NickGoesToIndia

So I want to explain to everyone what my work is and what my project for the summer is. What has been involved and what I do everyday. I haven’t re-read all of these blogs so there’s a chance I could repeat some information by accident. If so I’m sorry but I hope to give an encompassing summary. Now onto the ''good'' stuff! The NGO I work for is called Jagran Jan Vikas Samiti (JJVS). JJVS was created about 30 years ago in response to a tragic loss of many children in a village in Rajasthan from disease. Through trials and tribulations JJVS strives to encourage the general public in traditional medicines and conserve the practice. In many rural villages the use of traditional medicines by healers can be vital to the overall health of the ... read more

Let’s see. So the last update I made was about 2 weeks back. So I have gathered all of my thoughts to try and write down as much as I could about what has happened in that time! First thing first is I took a really fun trip out to the village. During the day a little seminar was being run for the local school kids in the village. You have likely seen the pics on my facebook and the video. But first the young kids walked through the village carrying signs in regards to preserving traditional medicines, then many gunis were there to talk and teach them. It was a lot of fun. When we first got there and saw all the kids I wasn’t really sure what was happening. As we took off down ... read more

*Side note* Okay so during this blog I talk about being sick, missing certain foods, and going to animal aid. Based on the pictures I am posting it was a complete coincidence that in the paragraph I talk about how much I miss 5 Guys that it is surrounded by pictures of baby cows. I don't control where the pics go. I don't mean to make anyone mad! I love baby cows! But I also love 5 Guys! I'm doing my best! We are keeping it short today because today I want to talk about being sick. For this blog I am talking about staying healthy in India. If there is one thing I have learned it is that sickness is not avoidable. As much as we are told about not drinking unfiltered water, eating smaller ... read more

So this is the first week I began working at my NGO, Jagran Jan Vikas Samiti. The name means “People’s Awakening and Development Society”. It was created in 1985 and works to promote community development through many kinds of projects including traditional medicine conservation, women empowerment, education, water supplication, micro-financing, and other means. It is a relatively small staff of about ten people, with the assistance of only a couple interns. One of the main focuses of this organization is its work with Gunis. Guni is a name recently given to a traditional healer found in the villages of India. They have extensive knowledge passed down through generations. In America there seems to be a stigma against the idea of herbal medicines, but usually for good reason. People will pay more money for alternate medicines that ... read more

Well it’s been one week of training here in Chicago. For those of you unfamiliar with the happenings, the program I am in is called GESI. Global Engagement something something. It is a program based at Northwestern University that revolves around connecting students to real communities in the world that are being assisted by NGOs. We work for those NGOs and in turn learn about working in development. My program has me in Chicago this week, then I am in India for eight weeks, then I return home for three days to report on my findings (or sneak out and steal a car to drive back to my girlfriend). So I actually have a lot to cover on this blog. This will be my last report in America! But I feel this is a good time ... read more