In March 2003 Trygve Otterson from Norway, Richard Fristedt from Sweden and Caecilie B. Buhmann from Denmark travelled to India for 7 days. The delegation was arranged by IDPD physicians from Chennai and Sangamner, IDPD students from Hyderabad and IDPD Secretary General, Dr. Arun Mitra. The delegates undertook 5 dialogues at medical colleges in Chennai, Hyderabad and Sangamner, a 1-day training in Hyderabad and participated in a press conference in Chennai. A total of 25 students were trained and aproximately 600 students participated in dialogues.

The first delegation in the project set out with a tremendous experience bias between the delegates, both when it came to medicine and nuclear weapons. In spite of this heterogeneity, I think we succeed quite well in our primary task; to raise consciousness and train local students. The program was ambitious, and the attitude and response in the dialogues quite variable. However, we hardly ever faced a response of indifference, and that must be considered a sign of both goal attainment and not at least; promise.

 
Not in spite of, but much due to the mentioned heterogeneity between the delegates, the second intention of educating first time delegates on conducting dialogues was met. There is probably no better way learning than being an integral part of the delegation and learning by both watching and doing. For a first time delegate and novice, the trip was extremely informative in numerous ways.

 
Trygve Ottersen
Medical Student, Bergen

It was one and a half years ago that we at our college heard about the NWIP project, which was being led by Caecilie and Richard. Initially we had no idea of what the project’s aims were but after we came in contact with these students for the first time we got a faint idea and were inspired to start to work with it. As a part of the project we organized a conference where Dr. Ian Maddocks from Australia spoke to students about the need for them to form groups like ours. After this meeting many students were interested in joining the group. Then the international students came in the month of March 2003 and we organized the program in three places in India and there were a tremendous amount of medical and non-medical students that attended. We also formed a yahoo group to share information and communicate (nwip-india@yahoogroups.com).

 
The program of educating students regarding the various consequences of a nuclear war is an important step in preparing them to fight against the indecent and shameless proliferation of nuclear weapons. It does not only educate these students on the effects but also prepare them to address these issues in the future, raising their concerns with their colleagues. The project is an important link between the doctors and the students working in IPPNW - the doctors advocating the issues with decision makers and we, the students, (future doctors!) advocating these issues with the future decision-makers. It is, I believe, a good project but it requires committed people since it takes much time.

 
The Indian students were (and are!) interested in the program right from the  beginning, but do need the support of local doctors and some financial assistance to conduct these programs. The planning amongst students from the developing countries is particularly difficult because of the lack of proper communication. Even though communication is present it is only by e-mail and there is no personal contact. It might also be wise to have national meetings exclusively for students, since students have little time during the national seminar. The NWIP is well received among the Indian students but hard work needs to be done to ensure continuation of the activities if this project is to succeed in the end.

Naranath Reddy
Medical Student, Hyderabad