The Research Program

June 2, 2010

(Yes, this one is delayed too)

Before I left the US for India, I thought to myself, “What the heck am I doing? Why am I leaving an amazing city like New York where I have a fantastic circle of people who love me, for a city half way across the world where I don’t know anyone at all?”

I wasn’t provided very many details on my program other than the fact that I was going to work with UNICEF, and that I was going to do research in child health for them in rural India. The rest of my project was pretty vague, and I was a little nervous about traveling solo to a country I had never been to before. So as my departure date grew closer and closer, anyone who found out that I was going to Delhi for the summer compounded my anxiety with questions like, “Are you kidding? Do you know how hot it is over there?” and/or “Why exactly are you doing this?”

I started my program 2 days ago (at the time that I am writing this), and I am beginning to remember what passion for a career really feels like. I’m surrounded by some really amazing people – post-graduate students from 37 different universities all around the world who have accomplished some really admirable feats such as: establishing sanitation facilities for rural villages in other developing countries, teaching in Tibet for three years without running water or electricity to provide more sustainable futures for nomadic kids, and serving in the Peace Corps in Africa and South America. It’s pretty amazing to hear how the humanitarian heart can move mountains. And it’s such a blessing to be able to share in the same spirit of compassion to ignite my own career flame.

I met with several organization heads today, one of whom was the Chief of Child Development and Nutrition for UNICEF’s India regional office. He likened this health development internship in India to a finance internship on Wall Street. So India is my new Wall Street.

I’m headed east on Wall Street though, to the state of Jharkhand. Jharkhand isn’t covered in any of the Lonely Planet or Frommer’s travel books because “this area is not included since there is nothing for tourists here.” The state is off the beaten path. There aren’t any tourist sights there because the area is mostly covered in farmlands and forests. So we’re supposedly in for a pretty interesting experience. We’ll be staying at a hostel in the city of East Singhbhum, where we’ll hopefully be able to find the so-called “Little Italy” of the area (which is apparently the one and only real restaurant of the town). But I’m not disappointed in the location placement, because the real sight for us to see in Jharkhand is the evidence that the state has the second highest rate of malnourished children in the country.