By Joonho Jo
On Tuesday morning, Young Joo and I rode the yellow and red metro lines to East Delhi to volunteer at the East Delhi Out-Patient Clinic center. Like the other day cares that we attended, the East Delhi office hosted cancer patients and their caretakers for a two hour session, which was led by a laughter and clapping therapy specialist. But unlike the South Delhi day cares, the room was small. There was no air-conditioner. There were twice as many patients. East Delhi was generally home to a lower class population, and the facilities exemplified this. However, the enthusiasm of both the patients and the volunteers was unmistakable. We arrived to the center fifteen minutes before noon, which was when it was planned to start. When we entered, the room was already packed. They must have been waiting for the last thirty minutes.
The day began with the laughter therapy. As soon as we walked in, it was clear that the patients had rarely seen foreigners before. As we clapped and danced with them, we noticed glances that turned into smiles that turned into laughter. I was glad we had the capability to bring happiness — whether it was laughter with or at us — into their lives. When this ended, the supervisor spoke to the caretakers and patients in Hindi regarding a healthy lifestyle including what to eat, when to eat, when to take medications, and other daily activities. During this, we moved into the Out-Patient Clinic where a doctor was speaking to a patient and his family about medications. The East Delhi clinic ran every day, and a doctor would be available for any CanSupport patient to come in and discuss symptoms, medications, and prognoses. It was interesting to see the patients' worried looks turn into hopeful ones as they learned more and more about their disease.
With the activities concluded, we moved to the food distribution place, which was located just outside of the Day Care. Despite the heat, patients volunteered to help and the distribution went very smoothly. Each patient and caretaker received curry, samosas, chips, bananas, ladoo, eggs, and coffee. Some left with a full bag for the week, and others stayed to help clean up. Afterwards, we went inside once more to say our thank you's to the staff for having us that day. When we did, several of the patients were waiting inside to take pictures with us. Feeling like a celebrity, I took as many pictures as they desired and exchanged phone numbers. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting another one of CanSupport's fourteen centers in Delhi — and I confirmed that the incredible efficacy of the work being done was not limited to the South Delhi centers.
