Rotaplast | Day 1 - Arriving at the Hospital

The bus ride from the airport to the hospital was about an hour. Team members had a chance to chat with one another as we made our way along.

Having personally never visiting India, the one thing I noticed as we drove was how much horn honking was done by drivers.

Horns were honked for awareness (I’m approaching you and want you to know I’m in your blind spot) and for irritation (you, get out of my way!)

After many hours of traveling we arrived at the Hospital.

Once inside it’s time for another group photo. Along with our Team are several local Rotarian’s. This time in front of the portrait of Amma, who was instrumental in getting this hospital built.

Once the group photo is complete, we are off to lunch.

Portraits of Amma can be seen all over the hospital.

While at lunch local Rotarians welcomed us to Faridabad and to the Amrita Hospital.

Once lunch was complete we were taken to our dorm for some much needed rest.

Here we are assembled outside our dorm. Our luggage has already been put in our rooms.

After several hours to rest and get refreshed we were transported back to the hospital conference room for introductions and presentation of all the amazing work that is being done here.

Once the presentation was given it was time again to eat!

With lunch finished we were given a tour of the hospital. Due to the size of our team were were broken up into 3 groups.

Out in the hospital lobby we were told more of the story of how the hospital came to be and how Amma played a significant role.

This story board was in the lobby and we went over the highlights.

The doctor is explaining how blood samples are analyzed at the hospital. Samples are transported through a tube system, similar to the pneumatic tubes used at drive-up banks in the USA. Just like you place your money in a shuttle and send it to the teller with a burst of air, the blood samples are sent in the same way. Once the samples arrive, they are placed on a conveyor system that automatically delivers them to the various analysis machines. It was fascinating to watch the entire process of the blood samples moving along the conveyor for analysis.