March 1, 2024
A New Pair of Glasses
As I begin to write this blog post on another late night while simultaneously helping Arielle and Casera create our prototype to present tomorrow morning, I am finding myself at a loss for words. Yesterday Casera read her blog post describing our same recent experiences with similar perspectives as I. This will also be my last blog post, and I can’t help but reflect on my experience in India as a whole. At the same time, it feels like we still have a long week ahead as we wrap up our final projects. But so far it has been an up-and-down journey that has allowed me to gain so many new perspectives that I would otherwise not have had if I stayed in Seattle for the winter quarter. Without a doubt, this has been one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had in academia as well as in extended trips abroad. The person I used to be would have never been able to fathom the things I get to do today.
Months before arriving in India, I remember arguing with Kaylea over the phone about how I didn’t want to be stuck with an organization like Rise Bionics for three months compared to the other organizations that I was more passionate about just because I forgot to fill out the organization selection form on time. She encouraged me to stick with it and assured me that I wouldn’t be disappointed working with an org like Rise. After much deliberation, I decided to trust that everything happens for a reason. And now I’m grateful I listened and stuck with it as I couldn’t have asked for a better organization and team to be a part of. It’s truly been a blessing to be surrounded by so many great minds and kind people who are always eager to help.
The other day we interviewed the founder of a rehabilitation center for children with physical and neurological disabilities. Tears filled my eyes multiple times as I listened to Radhamani tell her story about how she was hit by a car when she was five years old and one of her legs had to be amputated. Fortunately, at that time, she was given a free prosthetic device and was able to continue her education. She graduated from college and coincidentally started doing administrative work for a prosthetic company. After 5 years, she realized that she wanted to be more involved in helping people with physical disabilities and decided to become a physiotherapist. After completing her physiotherapy education, she soon had her first child with her husband, but then left her very supportive family shortly after for 2 years to follow her passion to complete her training in a rural village. She came back and opened the rehabilitation center with five staff members whom she can only afford to pay 1,000 rupees per month, one of whom works for free because they are all there with the desire to be of service. She charges low-income families very little to take care of their children and perform physiotherapy for them. Since she has been walking on artificial limbs her whole life, she was fed up having to often switch to new low-quality prosthetics, so she began searching for something better, which is how she met Arun, the founder of Rise Bionics. She could immediately tell the difference between his high-quality medical devices and begged him to give these to the children for free. And so he did.
This is just one of the many inspirational stories we have heard during our interviews of organizations teaming up to help low-income children get a second chance at life. Having had the opportunity to witness firsthand so much goodness in the world like this has helped change the way I see things as if I am looking through a new pair of glasses.
By Matt
