The summer of 2008, I embarked on a journey to the state of Assam, one of the most unreached regions in the Indian subcontinent. I came away with a different world view and my role in it.

Nestled between China, Myanmar, and Bhutan, and connected to the rest of India by only a narrow thread of land, the state of Assam is a special place. Assam’s backbone is the Brahmaputra River, a wide, fast-moving artery that bisects the state’s fertile floodplain, across which countless tea gardens, and villages abound. The Brahmaputra eventually forms a highly braided channel as it flows through upper Assam, from which rise numerous islands known to locals as chaporis (pronounced suh-poor-ees). The chapori residents rely heavily on the river for their livelihoods, yet these geographically isolated islands also leave the inhabitants susceptible to devastating monsoon floods and rapid erosion, which frequently claim crops, homes, livestock, and often lives. A state like Assam is home to no less than 20 ethnic groups, many of which function as exclusive entities. These groups are in various stages of economic growth and political mobilization. But most of the chapori residents live a life of almost total isolation, as if they are excommunicated from the rest of the world. In a way, the rest of the world is too busy minding its own business to be bothered with the inconveniences of conscience which the story of these islands puts forth.

I was part of a four member team which had to study a unique boat intervention that works toward ensuring improved access to health and basic education on those 14 river islands in the Brahmaputra River. The team produced a case study, published by UNICEF, which examined the chapori residents through the lens of social exclusion and marginalization. But beyond the creation of the first ever research literature existing on these islands, it was an experience which could never be surpassed.

The residents of the islands constantly live in fear of insurgents who have never hesitated to unleash violence on the unarmed villagers to insure their hiding place. And, without fail, they rebuild their lives from scratch every year to survive amidst what many of my friends might call ‘middle of nowhere’. For me, it was just an assignment for 3 months. For them, this was everyday life. A child had to walk miles before he could reach his school built on bamboos and hay and most often with no teachers. The villagers work for their daily bread in flea infected water with an acrid smell. A hospital is miles away across the mighty river.

Some have even converted the mosquito nets provided by UNICEF as fishing nets; the call of hunger is much more fierce than their fear for rampant malaria. One of the chapori residents says, “During floods, we are totally isolated. We live—and even sometimes die—like animals. Nobody even comes from the government side and inquires whether we need anything during times of crises. We are jangli¹ people, so maybe the government also considers us animals.”

I remember our voyage on the boat which is aptly called “Akha”, or hope in Assamese, which has become the primary source of health care for these islanders. Akha is one of the more than a dozen boats which carry medical personnel, emergency and preventive medicines to these islands. Some of them even have a full fledged surgical theatre. These boats are a public-private partnership, one of the most daring examples of what vision and enterprise can do.

As I sit and write this piece, the chapori residents must be preparing to battle another flood which might be coming to destroy their lives and livelihoods for one more time. Simply by virtue of being born in a different place, I have escaped the brutality of their lives. I silently thank the hundreds of professionals working in such conditions in many parts of India and other parts of the world, unheralded, unreported and unsung to change the lives of the less fortunate.

1 - primitive, cave-like

Photo Courtesy: Gabriel Forrey, Elizabeth Gross

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