A white van coursed through narrow roads along the monsoon-soaked coastline of Kerala, a state in southwestern India. Inside, Radha Upasarna, a volunteer, and two nurses looked over the roster of patients they would visit, most of whom had cancer or heart disease or were paraplegic. As they bumped along through the area’s villages, the women shared snacks, stopped for roadside chai, and sang film songs in Malayalam, Kerala’s official language. Around midday the van parked outside a whitewashed home where four out of the five members of the family there were chronically or terminally ill. As they did at each home, Upasarna and the nurses quickly got to work: they checked for bedsores, filled prescriptions, delivered kits of lentils and rice, and often just listened to stories.

Read More at www.opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com