Personal Experience with Research in India

I had the opportunity to do research in India while working on my Masters degree in Nursing.  My experiences during that trip were amazing and life changing.  My research was on the ‘Utilization of Healthcare by Rural Indian Women during Pregnancy and Childbirth’.  I did a qualitative study and interviewed 12 women.  The first part of this paper is a synapse of my trip and experiences.  While the gut of my paper is the research, the heart is the experiences of my adventure.  While my research was amazing and informative, it was the day-to-day experiences that taught me the most.  I found the Indian people to be very gracious, kind, and generous and their spirits of hope and strength shown through in every person I met.  The Indian women that I met, both those whom I had the awesome experience to interview, and also those whom I encountered, showed a strength, pride and beauty that I have not experienced before.  They touched my heart and my life, and I am changed because of them.  They make me proud to be called woman and mother!

The time I had in India was an experience that I will hold dear to my heart.  My research enabled me to have access to the homes and the people.  I will always be grateful for this experience.  The sounds, smells, sights will be with me always.  It is the people I will remember most; the children at the orphanage, the mothers I interviewed, my interpreter and her friend and their families, it is all these things that I will hold in my heart.  The spirit of India and its people have captured my heart, and I will return.