Bhopal ~ Around Sambhavna

After our relaxing time in Goa it was time for a new chapter of our trip to start. It was time for a change of pace and a change of environment, it was time to begin our volunteer work in Bhopal. As no trip in India is complete without a ridiculously long train ride, we took a 27 hour long train, directly from Goa to Bhopal.

Bhopal is in the centre of India, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, which directly translated means Middle Region. We were in Bhopal to volunteer at the Sambhavna Clinic, which was set up about 15 years ago to offer free medical care to the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster (the details of which will be outlined in a future post). 

Sambhavna was started by a group of medical professionals that were dedicated to providing quality medical care to the victims. The clinic is different from others in several ways, as it is financially independent from any corporation or government, their medicines are purchased from cooperatives that supply bulk generic drugs (not from big corporations like Dow Chemical) and they have repeatedly rejected financial assistance from large multi-national corporations and various governments, thus retaining true independence in how they operate. Their funding is exclusively from a trust fund containing the pooled donations from many individuals. The clinic also has a unique treatment model, as it employs a combination of allopathic (`western` or `pill based`) and ayurvedic medicine. For example, a common complaint of a patient exposed to the contaminated water is a combination of joint pain and `gabrahhat` which directly translated means `fear` and indicates that the patient experiences stress, anxiety, and panic attacks. In order to treat this, the patient may be prescribed regular yoga sessions, a supply of ayurvedic herbs, dietary recommendations and perhaps a form of panchkarma therapy, which is an ayurvedic treatment that removes toxins from the body.

Here are some photos taken around the clinic... 

The Sambhavna clinic also has very interesting architecture, as the buildings are specially designed to provide more shaded area and to optimise air flow, keeping the buildings cool year-round.

Here we are sitting at one of the weekly employee meetings, in which we drink chai while they have discussions regarding the running of the clinic, in hindi.

Here Frank is examining a slide of a patient`s blood, which is used to determine if they have malaria.

As more than half of the patients at Sambhavna are taking herbal ayurvedic medicines on a regular basis, the clinic requires a regular supply of these herbs. While some are purchased elsewhere at a market, the majority of Sambhavna's ayurvedic medicines are grown organically in the acre of garden space adjacent to the clinic. Growing plants without any herbicides or pesticides requires constant attention and maintenance. We helped in numerous aspects of the garden's operation. From sifting rocks and plastic from the compost, to trimming the Amla and Neem trees, to inordinate amounts of weeding, we both got our hands dirty.

This is the view of the area surrounding the clinic. It appears that the buildings are in a constant state of construction, since new floors are often added on top of the existing ones, perhaps to make room for ever-expanding families.

 

One day we caught sight of this huge plume of black smoke, which we later found out was a train load of PVC pipes that had caught on fire, destroying 15,000 rupees of materials.

Sambhavna effectively uses the water that drains from the showers and sinks, by watering the garden with it. As a result, chemical detergents can't be used for showering, doing dishes, or washing clothes. A soap made using the fruit of a particular tree from the garden fills this role quite well. Here is a shot of the dish/laundry/hand soap being made.

One drawback of being at the clinic was that there were more mosquitos there than anywhere else we`d seen in India.

 

In order to deal with the constant mosquito problem, the clinic also used a type of herbal mosquito coil, in which powdered herbs were mixed with water, kneaded into a dough, and rolled into small sticks. These sticks were then left to dry in the sun and could then be burned to drive away mosquitos. They called these sticks `agrabati`, and while at the clinic Chelsea spent many hours helping to role them.

                                     

Each evening this wonderful lady came to cook dinner for all the volunteers, and sometimes she would bring her mischievous, but lovable, son Jimmy along.