I've been away from the office for the last few days and haven't been able to post as diligently (shocking as that has been for those of you who chastise me for not keeping in touch) as I have been.

I went to the HIV/AIDS awareness workshop on Wed. The participants were volunteers from small villages or poor (urban) communities and were acquring basic knowledge in how to counsel and potential HIV + villagers. Most of it was a refresher for me, but there were interesting questions that the volunteers were raising that were definitely culturally specific.

Yesterday, I went with some of the staff to Thiruvallur, a district to the north of Chennai. (The state in which Chennai is located is divided up into districts). You always picture things in your head, and immediately some of those things were dispelled. The first location we went to was actually an urban fishing community. It was just outside the city limits and is very poor. The women face issues of domestic abuse (stemming from susbtance abuse by their husbands) and lack economic security among other things. We went to the building where this small NGO is working -- I'm not sure I mentioned this, but ActionAid funds local NGOs to implement the actual projects. We (one of the staff who is relatively new to ActionAid and I) started asking the program coordinator some questions in one of the rooms in the back of the first story apartment. As we were about to wrap up, there was a loud bang from the main room next to us, and I could see cement fall to the floor! Part of the ceiling had broken off! Immediately, everyone exited the building. Thankfully, everyone was ok, but there were some disabled people (who are community volunteers) there who could have been seriously hurt. That was certainly an interesting start to the day. We made sure everyone was ok, and then preceded to the next villages -- the first was actually a village of straw huts outside the metro area and is right on the water (Bay of Bengal) -- I'll post pictures. They are on my laptop which I didn't bring to work today...I was just observing, but the purpose of other AA staff going to the site was to see the progress of an orphan child who had been wandering around the village after the tsunami. His parents abandoned him pre-tsunami and he was sort of seen as this outcast in the village. 6 months ago AA and the local NGO enrolled him in some satellite school programs and they were now visiting to see progress. The boy was really cute and the AA staff noted how much he had improved. A sobering yet heartening story for sheltered people like me :)

Last, we went to another village that is a few kilometers away from the beach to visit a family whose daughter has some ailment that prevents her from going to the mainstream schools. I went inside one of the strawhut structures for the first time -- they stay remarkably cool -- the people were really really warm and inviting -- not that I hadn't expected that, but still it was a great experience.

I don't think I can really describe how hot and humid it was. I think all of you know my love for warm (even hot) weather, but this was taking it to a new level. I felt like I was wading through a pool of hot water. Not exactly comfortable when you combine the dusty roads.

All in all though, an incredible experience. I will be leaving soon for another day trip to another district today. It'll be an even more remote area that comprises the marginalized tribal people of the area...

PS. To those of you I had given guilt trips to, I'm glad to see they worked :)