Nepal

The Maoist strike brought life in Nepal to a standstill.  As tourists we at least had a bus that would take us to and from the airport, and my hotel (Hotel Courtyard) took great care of all of their guests, they made it so easy for all of us.  But for the Nepalese people it was incredibly difficult.  They had to walk everywhere to do anything.  They only had 2 hours a day when they could buy any supplies or food.  Food was getting scarce and very expensive.  You could feel that tensions were starting to mount in Kathmandu.  Since I wasn't able to get to anyone to interview them, I decided to fly out to Pokhara with another woman at my hotel, Cat Hughes and do a little 4 day trek.  Here are a few shots from the hike, we had an amazing time, and I am so lucky to have a made a new dear friend in the process!

            

Kathmandu

I arrived in Kathmandu yesterday afternoon, the Maoist strike is in full force.  They allowed some tourist buses to bring us into town from the airport and drop us off near Thamel, my hotel had someone waiting there to guide me to them.  

My contact and new friend from the Cancer Council Nepal, Shambhu Kadariya came to the hotel to welcome me to Nepal with his nephew Ashim.  They led me on a walking tour of the city.  It's great, what is normally a chaotic frenzy of trucks, motorbikes and cars, was a pedestrian way. Most people don't get to experience Kathmandu like this!









We went to one of the Maoist rallies, everyone was smiling and laughing, it was super peaceful.  They had a special dance performance and singing.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, there was no tension on the streets at all.  People let me get up close so I could take some shots.

Here are a few more sights from my tour.....the store are open from 6-8 every night so can get food and supplies.  The owners of my hotel, Michelle and Pujan took everyone to Pujan's uncle's restaurant last night for a newari degustation.  It was absolutely delicious and a great way to meet the other people staying at the hotel.  Tomorrow I am off for another tour with Shambhu....it's difficult to do any work until this strike eases up or ends.   In the mean time I am really enjoying a few days of sight seeing! 

On to Nepal

I just interviewed and photographed my final contact here in New Delhi.  There are so many wonderful survivor stories to tell, but so far the one common thread here is that everyone has accepted having cancer as their fate or karem (this is the original spelling for karma).  This is what God, or whatever higher power you believe in has chosen for you, this was a given across the board.  For the most part they also feel that cancer has changed them in a positive way.  It has made them a better person, a more compassionate person, a more patient person, a wiser person.  It has enriched the quality of their lives.  They have a greater appreciation for the world around them and their place in it.  I will be forever grateful to these amazing women for the gifts they have given to me, their time, their wisdom, their strength and their courage will enrich my life every day!  They are all so very beautiful!  Tomorrow I head to Nepal to hear more stories and meet more incredible people.  I am truly blessed!

 

1 day left in India

I am really enjoying my time here, I left the hotel yesterday and have moved in with Brig. S.K. Malhotra, who is a long time friend of my dear friends Jean and John Everett.  He has kindly taken me into his lovely home.  We had dinner last night at his club with his beautiful family....they were having a birthday party and very graciously included me.  Everyone here has been so generous, kind and incredibly hospitable. I really cannot wait to come back!

Friday I spent the day visiting the AIIMS government hospital, a huge complex of hospitals, I mean really huge.  I will NEVER complain about waiting to see a doctor again.  I can't possibly describe the conditions. Thousands of people waiting, spilling out onto the sidewalks and grounds.  I felt that it was inappropriate to photograph there, there were far too many people really suffering and I did not want them to feel any more uncomfortable than they were.  I was in the cancer hospital with a group of women from Cancer Sahyog.  This is one of the many places that they volunteer offering their support and advice to cancer patients.  I was introduced to two amazing women cancer survivors there.

The first thing you notice about Usha Ohri is her kind and warm spirit, it feels as if you have always known her.  She was a widow with an 11 year old daughter and diagnosed with stage 4 acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her in-laws had thrown her and her daughter out after her husband died, and her daughter was 2, if she had a son, things would have been different.  She fought for 4 years, receiving endless rounds of chemo, radiation to the brain and spine, she could not eat or speak for months on end.  She had nothing, no money, no family.  Her mother refused to allow her brother to donate his bone marrow to her, because he was more important than Usha.  But she did have faith in life and in herself.  She kept fighting for her daughter, she endured everything for her.  The government came to her rescue and sent her to America for a bone marrow transplant.  This was the last treatment she could have, she put her fate into God's hands, and the treatment worked.  She is now 63 and she considers herself very lucky to have had cancer, it has given her a higher purpose.  She devotes her life to helping others with cancer.  She tirelessly works for her "family"Cancer Sahyog, the Indian Cancer Society and CanKids...KidsCan.

It would be impossible to ignore Poonam Bagai in any situation, first of all, she wouldn't let you.  And it is just this aspect of her personality that has helped her to create a most amazing organization,  CanKids...Kidscan www.cankidsindia.org   She was diagnosed in 2000 at age 38 with colon cancer.  She was married with 2 young sons and living in Poland.  She endured 3 major surgeries, a colostomy, 9 rounds of chemo, a reverse colostomy, and severe depression.  She is a big believer that things happen for a reason, that you have to go through everything to get where you are now, "mantre ucharan", that everything leads to one point.  She moved back to India and decided that she really wanted to do something to help other people.  She started to volunteer with ICS and Cancer Sahyog.  She decided that she really wanted to help children and their families, and created CanKids.   Her passion and determination are infectious and have made it into an extremely successful organization.  I was lucky enough to meet some of the brave and beautiful children they help.

Here are three very brave young men, Sonu and Chandon are both survivors of leukemia, they endured 3 years of chemo and now they are volunteering at CanKids to help other children and their families.  Shashank has brain cancer, has had surgery and has just finished his second round of chemo.  Before he got cancer he wanted to join the army when he grew up, now he wants to become a doctor.

                        

CanSupport home visit

I had a most profound day yesterday, CanSupport generously allowed me to go into the field with one of their home care teams, one doctor and two nurses. We visited 5 patients, all suffering from cancer and very much in need.  I was going to talk about the specifics, but really I need to just absorb and process everything a bit first.  Here are some photos, I think they speak for themselves.

I don't really know how I can go back to my life the way it was.  The people that I have met here in New Delhi are so inspiring.  They are some of the most caring, kind and generous people I have ever come across.  They make me want to be a better person, a more giving person, a person that makes a difference in peoples lives.  This project is already more than I could ever have hoped for.  Every day pulls me deeper into a more spiritual place,  a more thoughtful mindset.  I am ever thankful for what I have and realize how little I really need.  Tomorrow brings a new day with new friends to meet, and more amazing survivor stories to be heard,  I feel like the luckiest person on earth!  

New Delhi day 3

Today I was back at RGCI to meet with Sita Paintal and Jyotsna Govil. Sita now heads up Cancer Sahyog, the support group for people living with cancer that Harmala founded.  All the members have had personal experiences with cancer. The group is made up of survivors and caregivers.  They are volunteer based and through their personal experiences with cancer, help patients and their caregivers deal with all aspects of their illness and give them hope.  Sita became involved in the group after being a caregiver for her sister who had cancer.  After providing loving care for 6 years, her sister lost her battle with cancer, and Sita decided to devote her life to helping people with cancer.  Unfortunately, Sita herself now has cancer.  She has chronic myelogenous leukemia, which a daily treatment of Gleevec seems to keep in check.  She has a strong, positive spirit, and her dedication to Cancer Sahyog is palpable.  She seems to be a tireless force, I will be working with her on Friday at the IRCH where they have arranged for me to interview and photograph 4-5 additional survivors, and Saturday at a Breast Cancer Survivors program at the India International Centre. I also cannot wait to shoot her portrait....you will see why....

Jyotsna is the Hon. Additional Secretary to the Indian Cancer Society, www.indiancancersocietydelhi.in.  She is an absolute wealth of information!!!  She is a warm and inviting person, and I am sure she is very good at getting whatever it is the ICS needs done!  She and Sita set up Friday for me and she will be there Saturday as well.

Sita and Jyotsna introduced me to a lovely couple today, Mr. P.R. and Mrs Urmil Tandon, they both volunteer for Cancer Sahyog.  Mrs. Tandon is a 21 year survivor of bladder cancer.  Mr. Tandon was her dedicated and loving caregiver and nursed her back to health.  Then it was her turn to be Mr. Tandon's caregiver when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  They light up the room with their joy of spirit and enthusiasm!

I then had the honor to meet Anjana Bhan, and hear her incredible story of surviving an extremely rare kidney cancer,  with two additional recurrences in her lung.  After multiple surgeries,  vicious chemo and radiation, she is 7 years out from her initial diagnosis (2 from her last treatment).  She has had a very painful and difficult road, yet somehow maintains a positive, thoughtful and insightful outlook on life.  She has a deep spirituality and an open heart.  She has a very interesting perspective on her treatment as she is also a doctor.  She is a contemplative and amazing woman and I was so happy to have met her!

Tomorrow I am heading out with the CanSupport home care team, this should be an amazing experience that very few people are able to share.  I hope that I can capture some strong images for them.

New Delhi day 2

Today I went to the CanSupport offices to meet with Harmala Gupta, the founder and president.  Harmala is a survivor of hodgkin's lymphoma.  She was diagnosed stage 4B at 33 years old with a 3 year old son.  She is an amazing woman.   In 1991 she started the first cancer support group for survivors in India, Cancer Sahyog, in 1996 she started CanSupport.  The majority of cancer patients in India are diagnosed in advanced stages and need palliative support.  CanSupport brings symptomatic relief, nursing care, and emotional support, through a trained team of doctors, nurses and counselors, to patients in their homes.  They are completely reliant on donations and fund raising to support their staff of 40 that care for 600 patients.  They work with the poor and underserved people of New Delhi and the outlying areas all free of charge.  Their web site is www.cansupport.org .  I will be spending Thursday and Friday with a team visiting patients in their homes.  This will be quite an experience for me and I am hoping to get some great shots that they can use to help promote their cause.


Harmala has been extremely helpful to me, she has been tremendously generous with her time, knowledge and contacts.   I hope that I can do more to help her change the perception of cancer here in India.  What I learned from the two women I spoke with yesterday and confirmed by Harmala is that having cancer is almost considered a stigma here.  If you have it, you don't tell people, you just keep it within your family.  And if you are a survivor it is that way also.  The first woman I spoke with Mrs. Kanr, only agreed to participate because I was from the States and no one here would see her photo and learn that she was a 2 year breast cancer survivor.  She seemed really sad, she said that she and her husband had decided that they should tell no one outside of their immediate family, not even her sister.  They didn't want people talking behind their back or knowing their business.  They used to travel frequently and entertain friends and family, but she doesn't do any of that any more for fear that someone will find out that she had cancer.  She was incredibly candid and honest about it, but I could feel that she wanted to reach out and talk more about it, that she needs the support and empathy that another cancer survivor could give her, someone who knows what she has gone through and that she can share her experiences and fears with.  When I asked her about going to a support group, her husband answered that she didn't need to and she agreed, but there was such a sadness about her, such a hole in her.  I hope somehow that this project can help open peoples minds and calm their fears about sharing their stories of surviving cancer and be able to embrace it and celebrate it.