Nizami Bandhu and Munirkaa

Headed to Dargah Hazart Nizamuddin Aulia Mosque

At the entrance to the Mosque was this sign.  I went with Yakub and Shelpa who I stayed with my first night here in Delhi.  Kelly came along as well.  As we reached the front of the Mosque we took our shoes off and placed our dupattaa's (scarves) over our heads.  The evening was in Honor of Yakub and 100 of his closest friends.. Yes I was VIP~! hundreds many a few thousands more swarmed the Mosque from wall to wall to take part in the splendor that was happening in front of our eyes.

Nizami Bandhu (Brothers) Sohrab, Yakub, Me, Kelly, Shadab, and Chand.  This picture is taken inside their home which is in the walls of the Mosque.  Their family has been singing for the last 650 years here.  The are of the Sufi religion which is a form of Muslim known for respecting all religions.  They welcome everyone to sit with them and listen to their beautifully sung prayers.

 Kelly and I inside the Mosque.. In the background you can see a very decorative area.. this area is a section for prayer where you enter and are healed of sickness, disease, despair, etc.. it was an extremely crowded and popular part of the Mosque.

The Nizami Bandhu in action.. with what I liked to call back-up singers!  You can see in front of their instruments money on the ground.  The offering is called Nazrana.  It happens all throughout prayer. People will take money from their pocket and touch the floor of the Mosque with it, then they will kiss it and bless themselves, and then place it in front of the singers.  The money is then given to a charity after the event.

Yakub and his friends were of many religions and still there was this overall serenity and peacefulness amongst all involved.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  I am forever grateful to Yakub and Shelpa for taking me under their watch and inviting me to such a breathtaking night.

 Kelly and I decided to take a Rikshaw home... why not finish our crazy night off with a insane ride home... We are crazy!!  We approached a few different men and asked Ye Kitne Ka Hai? (How much in Hindi) they told us 100 rupees.. which in the states is $2.  The ride is about 15 minutes.  Now Jaggi our director had already warned us that they would over charge.. he said it should cost only 40 rupees which is 80 cents.  So I said no, 50 rupees and he laughed he said NO WAY! So we moved on to the next guy.. same things 100 rupees and my response 50... well after a few minutes Kelly and I were freezing and moody so we settled for 80 rupees.. $1.60 haha not worth the 40 cents huh?  Oh well we tried! This is us in the Rikshaw and the next picture is the driver and you can see sorda what our experience entailed... frightful site!

This is Tanya.. one of my patients.. she is overall healthy.  On Thursday's and Friday's I am with Bob another volunteer working at a children's school in Munirkaa.  The walk to the school is about a 1/4 mile of slum (pictures to follow).  When we arrive in the morning the children are usually saying some prayers, doing some exercises to get themselves going, and then they sing their version of the Pledge of Allegiance.  They finish by chanting Bless India, Bless our Country!

 Tanya

This is the pre-nursery class.. they range in age from 3-5 and there are about 14 kids in the class.

 I unfortunately do not know his name but his is a student in the Creche class (0-3 year olds).  He wears more eyeliner than I think my sister Maura does :P  I asked why they put eyeliner on children and I learned that it is a way to reject evil from children's eyes. Parents will smear a little eyeliner under the kids eyes daily.

This is the non-formal education class.. they range from 6-10 years of age.  There are about 7-8 kids in this class.  These kids go to another school around 2pm built by Vidya (the NGO I spoke of before).  They attend this school from 2-6pm.  Here they are taught more english and math.  It is a private school that allows them to share the resources.

Lambi Saas Lo... (take a deep breath).. this was one of my patients today receiving his exam.  I felt badly the entire time I was up under his clothes he was saying Thandi, Thandi, Thandi.. (cold, cold, cold).. We perform our exams outside and these children barely have anything to keep warm.. some dont even have socks or shoes..

This is Bob performing a mouth evaluation on a little girl.. We are very limited in supplies here..

I ended my day today with this case.. I apologize if I am grossing anyone out but I want all of you to see with your eyes what I am seeing and what these children are going through.. This little boy doesn't own any sock.  He wears the same pair of raggedy sandals everyday.. His feet are covered in deep calluses that have split open and become infected.  I taught him today to always wear shoes, to never go in the bathroom without shoes, to keep an eye on his feet, to use the antibiotic lotion I gave him and to keep the  area clean and dry.. As I stated above we are very low on supplies here.. I cleaned his wounds with alcohol, then rubbed them with triple antibiotic ointment, then bandaged them and wrapped them with cloth scrapes.  The bandage will do for a few hours but I am nervous about this weekend.  I will not be able to see him for follow-up until next Thursday.. It is very sad here to see the pain in the children's eyes.  I pray for them every night.