Me leading Simon Says during a break from our presentation

Two of the girls at Bonne Nehru school

All the school boys love getting their pic taken

Diabetes education campaign at Bonne Nehru School

Check out some pics of the kids (16 yr olds) at this rural school about 1 hour from Pondicherry in a city named Thirukkanur. Caroline from Ireland, Rosanne from Holland, Prabu, Prime Trust office manager and myself traveled via bus. We held the diabetes session for two hours one day and then returned on another day to conduct HIV/AIDS awareness. On the diabetes session day, we created an interactive game where some kids formed a cell line, some formed the pancreas, some acted out the part of food converting to glucose and the final group consisted of a group within the pancreas that acted as insulin cells. Then, we conducted two actions - one where the body was a normal working body with no diabetes and the other action showed the body's process or response when there is little to no insulin aka diabetes. It really drove the message home.

Modern Rickshaw - Fun - I need one of these back home!

Kid Rickshaw

Pondicherry fruit sellers off Nehru Street

Chidambaram temple worshipper

Me at Chidambaram temple entrance - 1500+ years old

Sweet Pondicherry child

Pondicherry elephant cruising streets

Kollam traditional chalk drawing for Christmas

Prime Trust staff

Christmas Eve Party with fellow interns & volunteers

Daily walk to work....yes, the cattle are regulars.

Me at the Taj Mahal - Incredible!

Diabetes - New awareness campaign possibility

"In a shocking revelation, the 20th annual World Diabetes Congress of the International Diabetic Federation has said that India leads the world in the looming epidemic of diabetes. The country currently has the highest number of 50.8 million people suffering from diabetes, followed by China with 43.2 million and the US with 26.8 million. By 2010 almost seven percent of India’s adult population will have the disease." Source: http://www.zeenews.com/news578818.html

Siuce I just discovered that India has this growing diabetes epidemic, I will try and also develop a short, concise education campaign to familiarize some of the SHGs (self-help groups) and other Puducherry residents on the complications of diabetes, diabetes screening and some preventive measures. We will be hosting a small free medical screening and educational clinic where volunteer docs and nurses will administer various screenings and hand out health info to attendees and we'll incorporate the HIV/AIDS, cancer and now diabetes disease info into this event.

Dilli Haat Market in South Delhi

Lotus Temple

Qutb Minar

Dear co-worker, Manju, her 7 month-old precious girl, Ami, her mother and I in front of world heritage site in south Delhi - red sandstone tower of Qutb Minar built in early 13th century - Indo-Muslim art representation.