Medicine & Physiotherapy - INDIA Volunteer Stories

Medicine in India - Laura Nicell

I've never really thought of myself as the gap year type; I've never been in the hockey/lacrosse team, never spent half terms camping and hiking up mountains and didn't know anyone who owned a 60 litre rucksack! So I was a bit anxious, to say the least, when I decided to take the plunge and sign up for four months in South India - three months medical placement and one month travelling (I'm not even doing medicine at university, although as a biosciences student, it was a placement that interested me very much).

Projects Abroad had booked my flights for me and as I stood in the check-in queue at Heathrow Airport, with a lump in my throat and butterflies in my stomach, I was relieved to find a couple of other Projects Abroad volunteers in the queue with me! I was grateful to meet them and have others to share the journey with, and the nerves had settled down a lot by the time we boarded the plane.

To say arriving in India is like stepping into another world is putting it lightly! The heat, the noise, the smells, the colours, the people/animals/rickshaws/buses/carts all clamouring for space on the roads - it's total chaos! It's mind boggling at first, but very exciting at the same time!

It was really easy to settle into life in Puliangudi, a fairly small yet bustling town in the state of Tamil Nadu. My host parents were welcoming, friendly and helpful and there were up to eight volunteers living in the house at a time, so there were always a few other Westerners around which I think helped eased me into Indian life. I was the only one doing a medical placement, and I spent my afternoons and evenings in the company of Dr. Sherriffunisa and her family and staff at Raja Clinic, the local maternity hospital. The nurses were so friendly and I really enjoyed spending time talking to them, and the doctor's daughter was a dab hand with the henna.

I saw births, caesareans, sterilisations ("family planning".!) and abortions during my time at the clinic and got a lot closer and more involved than I would have been able to in England without any training. I was sad to leave at the end of my placement and would love to go back and visit them all one day! I was also able to spend a week at a leprosy mission hospital which was really fascinating, as there is no such opportunity to learn about this disease first-hand in Western countries.

Weekends were always great fun, whether we joined up with other volunteers on organised Projects Abroad weekends, or decided to go and explore in smaller groups. At first I couldn't believe how far you can get in one weekend (and how long it can take to get there!) but it was always worth it! And now I'm incredibly patient when it comes to long journeys! Weekends away, as well as being very enjoyable experiences, helped me feel comfortable with travelling independently in India.

When my placement came to an end, I decided to go it alone for my remaining five weeks. The Indian Projects Abroad office were really helpful when it came to helping me with travel arrangements and providing me with contact details of other volunteers who would be travelling at the same time as me. I saw wonderful intricate temples, fabulous beaches and met some of the friendliest and most interesting people I have ever met (and the other volunteers I met along the way were pretty cool too!!!).

I had a fantastic time travelling on my own, I felt safe and independent and can't wait to both revisit the south and to discover the rest of this amazing country. As much as I (and the majority of my friends and family) thought I wasn't a gap year kind of person, it turned out that I was! And if I can do it, anyone can!


Laura Nicell

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