First day of class, Ravi's birthday, and some water troubles

Today our group ventured to the business centre for the India Knowledge Park (IKP) business center on the other side of Chennai- it took us nearly an hour to get there, helping me to better understand just how vast the city is- to begin our training and orientation for the course. The building was modern and tastefully decorated, and the best part was a fantastic view of the city from the 10th floor. We gathered to celebrate one of our instructor's (Ravi's) birthday with chocolate cake and singing.
Zeena Johar from IKP introduced some basic information about ICTPH (IKP Centre for Technology in Public Health) which I found really interesting. The program assists with the functioning of rural health clinics in 3 villages which we will be visiting once we get settled in Thanjavur, and they use gps-enabled mobile phones to identify where people are in need of medical services in order to decide where to develop new clinics. Accessibility to adequate healthcare in rural areas is challenging, despite many peoples' ability to pay for services- there just aren't enough doctors or facilities to accommodate everyone. ICTPH helps with this by doing research and providing information to SughaVazhvu Healthcare, the program which runs the clinics.
After our training and yet another delicious lunch of masala dosas, we visited Cottage Industries- a store with a plethora of handmade goods, ranging from figurines of deities to textiles to marble tile art. It was exciting to see some of the various forms of artwork that characterize the region.
The only downside to the day was discovering that the water we've been drinking at our guesthouse, which came in large bottles and was thus assumed to be clean bottled water, was really from the hose outside. Normally this would not be a huge concern, but the water quality here is questionable, and we're all a little weary of getting sick. Hoping for the best over the next few days.
Tomorrow is a free day- we're planning a trip in the morning to Mahabalipuram, a city on the coast with many temples and buildings with unique rock-cut architecture. In the evening we'll leave for Thanjavur by sleeper train, I'm excited for the adventures ahead!