I’m on a dusty road, 7 hours out of Mumbai. Oxen-drawn carts are the 'freight' carriers out here. Women are sitting down by the river doing their wash while children splash in what remains of the water before the rainy season, still 3 1/2 months away, arrives. It is so hot and dry. We’re on the border of Maharastra and Gujurat state (see map), visiting small villages with our partners from Child Eye Care Charitable Trust. They’ve established a center in Dang District, a remote rural area of 300 villages. So far, they have established programs in 100 villages and expect to have the area fully covered by 2012. Their programs are amazing, very comprehensive in offering a wide range of health services and development training. Our vitamin A program (part of Operation 20/20) is a perfect fit with their prevention methods and eye care services. Our vitamin A and deworming posters have been translated into Gujurati and Maharati (and are fully illustrated) so the tribal peoples can understand them. Illiteracy is a major challenge here and the poverty is endemic.

This morning we visited Chika Tiya and Davdah, small villages of about 40-50 families. When we arrived, the kids (about 25-30 under 5's) were all sitting in the 'community center' (a 1 room, mud walled hut). They were so cute, yet so malnourished. Skin problems, brittle hair, lots of coughing and runny noses, all signs of vitamin A deficiency. Dr. Pradeep N. Sawardekar is with us, translating and making sure the program is being conducted properly. The diet here is dahl (lentils) and roti (tortillas) and that's about it. With some success Dr. Pradeep's group is trying to encourage the families to put in kitchen gardens at their homes to supplement their diets. The government here (especially in Gujurat) has made some good strides recently. Most villages now have water, though we still see women gathering water from small creeks when their homes are too far from the village. It's one of the signs of rural India; women and girls with large water tins balanced perfectly on their heads walking down the road (one of the girls tried to show Zoe how it is done this morning). People are also using latrines which is helping lower the incidence of parasites.

India is changing in so many ways. The roads, though still life endangering with every outing (a two lane road is treated as 6 lanes, seriously, and passing up hill on a blind curve is common practice), are actually paved even to the small villages (not the case in Haiti for example - where knee deep ruts made a 29 mile journey take 2 1/2 hours). We see the progress and yet there is still so much work to be done. Tomorrow we're headed into the slums of Mumbai.

Dr. Pradeep N. Sawardekar from Vitamin Angels on Vimeo.

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