Editor's Note: I am posting Srijat Mishra's blog of his reflections on his experiences in Idaho. Unfortunately, the pictures that accompanied his blog I cannot place in his presentation.. You can read Srijat's blog and see his pictures for yourself at http://unmuddlings.blogspot.com.
NAMPA...AWAY FROM BOISE'S MAD RUSH?
Nampa was the third stopover of our itinerary. And it offered another distinct fare - each place that we have been to, has its own charm. It is the second largest urban centre of Idaho after Boise. It is just 15 odd miles away from Boise, many working people from Nampa probably go to Boise every other day and probably both the cities are inter-wined in many ways. But still Nampa offered long wonderful country rides. It was more of a agglomeration of smaller establishments which dot the area of a 10-15 mile radius. Boise has its own nice sauntering lifestyle as compared to a New York or a Chicago; but the Nampaites are happy to believe that they are away from the mad rush of the city life of Boise.
NAMPA HOSPITAL...HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Like in all places, there were a host of activities. St Luke’s hospital reiterated hygiene levels in health care have been given a different bar in the United States – automated administration of prescribed medicines for in-patients; automated reminders for nurses for changing IV fluids [back home many times I have heard of stories of patient attendants waking up nurses at the middle of the night to change the IV bottle; to be fair to Indian hospitals though the top end hospitals match the best of best], helicopters in almost hospital to airlift patients when required. It was also a revelation as where technology has taken medical care to. Time spent with Dan’s team was also great - I had a fulfilling time chatting up with In Time Tec / Jet mobile team talking shop during my vocational visit.
MISSIONARY AVIATION FELLOWSHP ... AN INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE
The visit to Missoinaries Aviation Fellowship [MAF] gave an interesting perspective to amount of money and enthusiasm that organizations and human beings can demonstrate to live upto a cause close to their hearts. MAF is a global organization that provides aviation support to missionaries in undertaking their jobs of integrating the communities uninitiated to means of the God to the mainstream and converting them and their lifestyles to more methods followed by the rest of the world. The philosophical question of what is development and who is to decide what is development for an individual comes up here – but such questions will always remain and any act of charity has to start with what that ‘giver’ feels is good for the receiver.
WANT LICENSE PLATES? WALT HAS THEM
We also relished the visit to Walt’s, the avid collector of license plates from around the world. He has license plates which are older than 100 years. He boasts of license plates from all the states of the United States and from a few dozen countries from across the globe. The interactions with the Nampa and Caldwell clubs were quite meaningful too.
BIRDS OF PREY...THE BIGGEST SURPRISE
There were so many memorable things, we did that the list can go on. But the biggest surprise [and delight] factor of the Nampa stay was the visit to the Birds of Prey sanctuary at Boise [yes, Boise – which is close to Nampa]. It is a global organization and work all over the world. Nick [Piccono] did a wonderful job taking us around the different birds of prey, explaining to us their habitat, habits, life span. What impressed me most was the amount of effort the Peregrine fund was investing in re-creating the wildlife. They take significant pains to give back the habitat and living conditions to the wild birds [of course at any point time in time they can take up only a few birds]. Their efforts have helped restore the head count of wild birds to saner levels and taken them away from a possible extinction. The fact the India is facing challenges to protect its wildlife, helped relate to these efforts better. The tiger protection awareness campaign in India has certainly sensitized people to the gaps in wildlife conservation. What was also noteworthy in this trip, was the documentary we saw on vulture depletion in India. How vulture population had been wiped out of almost 99% in 20 years period of late 1980s to 2005, and the contribution Peregrine Fund made to create awareness and concomitantly legislations those managed to reverse the depletion. Hopefully the vulture population is getting healthier and thus restoring the ecological balance by being able to contribute meaningfully their scavenging responsibilities.
SPECIAL THANKS TO DAN AND CANDI AND BRIAN BURKS, PRESIDENT
The Nampa trip stood out because of Dan and Candi and family. I had an awesome lovely time with them - that ranged from bantering at his dad’s place and playing basketball with his son and his friends. That final evening with Dan/Candi was the icings on the cake. The host families have always made us feel special and a part of the family. We are indebted to them. At Nampa, Pradip was showered with the hospitality of Betty, the mom of Andy Dodson. She prepared vegetarian sort of Indian delicacies for Pradip and treated him to some awesome food. Special thanks to Brian [Burks] for making it all happen, who took all pains taking us all over the place and making us feel special.
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