KIMS Med Student Superstars

We had a slight scare last week, when we thought we wouldn't have medical students from Karnatika Institute of Medical Sciences, and after today's performance, the full implication of that would-have-been loss is clear. The three Indian medical students really shone today, translating and instructing as we did our education program in a Kanada medium school for the first time. We had all our materials pre-translated, but it would have been impossible to explain what we wanted the kids to do with them, since they spoke only a smattering of English. In addition, the students helped us by imparting additional knowledge about oral cancer to the kids--in our 9th standard class, they were eager to learn more! At the end, they led the kids in a cheer, a rousing "say no way to Gutka" hoorah. I felt that the program today, despite bumps we will iron out with experience, was a resounding success. The headmistress thought so, too, and invited the "big wigs" from the school board to meet us and thank us for running the program. Undoubtedly, it could not have turned out so well without the contribution of the students at KIMS, and our NGO partner Ravindra. Later in the week, there will be two nursing students joining us as well. A full onslaught of soon-to-be medical professionals reaching out to the Kanada-medium government schools where the gutka problem is significant. I only hope the juggernaut of help that we seem to have now can keep rolling forward---I imagine there will need to be some more added momentum, somewhere, or the darn thing is liable to succumb to friction and stop.