Monday 30 January 2017

Follow-up day in Bhiwadi

Follow-up day traditionally is the day when door-to-door checking starts and every house is visited to ensure the children inside have been vaccinated. This time however, follow-up was simply more vaccination and we started at a Ragpickers camp in the town. 

Squatter 1

Ragpickers are amongst the poorest classes in India and make their living doing what their

RagPicker Homes right sorting left

name suggests, collecting rags and anything else thrown away which can be sorted, recycled and

RagPicker Recycling Pile

then sold for a very very small amount.

Squatter 2

Here their “houses” are adjacent to some flats bit separated from them by a brick wall.

RagPicker Water Pump

The camp was relatively tidy and spaced out, water comes from hand pumps which bring up water from the water table which will be not more than 15 metres down (the maximum depth from which this pump will bring up water). This is also the depth to which water from the toilets or waste from open air defecation will sink to. Hence the obvious health hazard. 

RagPicker washing clothes

Despite their poverty and very basic living conditions, everyone (bar one whom you will meet later) was very pleased to see us.

Ragpickers Camp Geoff Bike

Their houses are made from anything they can find 

RagPicker Home outside 001

and hence look rather basic. 

RagPicker Home Outside

We were impressed with the general tidiness here 

RagPicker Home 

RagPicker Home Bed

when compared to those we have seen elsewhere. 

RagPicker Home Inside

Inside most of the houses evidence the relative poverty of their owners 

RagPicker Home Satellite Dishes

but poverty does not mean that you cannot have a satellite dish  (no doubt recycled) !  

Pat Vaccinating in Ragpickers

As usual, our vaccination process was fast and efficient  

RagPicker Geoff attracts children Geoff failing to stop child crying

and Geoff was welcomed by almost all of the children in the camp.

Geoff and RagPicker CHildren

 Having completed vaccinating here, we went off to our last vaccination point which was at a Rotary sponsored home for retired cows.

Retirement Home Entrance

For Hindus, cows are a sacred animal and hence they are not killed when

Cows greet me

they reach the end of their useful life but allowed to retire and die gracefully (at least that is what we were told).

The Rotary Clubs of Bhiwadi have established a methane project at the home and when we went their to vaccinate, we also saw how the project works.

Methane 1

Cow manure is placed into a container where is ferments. As it does so it gives off methane gas,

Methane 2

the waste products are collected 

Methane 3

dried and used as fertiliser

Methane 4

and the methane gas is collected in a gas holder (similar to the method used to store gas in gas holders in the UK).

Cow Gas Kitchen

It is then piped into a nearby house

Methane 5

for use on a cooking range

Methane 6

or a household light. A very impressive project and a great idea.

What does Polio Vaccine taste like?

Geoff Vaccinating Pat

We had always suspected we knew the answer and we found out when Geoff vaccinated Pat.

What does Polio Vaccine taste like

What do you think the answer is?

No comments:

Post a Comment