Presentation in Rohini

Today I woke up with so much excitement! I was going to meet with the women who are going to help me spread breast cancer awareness. They have all received special training on pre and post natal care and childcare, including what vaccines to give children as they grow up. Each woman is given one village by the government so they can provide health services to underprivileged women who really need a lot of care and guidance.

By 10:00 am I was ready to go to Rohini which is about 15 kilometer away. Bhupenuncle was back in Khambhat this morning so I met with him shortly to talk about how the program was going so far. I expressed that my only concern was that the village presentations and various meetings have not been scheduled in advance, making it difficult to maximize my short 3 weeks with the project.  I understand this is partly because we are working with small villages, but I am just eager to share the knowledge I have with as many women as possible.

Angieben, Ramilaben and I arrived in Rohini around 11:15 am and waited for the women from the surrounding villages to arrive. On the drive to Rohini, we saw bhaliya, an expensive type of wheat that grows in the area. The drive was incredibly scenic and serene.

All of the women arrived by 12:00 pm ready with notebooks and pens to right down all the information given. They were so eager to learn and share with other women. I reminded the women to be careful of how they deliver this info to the other women. They should not be scared about this but instead learn something that is helpful to them and others. I remembered to include the information that had been left out of the brochures that Bhupendra Uncle and Bipin Uncle had brought to my attention.  I explained that if a mother has two daughters, one may get breast cancer and the other may not because of certain gene mutation. Women with a family history can take part in a breast mapping test for early detection. One of the women mentioned that someone in her village had breast cancer and had a mastectomy. She was now concerned for her daughters health and wanted to know next steps. We told her to tell the woman in her village that she should bring her daughters to CCC and that we will guide them on how to get a breast mapping test in Ahemdabad.

Before the end of the presentation, I made sure to find out if all of the women had understood all of the information I shared. I’ve learned that many things can get lost in translation and wanted to make sure I was very clear. All of the women responded with a resounding “Yes!”, which made the presentation all the more worthwhile.

We spent a little time socializing and getting to know each other after the presentation. Most of the women were within the 30 to 50 year old range. I enjoyed learning about their lives, children, and villages’. Some of the women were shyer than others, but I had a great time getting to know all of them.

I’m heading out to Ahemdabad today to visit Manav Sadhna and Vinay Mandir for Sports Day this weekend. I can’t wait to see all the girls 🙂

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