fond farewells...

I write this with a fair bit of trepidation as have been/am feeling lots of different emotions about leaving this place!

Just returned from a weekend at the beach, 5 hr bus, boat, bus ride away v quiet village called Bakkali south of Kolkata, huge expansive beach, filled with small (2 cm across) crabs!! and very few people. Managed a dip in the ocean this morning floating to peace and quiet a serene experience my still cold ravaged body (have now accepted that constant irritating cough and congestion in chest is not a cold but feature of life in one of the worlds most polluted cities!) was in dire need of.

Quick aside apparently nearly 70% of kolkatians will suffer from some form of respitory illness at some stage of their life, a nurse was saying that of the 250 odd patients she has seen over past few weeks, 170 or so were being treated for respitory problems.

So in a pollution free environment eating fresh fish, with great company (4 of us staying at YWCA went along) and one of the most beautiful sunsets i have seen in a long time was pure indulgence! One of the many joys in this place i will miss. I have been lucky enough to spend some time over the past week or so with a beautiful girl called Shimpy (unfortunately no pic yet camera decided to malfunction at crucial moment) who is 4 and has been in and out of hospital since she was born with fluid on her brain, in Jan she underwent an operation to put in a stent to drain fluid away on reg basis and i came into contact with her through the GVN co ordinator. As i understand a child with this sort of condition in UK, US would be given regular neuro assessments, physio appointments and progress would be monitored closely. Here as her family is v poor, as soon as she is out of hospital she is on her own, there is alot of hope for her rehab as she is so young but already she has little movement in her right side and her feet are starting to curl inwards, so have been having lots of discussions with med people, thanks Mel!, special need teachers etc and hopefully can provide her with some money for physio treatment and a neuro assessment to determine impact fluid has had on neuro functioning. She is delightful girl, big brown eyes, smiling and chatting away completly comfortable with strangers and has a happyness that belies her tough 4 years of existence.

But then it is moments i will be glad to be many miles from like the other day when i noticed a crowd gathering on a street corner, so i went to have a look and found a police officer beating a young man with a stick, apparently entertainment for the 30 or so onlookers.

Last time i travelled to India i found the biggest impact came after i left the country, so i am curious to see how i readjust to kiwi and uk surrounds, the more pressing concern though being how to fund my existence back in london! So if anyone hears of jobs in the HR, project management or equality and diversity field please please keep me in mind ([email protected])

Am sure i will be back in India at some stage in the future, this place tugs at my heart strings and i have barely scratched the surface. Look forward to seeing you soon!

take care
Jess