is interested in international placement feel free to contact me for some tips and information, especially if interested in a placement in
Hana Alazem – MSc (PT) Candidate (2009), PT Professional Rep, Rehab Society (2008/09)
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